css 101

OK, let's dive in. We'll start simple and build up, step by step. At first, our style rules will appear somewhat crude, but we'll refine them as we go. We'll start with decorative rules (colors, fonts, borders, etc.) and gradually give things more polish. We'll assume you've already got a plain vanilla, unstyled HTML document with a few headings and paragraphs, a blockquote, an image, and a list.

Need a sample document to work with? It's best to create your own, but if you're pressed for time, feel free to download our sample document here.

As with the HTML 101 tutorial, we'll assume you've chosen a good text editor and know how to switch back and forth between a document you're editing and that same document open in a web browser (or to use the Preview in Browser option in your text editor, if it has one).

TextMate users: We recommend familiarizing yourself with some of TextMate's powerful shortcuts to maximize your speed and efficiency while editing.