What seems to be the standard ?

[Dade]

Nowadays, I want to learn to code my own designs.. But with so many coding possibilities, which way should I head towards too? Which one is the one to learn in these times?

[Submerge]

CSS/xHTML is the way to go.

Coding strict is usually the best route, but you are given a lot less features IMO. But it allows for web browser compatibility to be at its highest.

[Dade]

Is it difficult to learn CSS/xHTML, Submerge?

thanks for the reply.

[Submerge]

xHTML is pretty easy if you know HTML, you just have to close your tags properlly and put them in their correct places. CSS is more tricky, different browsers take attributes differently. But to learn CSS, you'll need to know HTML first. CSS styles the HTML.

[Mystic]

Well, basics of CSS is very easy. But, CSS is extremely vast. It would take some effort to become a master in css.

[Mahz]

HTML and CSS are simple. You can really get the hang of it over a weekend if you just sit down and do it. I'd say start with good conventional web standards off the bat and engage in the best practice for building websites. For instance, learn to keep your HTML purely structural and let your CSS do all the design. This means no <font> tags, <b> tags, <i> tags, etc in your HTML. Instead you will want to assign ID's or Classes in your HTML and edit them (i.e. make them bold) in your CSS.

Make sure you learn your HTML/CSS from a newer resource. Don't be teaching yourself from a website made in 1996 with a spinning email gif in the footer. ;)

[Trusttec]

HTML and CSS are simple. You can really get the hang of it over a weekend if you just sit down and do it. I'd say start with good conventional web standards off the bat and engage in the best practice for building websites. For instance, learn to keep your HTML purely structural and let your CSS do all the design. This means no <font> tags, <b> tags, <i> tags, etc in your HTML. Instead you will want to assign ID's or Classes in your HTML and edit them (i.e. make them bold) in your CSS.

Make sure you learn your HTML/CSS from a newer resource. Don't be teaching yourself from a website made in 1996 with a spinning email gif in the footer. ;)

I agree with the last part there are a lot of websites out there with a lot of useless information!

CSS/xHTML is the way to go, it looks good and it usually works in all browsers! Its not very hard to learn and there are even vailidators you can use that will help you fix up your site if you have errors on it!

[BottomUpSites]

Not to be redundant, but yes, CSS and XHTML.

Do XHTML 1.0 Strict or XHTML 1.1. They are the future of web development. It pains me to see new webpages designed in HTML 4.01 or XHTML 1.0 Transitional, especially when they have multiple errors.

http://validator.w3.org/ - XHTML Validator
http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/ - CSS Validator

[Mahz]

The best thing to understand about HTML/CSS is that you include NO DESIGN ELEMENTS in your HTML code. You don't want to be changing the font colors with FONT tags nor do you want to be changing TABLE appearance within the HTML. Basically, you want to code clean HTML with CSS id's and class's and have it so the HTML is just a generic looking document if you isolate it and view it without CSS. You use the CSS for all the design purposes. It's in your CSS file that you set the color of your text, the borders of your tables, the layout of your design, etc. etc. and this is critical knowledge. :)