Style Class, Session #1: Class Intro

[foxfirefey]

Welcome to the DW Styles Class! From the number of people answering the poll, this is going to be a fairly large class, even if a lot of you can't make it. Lurking is, of course, okay! I do want to encourage lurkers to ask questions if they have them, however--you don't have to stay out of sight.

This class is geared around learning by doing. The main project of the class is to create a style of your own! The lessons are tools to help you along the way, so the syllabus is subject to change if I feel we're going over a subject too fast and people need more time to adjust. At the end, I'll have treats for people who share layouts with others at dreamwidthlayouts.

Your mentors are, in no particular order: afuna, ninetydegrees, liv, seleneheart, monarchist, exor674, and, well, me. Mentors are here to help me review lesson plans before they go live and help answer student questions--some are CSS only, others know S2. But! If you know the answer to another student's question, please feel free to help them. We all can work together to learn things.

This class is split up into three "tracks" for different experience levels and goals.

Simplified CSS

Designed for people who want an easier introduction in CSS. It involves making style changes to an existing layout with the base CSS included.

CSS only

Designed for people who want to make a layout from scratch based on existing layout HTML--you can do a lot with just CSS. People might need help with an S2 override or two in order to achieve the effect they really want, but overall the goal is to work with CSS.

S2/CSS

Designed for people who want to be experts in changing both the HTML and CSS of their layout, or building in interesting behaviors. S2 is a programming language and once you know it you'll have few limitations (no JS, some CSS cleaning) in making a style exactly the way you want.

Poll #6596 Original Student Desires and Experience Levels

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 151

View Respondents

My class track will be:

View Answers

Simplified CSS
20 (13.4%)

CSS only
17 (11.4%)

S2/CSS
94 (63.1%)

Observation only
18 (12.1%)

I'm interested in this class because:

View Answers

I want to customize my own style
114 (79.2%)

I want to make styles I can share with others
76 (52.8%)

I want to be able to help others with their styles
56 (38.9%)

It's a good way to learn skills I'm interested in, like HTML/CSS or basic programming concepts.
108 (75.0%)

If you have another interest in this class, what is it?

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CSS Experience

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None or very little
47 (31.1%)

Beginner
51 (33.8%)

Experienced
44 (29.1%)

Advanced
9 (6.0%)

HTML Experience

View Answers

None or very little
13 (8.6%)

Beginner
51 (33.8%)

Experienced
69 (45.7%)

Advanced
18 (11.9%)

S2 experience:

View Answers

None or very little
107 (70.9%)

Beginner
35 (23.2%)

Experienced
7 (4.6%)

Advanced
2 (1.3%)

Browsers I use or have access to:

View Answers

Chrome
91 (60.3%)

Firefox 3.x
90 (59.6%)

Firefox 4.x
80 (53.0%)

IE6
10 (6.6%)

IE7
12 (7.9%)

IE8
40 (26.5%)

IE9
38 (25.2%)

Opera
54 (35.8%)

Safari
62 (41.1%)

Mobile browsers/devices
66 (43.7%)

Other
13 (8.6%)

My main browser is:

View Answers

Chrome
26 (17.2%)

Firefox 3.x
56 (37.1%)

Firefox 4.x
44 (29.1%)

IE6
0 (0.0%)

IE7
0 (0.0%)

IE8
1 (0.7%)

IE9
1 (0.7%)

Opera
9 (6.0%)

Safari
9 (6.0%)

Mobile browsers/devices
2 (1.3%)

Other
3 (2.0%)

If you answered "Other" for any of the browser questions, what browser(s)?

View Answers

Alright students, as your first exercise I would like you to:

• Say hi, and greet others! Also ask any questions you would like to know before Friday's class on "S2 Background and the Customization Wizard".
• Fill out this poll--it will help me know who has what experience level, and the different reasons people are taking the course for.
• Think about what you want your style to look like, if you'll be making a style for the course!

And now, I'm going through and checking to make sure that all people who answered the original interest poll and don't already subscribe get a reminder to watch this community (unless they have different methods of keeping track)! Hope to hear from you all!

---

Previous: Syllabus

Comments

[foxfirefey]

The other thing this class might do is help you pinpoint faster exactly what got broken by something--one of the lessons is all about using browser developer tools to examine HTML and CSS.

[foxfirefey]

Fortunately there's not all that much HTML one needs to know to make styles!

You *can* use your dreamhack as a styles testbed, although a paid account is pretty much just as handy and a sight more convenient, but I'll also let people get accounts on my development server to play around with too. A dreamhack is only necessary if somebody is making changes like adding a layout/theme to the codebase, or making changes to core2 or the S2 implemetation, etc, which falls more under the realm of development.

[dreamwriteremmy]

HI!

Another student... or maybe it should be another set of students.

You can call us Dreamers I suppose, but there's probably going to be at least 3 of us asking questions, we just haven't decided who's playing this time around. :)

For some of those poll questions, we wanted more ticky boxes. :P Our default browser changes depending on the computer and OS we're using and what we're testing.

We're somewhere between beginner and experienced... technically by our degree, we SHOULD be experienced, but a learning disability we have bodily seems to interfere with our ability to code from scratch (we process things slowly and sometimes entirely miss where things are supposed to connect. As such we're probably both following along and observing... and likely asking stupid questions from time to time because we may have missed a point somewhere due to that).

