Sorry to have overlooked the 2nd sample. The * is a CSS hack that targets IE7.
Here's a couple pages that may be helpful to you, they discusses various CSS hacks such as the * used in your second example. http://www.positioniseverything.net/articles/ie7-dehacker.html <http://www.positioniseverything.net/articles/ie7-dehacker.html> http://www.javascriptkit.com/dhtmltutors/csshacks2.shtml On Thu, Mar 3, 2011 at 9:48 AM, Nikki Goelz <[email protected]> wrote: > The !important rule is a way to make CSS cascade but also let the rules you > feel are most critical be applied, it flags the element as an *important > *declaration, > rather than a *normal* declaration. An important declaration holds more > weight than a normal declaration as your browser renders code. > > !important; can be added to elements to force cross-browser consistency. > So in the case of your sample code I believe the coder is trying to ensure > a consistent font size and padding throughout the site and > across multiple browsers. > > As Justin recommends you can remove those bits and see what on the site > changes to better understand how it's effect the site as a whole. > > Hope that helps! > > On Wed, Mar 2, 2011 at 9:41 PM, Justin Hall <[email protected]> wrote: > >> >> >> >> On Mar 2, 2011, at 8:45 PM, Keith Purtell wrote: >> >> I asked an excellent Web designer to critique my site, and he created a >>> whole new style sheet that made it look better. The problem was, there were >>> some lines of code he included that I didn't understand. Obviously I need to >>> know what every line of my CSS does, so here are some examples of what he >>> wrote. As for why I don't ask him to explain it, he's been very impatient >>> with me when I asked that type of question. >>> >>> The first example is figuring out the logic of when to use !important ... >>> ul#navlist li.inCat em, ul#navlist li em, ul#navlist li.inCat strong { >>> display: block; >>> font-style: normal; >>> font-weight: 700 !important; >>> color: #675645; /* was 000 */ >>> padding: 6px 0 6px 30px !important; >>> } >>> >> >> Nothing really too complicated about that CSS. !important is often used >> for diagnostic reasons or to override previous styles >> The latter is likely what he's using it for. >> >> >> >>> Second example looks like a hack for IE6 but not sure what it's trying to >>> accomplish with that 1% ... >>> * html ul#navlist li a, * html ul#navlist li.inCat em, * html ul#navlist >>> li.inCat strong { >>> height: 1%; >>> } >>> >>> >> Can't really be sure without looking, but my guess is he might have been >> trying to manage a layout bug or 2 between browsers. Best bet, take it out >> and see what happens. >> >> -- >> -- >> You received this because you are subscribed to the "Design the Web with >> CSS" at Google groups. >> To post: [email protected] >> To unsubscribe: [email protected] >> > > -- -- You received this because you are subscribed to the "Design the Web with CSS" at Google groups. To post: [email protected] To unsubscribe: [email protected]
