What are the advantages and/or differences in choosing CSS3 actions (shadows, text shadow, shadows extra, corners… ) rather than the similar effects built into Freeway ? Do recent versions of IE render them for example ? Is the site code cleaner ? Does the site load faster ? Anything else I should be aware, or wary, of ?
Richard
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Hi Richard,
On 8 Nov 2012, at 13:04, Richard Lowther wrote:
What are the advantages and/or differences in choosing CSS3 actions (shadows, text shadow, shadows extra, corners… ) rather than the similar effects built into Freeway ?
CSS is essentially just text so these effects are all very lightweight compared to using graphics. Because of this they tend to be ideal for slower connections like smart phones.
Do recent versions of IE render them for example ?
Microsoft were very late to the game with CSS3 support and although IE10 supports these styles with IE9 supporting most you’ll find that IE versions below 9 will simply ignore the styles. There are JavaScript patches you can apply that try and force IE 6-8 to render these styles using IE’s own methods. Some work better than others. Also the differences between a CSS3 box shadow and an IE one (for example) can cause a slight shift in visual styles.
Is the site code cleaner ?
Yes. CSS3 pages tend to be a lot smaller as they don’t rely on making the shadows (for example) using images and tables or divs to hold them.
Does the site load faster ?
Yes. Less code, fewer (or no) images = a faster page load.
Anything else I should be aware, or wary, of ?
Over use of CSS3 could have you marked don as a hipster!
Joking aside, if you know that your site can function and look OK without the extra CSS3 styles in IE 9 and below then use them. If, however, you have to have that drop shadow visible to make the page function, legible, or just make sense then consider either dropping back to use images, use CSS3 and a JS patch (or shim), or consider a belt and braces approach of using CSS3 for browsers that support it and fall back to images where they are not. That last option will double your workload, however.
Take a close look at your site analytics and see what percentage of users visit using browsers that don’t support these styles. If it is the majority then maybe be a little more conservative about moving onto CSS3 as a suitable replacement to images. On the other hand if the number is small then maybe give it a go.
Regards,
Tim.
FreewayActions.com - Freeware and commercial Actions for Freeway Express & Pro - http://www.freewayactions.com
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Yes - CSS3 should be considered as adding Icing to the Cake - not for a must have feature.
If you do it with that in mind then IE users will be none the wiser as that is all they are used to.
David
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Many thanks Tim - that’s a lot to think about - and get annoyed with IE about too for holding everything up. But Dave makes a good point about them.
I asked because on a hotel site I am working on the client compared my first ideas on the hotel’s ancient PC with what she saw on her iPad. (how many others do this and are becoming wiser and shifting over to Safari I wonder ?) Whatever it gave her cause for concern. I am sure she can be persuaded to stick with CSS3 for various reasons not least because I think increasingly tourists are packing a tablet or smart phones in their bags. And although I can not yet look at site analytics I have looked at another hotel site I have made which targets similar clients and I can see that IE is used by 31% of visitors and of them 45% are on IE9. So only a few are being excluded.
I agree it is not a must have feature but on the other hand a hotel needs to seduce their potential clients pretty fast so anything that helps do that is valuable be it fast download or a soft shadow on a headline.
And if I finally get hipster status at this stage in my life so much the better !
I see I will probably need to keep my eye on Helveticus’s thread about external style sheets - which also involves you as well Tim !
Thanks again and best wishes Richard
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