- Dreamers

[chratz]

a very wise person once told me that there are no stupid questions, just stupid answers ;)

[cimorene]

Hi, I'm Cim! I've made my own DW S2 style (at my own journal I mean) but my methods always involve a lot of trial-and-error and looking at other styles to copy bits/compare notes and I'd like to have a better understanding/grounding in S2, so the idea of making another one from scratch (and to comply with DW standards!) wouldn't be so daunting. More CSS couldn't hurt, either. I wouldn't call myself an expert or anything, even though I've been using it for a fairly long time.

[foxfirefey]

Ha, your reasons for taking the class are kind of similar to mine for running it. I want a nice schedule to help me improve the documentation as I go through each subject.

[foxfirefey]

CSS can be frustration (IE6, I HATE YOU), but it's still love once you get the hang of it.

[foxfirefey]

You have a couple of options for developing styles:

* You're a paid user, so you automatically can have a bevvy of styles attached to your account, although only one will display at any time. Since you're doing the S2 side, it will even be easy to never have to make the style you're working on the default for your journal. (I'm trying to make that the case with the Customization Wizard, too, but it is very tricky.)

* I'm going to be letting people create accounts on my development server--this will especially be useful for free users who only have one set of layers and one style available to them and would have to develop using their default.

* And yup, you could create a separate journal if you really wanted to.

[foxfirefey]

What are some of your ideas!

S2 is the technical name for the style system--the first lesson will go over it in more detail, but basically, it is a templating programming language that is made so that viewers and servers are secure, lay users don't have to know HTML or CSS to make simple tweaks to their styles (see: the Customization Wizard), and style makers are given a lot of power to change the presentation.

[foxfirefey]

Any major plans you have in mind?

[foxfirefey]

Sounds like you already have a bit of experience! That's good, a lot of people are totally new to S2, and there's a lot more people wanting to take that track than I expected!

[foxfirefey]

Fortunately I'll get the comments to any questions you make, long after the lessons have been put up, and can help you out. The other effect of this class will be making sure I have better S2 documentation up on the wiki.

And I might run this class again next year, too, if this goes well and we have people who want to take it again.

[lapillus]

Hi,
I'm one of the lurkers - right now I'm not feeling a great need to redo the style I'm using and certainly don't have any great ideas for something new and different, but I'd like to get a good overview. Who knows, maybe I'll come up with something midway through. Mostly I'm curious about the possibilities.

I have some experience with both HTML and CSS, although more theoretical than practical and all of it self-taught.

[stephenie_n_lamaina]

Hi everyone. This account is new but the account I use for fandom fun was created in 2009 and I was on LJ since 2006. I have never worried much about the layout of my LJ or my DW accounts because I am more the type of person is more interested in function.

I learned my first programming language in 1979 (on punch cards) and fell in love with it. After college I did programming for the Navy (not on punch cards). The last time I looked at any serious code was in 1991 when I had my first child. I have no programming experience with anything to do with the internet but have been able to tweek things. I think many times my antique computer knowledge handicaps me when I am trying to learn something new because I assume I will instantly understand it. Also, when I don't need to do something by a deadline, I just keep procrastinating.

By learning with a class, a group, I will have the self-perceived peer-pressure and a weekly deadline to motivate myself to learn.

So to recap: I am old, a procrastinator, and lack motivation. I also believe I can fool myself into overcoming those traits.

Anyway, I am looking forward to learning and hopeful contributing to this class.

Thank you for taking the time to do this,
Stephenie

PS - If you think that you know me through fandom please send me a private message. My boss has access to this profile.

[foxfirefey]

There's something very satisfying, creatively, about making a new layout!

[foxfirefey]

Any ideas on what you'd want to make from the ground up?

[foxfirefey]

Thank you for taking the course! I am very excited.

[foxfirefey]

Leet grafix are a skill I do not yet possess but am trying to learn! You can switch tracks at any time--there will be enough background lessons to give you a good idea of whether or not you feel you can handle the track you picked.

Also, because this is an online course, Friday is just when the lesson is posted--all of us are participating in the same lesson the entire week. This helps accommodate people of many different schedules and time zones!

Ideas

[flamewarrior]

Well, first off, I like my sidebar on the left, but all the layouts I like the colour and other layout aspects of put the sidebar on the right. I also like layouts with black and dark grey backgrounds. And I have ideas for combining elements of layout that I like with colour schemes that I like in ways that I've not seen at all anywhere. Oh, and I want to make layouts based around pieces of my own artwork. (Egotistical, or what?! ;-) )

[sphinxfictorian]

Hello, all!

I'm Sphinx. Looking forward to learning how to do this thing called CSS! I am most interested in fonts and graphics, as well as using artwork as inspiration. I'm a big Art Nouveau and William Morris girl, so will be wanting to play around with those styles a lot!

Re: Ideas

[foxfirefey]

No, making layouts around pieces of your own artwork are awesome. And it's great to have the ability to make things to your own tastes!

Although now I'm curious: which layouts do you like that don't have an option for putting the sidebar on the left? Everything listed here has a left sidebar option.

[foxfirefey]

Well, hey, the Customization Wizard is part of the first lesson, so you are in luck!

[foxfirefey]

Apparently the dashing new thing is HTML5 nowadays, which I haven't even sat down and learned properly yet!

[dorkpie]

Hi guys! I'm Dressa. [:

I do have a question, actually, so here goes:

In regards to browsers, is it just a matter of preference or is there a browser that's recommended/best when it comes to CSS/S2?

[foxfirefey]

What denise said--dreamwidthlayouts is an unofficial sharing community, so it's dandy to share styles you make there that we can't adopt ourselves.