FAQ
I’m writing these as they come to me. No real order here. Here’s how to get back home. Yes, this is h6.
Week 1
- In our code editor, why and how do we use tabs/indentation smartly? Are tabs meant to symbolize nested elements?
Answer
Why tabs? For readability. They don’t impact the code at all. They help you visualize nesting. Install the Beautify plugin here: https://github.com/meewgumi/Coding-For-Designers/blob/main/Tutorials/Code%20Editors.md to format automatically
- I’ve heard of this thing called SCSS (or is it SASS?) Will this be something relevant to learn about in class?
Answer
SCSS is out of scope for this class. It’s a pre-processor that gives you things like variables and scripts you can repeat in CSS. But recently CSS introduced variables, so I personally don’t need SCSS in my own
practice.
- I assume we should be keeping a strict file naming convention—no capitals, no spaces, etc?
Answer
Filename conventions—it depends on the webserver. Github appears to allow spaces, but here are some stricter guides for most webservers, which are usually powered by Apache: https://ed.fnal.gov/lincon/tech_web_naming.shtml
https://freepages.rootsweb.com/~pasher/computers/naming.htm
Another note on spaces in filenames: space is %20, as you can see they’re automatically replaced when you paste a URL:
https://github.com/meewgumi/Coding-For-Designers/blob/main/Week%20b>1%20-%20Intro.md
- Does it matter what order we nest elements, so long as they’re symmetrical?
Answer
Order for elements doesn’t really matter. There might be some exceptions in the documentation of the element (ex, figcaption can’t go before figure).
- What are subdomains and how should they be used? Wondering because of the way our GitHub pages are written.
Answer
Subdomains historically are provided by hosting services to clients so they can have full administration and FTP access to the subdomain. All software installed on the subdomain is separate from the main domain.
- Is there any tool we can use to universally replace characters? For instance, can a curly apostrophe [ ’ ] replace [ ' ]. I would love to automate this somehow. (On second thought I wonder if this is just a cmd-F thing to find and
replace)
Answer
Smart apostrophes are best fixed by Replacing All in a project. Atom has this built in under the Find + Replace menu. Some more automated fixes… we can cover in advanced CSS later, they’re complicated.
- Are there any big downsides to hosting everything we do on GitHub? Is it slow or limited to a certain number of pages or anyting? Seems like a great way to host things. But I wonder how they afford unlimited storage? How do we get this for
free without ads and stuff? Pure benevolence from strangers?
Answer
Github is free because your repo is public, so you’re a brand ambassador for them as a hub for open source software. It’s unlimited everything. But you have to pay for private repositories.
- Is there any way to commit/publish directly from Atom? I seem to have found a way to commit, but no way to publish. Also seems like you don’t get the nice visual of what changes were made that you get in the GitHub app. Seems like the
GitHub app is a weird extra step in the process, but I guess I can learn to love it!
Answer
Atom’s github panel is buggy and I can’t get it to work either! If you can, then that would cut out the need for Github Desktop
- I’ve read that <div> should be avoided. I know I’ve used this in the past, but it sounds like this is an antiquated element. This may be a loaded question, but what do we use instead? Just as many descriptive elements as
possible? Is <box> relevant? I would assume that the elements we choose in HTML wind up being what CSS looks for when styling, so being precise with our naming is probably super important.
- If I have recurring elements I want on multiple pages, is there an easy way to write code in one place and have it propagate to other pages? Case in point: my <header> element up top here.
- Ethically, how acceptible is it to copy others’ code? There is no doubt a lot of learning and “standing on the shoulders of giants” out there, but at what point is something copyright infringement?
- I've been really curious about using Lottie as a way to easily inject animations on the web. In reading about using the files, I see it uses .JSON (what is .JSON, even?) and either
requires linking a javascript library or (I think) basically linking to some external js script. In the spirit of avoiding javascript for this class, can we do just as cool things with CSS animations?
- Are there any handy ways to ensure our pages don't get too long? Pagination, lazy load, anything else? Can we automate this in HTML / CSS? (Thinking of blogs that only display a few items at a time.)
Week 2
- Do we need to type anything in particular in the top of a CSS file to declare that the file is CSS? Like
<!DOCTYPE>
Week 3
- Is there any way to set framerate in CSS animations?