OS X Software: CSSEdit
If you code CSS on Mac OS X, you have two options for editing your documents - BBEdit, for the old-school, hand coding crowd (like myself), and Dreamweaver MX, which provides a fairly decent internal editor, but for a lot of money. What's missing is a standalone CSS editor - like the excellent TopStyle for Windows - that allows developers to both hand code their style sheets, and work with a graphical interface when needed. Thanks to MacRabbit, that void is a little closer to being filled.
CSSEdit is a text editor just for style sheets. Developers can create groups of styles for better style sheet organization, keep a running list of favorite styles, and use a handy graphical interface for editing the attributes of their style sheet elements. Through the Export button, users can save "clean" style sheets without groups or comments for optimized files. The editor also features auto-syntax coloring, font and color previews of class names, a dialog to open remote style sheets, and - coming soon - the ability to preview style sheets through an inline browser (once Apple releases the Safari WebKit).
Be sure to checkout the CSSEdit home page using Safari, Mozilla, Camino, or IE 5 for the Mac to see a really nice semi-transparent PNG menu at the top (scroll the window to see the effect). Page unfortunately completely breaks in IE 6 for Windows.
Comments
Actually, it works in IE 5 on Macs too. (Rabbit transparency)
Posted by: Mathew at May 6, 2003 3:57 PM
The topnav most certainly does not work on Win IE6, but works like a champ in MacIE.
Posted by: anthony m at May 6, 2003 3:59 PM
I wish I owned a mac. :: sigh ::
Posted by: Paul at May 6, 2003 4:57 PM
Seems promising. It's incredibly frustrating that there's no TopStyle for Mac. This app is a good start, but I think I'll be holding off until another version or two is out.
I don't like that fact that there's no way to have a constant 'code view' of the style sheets. I couldn't seem to open one of my existing style sheets with the program. Is this by design? If so, the demo is imho too restrictive, esp. for a 1.0 app that needs exposure.
Posted by: Chris at May 6, 2003 4:58 PM
It's like, "why yes, we have a terrific CSS editor, unfortunately it works on every browser except IE6 Windows, which incidentially is the biggest most popular browser."
- That was witty if you didn't notice.
Posted by: The man from snowy river (Chris) at May 6, 2003 9:44 PM
Not being much of a coder, I use the CSS controls in Adobe GoLive and they seem to meet my (albeit limited) needs. What do other people - ie you CSS geniuses - think of this functionality in GoLive?
Posted by: Peter Gifford at May 6, 2003 11:46 PM
I don't (yet) have a Mac, but Gvim on Linux does nice syntax colouring / highlighting for CSS as well as pretty much every language out there, and is free...
Posted by: Tim at May 7, 2003 5:51 AM
The transparency thing also works fine in Opera 7.10 on the PC.
Posted by: derek at May 7, 2003 9:11 AM
I believe the opaque menu has more to do with support for PNG than it does CSS. Could be wrong, but that's my guess.
Posted by: Todd Dominey at May 7, 2003 9:12 AM
you CSS geniuses - think of this functionality in GoLive?
-- To be honest with you, GoLive's CSS handling aint that great - mostly from an interface perspective. I found it much easier to learn the basics of CSS and use a text editor to create external CSS files.
Posted by: prpr at May 7, 2003 10:17 AM
Todd, did you hand code for the PGA site? Did you use any app to help manage the stylesheets?
Posted by: Scott M. at May 7, 2003 10:37 AM
I hand code everything. I can however see how an app like CSSEdit would help a lot of people who prefer a more structured environment.
Posted by: Todd Dominey at May 7, 2003 11:24 AM
Personally, I've found Dreamweaver to be a decent CSS editor. You can edit in code view (with syntax coloring) and there's also a GUI for setting attributes and creating new ones. Does the job, albeit not as elegantly as this. If you're already using DWR, give it a try.
Posted by: Allan W. at May 7, 2003 6:15 PM
I downloaded TopStyle and plunked it on our PC here. I must say I'm impressed. This thing gives BBEdit a run for its money in many areas. It would be great if BareBones beefed up its style sheet support in a fashion similar to TopStyle.
Posted by: Scott M. at May 8, 2003 10:55 AM
I'm skeptical of using the software because the way the pages are coded doesn't demonstrate an understanding of HTML and CSS. The navigation items are separated by strings of non-breaking spaces instead of padding or margin, bulleted lists are not coded properly, and headings aren't coded using heading tags. The navigation links work, but there's no hover or cursor change when I mouse over them in IE5/Mac. I know this is a little picky, but I think it's reasonable to expect a site that's advertising CSS software to be a showcase for what the software can do.
Youngpup's Sleight JavaScript adds PNG support to Windows IE5.5 and up, And DHTML Kitchen's Slider JavaScript can simulate CSS's position:fixed.
Posted by: kirkaracha at May 8, 2003 1:15 PM
CSSEdit is great... I've purchased it now, however I've found it doesnt fully support CSS. Some things aren't implemented. I'm sure Jan is on it though... Look forward to the update.
Posted by: Andrew Knott at May 8, 2003 11:55 PM
I find the CSS coding functionality in Golive quite decent - it's at least as good as the one in Dreamweaver MX, if not a little bit better. However, the CSS stuff in the upcoming Golive 8 is rather kick-ass - it'll display pretty much anything you can throw at it ..
Posted by: mschmidt at May 10, 2003 4:34 AM
I must say that I'm very used to hand coding everything in BBEdit. CSSEdit is a welcome addition to the OS X scene. I've also worked with TopStyle and I wouldn't mind a OS X version of that little gem. But I'm so used to hand coding I'd be hard pressed to use a specialized editor. But who can tell what the future may bring.
Posted by: Dutchcelt at May 17, 2003 11:10 PM
