The last time I looked at CSS, tables were still (more or less) an acceptable way of doing things. When I learned HTML, everyone was using frames.

For a while now I’ve been wanting to re-learn CSS. Using WordPress themes was an excellent way to get my website off the ground, but I know I’m capable of designing a personalized and user-friendly website of my own. Plus, knowledge of CSS seems like a useful thing to have.

Two days ago I breezed through a tutorial on CSS — learning a lot about what the different terms represent, but not a lot about how to put these terms together for a meaningful website. So yesterday, I returned to the way I originally learned CSS — I took someone else’s code and started making changes.

I downloaded a free template and began adjusting widths, padding, and sizes of images. Then I started replacing background images with images in my own color scheme. I put in icons instead of text for links. I searched online and figured out how to do a mouse-over effect on my icons. (I’m still not really sure how I pulled that one off, but it worked.)

Three hours later, this is what I have:

It still looks a lot like the template, but it is also distinctly my own, and there’s plenty of room for continued personalization. I haven’t even begun to alter the HTML side of the page. But it’s a lot to accomplish in just a few short hours.

This little project has also gotten me thinking about learning styles. It was easier to pick up CSS partly because I had interacted with it in the past, but also because it’s an easy thing to just play around with. Like taking apart a computer, I get to look at all the pieces and see how they connect. Unlike taking apart a computer, if I “break” it or can’t figure out how to put it back together, I can open up a fresh copy of the file and try again. (In fact, I’ve been spending so much time using drawing programs lately that every time I refreshed the index in my browser, I wanted to hit ctrl+z to undo the change.)

If only this were a viable option for all things in life…