Is it possible to create good looking websites in just html/css?

Still by making images out off CSS means you need IMAGES to make a site look good. So I'd rather put a small one made in Photoshop than code like crazy to get the same result

Even this very forum looks better without images. Way more peaceful. Less borders, shadows and gradients. Look at this:



(Of course I do not mean to say this forum looks bad with images. It is nevertheless one of the best designed forums I know.)

Originally Posted by Geert Even this very forum looks better without images. Way more peaceful. Less borders, shadows and gradients. Look at this: (Of course I do not mean to say this forum looks bad with images. It is nevertheless one of the best designed forums I know.)

I know what you mean its a simple style but very classy. I really love this forum style thats what made me join the site so it must be powerfull to make somone like me join!

My website uses only one header image (which is 0.3kb in size) and a grand total of 5.2k worth of icons. It's a very simplistic site, but I wouldn't call it horrible either (it has menu effects etc to make it interesting).

OK folks,

What is the point of this thread? My personal bias is towards not using tables for presentational markup (I still have sites up that do). If you have data or information that is suited to a table then put it in one. You can add all the images and tacky animated gif's you want without using tables if you know how to use background images and divs correctly. The advantages of this method is that you don't have to rebuild complex sliced graphically designed interfaces in PShop or FWorks everytime you want to add or change a Nav button. There are examples of sites that even still use graphically replaced buttons for navs so the designer has typographical control over the typface but this is done using CSS.

They key benefits of using (X)HTML for the document and all presentational markup in CSS is that the client has lower maintenance costs, sites can degrade gracefully when no images are on, or if there is no CSS support. By eliminating tables for a client's design I was able to reduce his page weight by 60%. The layout is visually identical but I got rid of all the spacer gifs and table code. In addition the result was easier for him to add content as the base page was only 75 lines not 175.

BTW there is nothing wrong with flash if it is for exciting motion oriented content. But PLEASE stop with building the entire site in flash with flash buttons and a 35 second intro to get to a site for the local animal shelter. Just because you can doesn't mean you should. Having integrated flash content within an entertaiment site is a fine idea if it will lead to a customer buying a product or service. If it is there because the company thinks flash is neat is a joke.

Any way that is my $0.02 CAD ($0.0158765 USD)

Jay

I didn't have time to even think about this when the thread was first posted but yesterday I was bored and started thinking about it and came up with something that doesn't have a single image.

It's not all that tbh and it's also not practical as it only works in FireFox and if you don't have the Trebuchet MS font it will also probably break, but all the same I offer this as an example/foundation of what can be achieved with XHTML/CSS without the use of images.

http://www.yournewdesigner.com/imagefree.html

Originally Posted by seen.to I didn't have time to even think about this when the thread was first posted but yesterday I was bored and started thinking about it and came up with something that doesn't have a single image. It's not all that tbh and it's also not practical as it only works in FireFox and if you don't have the Trebuchet MS font it will also probably break, but all the same I offer this as an example/foundation of what can be achieved with XHTML/CSS without the use of images. http://www.yournewdesigner.com/imagefree.html

Nice semantics
It breaks a bit on Firefox on Linux, probably because of the font. Half the menu is outside the screen. If you want, I can send you a screenshot but then again this is expected because like you said, it's font specific.

But the 3D buttons as well as the smiley faces seem to be a bit off.

seen.to, that's awesome!

I see you used the rounded corners technique well in that layout

Cheers Koobi - I may try to get it working on more platforms some day but its just an experiment for now.

Julian - Thanks Not sure what the rounded corners technique is tbh... I just used some huge full-stops/periods, z-indexes and positioning.

Lol, ok I see now...full stops...

Heres the rounded corners technique:

http://pro.html.it/esempio/nifty/