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Is a "CSS Reset" necessary for cross-browser CSS?

Answer 1

+6 A:

A CSS Reset isn't needed, but it does simplify things.

A Doctype is needed, without one browsers will enter Quirks mode and you open a big box of inconsistencies. The HTML 4.01 Strict Doctype you mention is a good choice, it is the most modern version of HTML that has decent support in the market.

David Dorward 2009-10-19 13:16:12

Perfect, that's my current thinking on the thing too. If I can get 90% of the way with just a reset and a Doctype declaration, I'm in :)

Yar 2009-10-19 13:22:45

+1 good answer David

metal-gear-solid 2010-05-08 05:56:54

Answer 2

+3 A:

A CSS reset isn't necessary, but it definitely helps a lot. It will make it so all elements are rendered the same in all browsers.

There are still certain things that will be slightly different due to each browser (mainly IE) rendering the box model differently. There are easier ways of doing browser specific CSS that inline class changes though. You can create an IE specific style sheet and just override the specific things you need changed. You don't need PHP for this either.

<!--[if IE 6]>
    <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="ie6.css" />
<![endif]-->

You can can also use "lt" for < and "gt" for >.

<!--[if lt IE 7]>
    <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="ie6.css" />
<![endif]-->

For me, doing a CSS reset has fixed 99% of my issues.

Yahoo has a nice one. http://developer.yahoo.com/yui/3/cssreset

Josh Close 2009-10-19 13:27:42

Ah yes, overriding. So much nicer than server-side hacking. Thanks for that!

Yar 2009-10-19 13:31:37

However, what is that [if thing? Browsers know how to handle that?

Yar 2009-10-19 13:32:32

IE knows how to handle that specifically. So you can create an IE specific stylesheet, and every other browser thinks it's just a comment.

Josh Close 2009-10-19 14:06:37

That is incredible. Incredibly lame that they would need to do this, but good to know. Thanks again!

Yar 2009-10-19 14:24:46

Answer 3

+1 A:

I've taken to always using a CSS reset and building back up from this base for my projects. It simplifies things a lot as you no longer have to worry about differing default sizes, etc between browsers. Besides, any sufficiently large project has a large amount of CSS reseting in it anyway, and in those projects not using a CSS reset sheet they will instead most likely have it split across lots of areas, badly done and buggy :)

I tend to use the YUI CSS sheets for my projects but I may now check out Blueprint now it's been brought to my attention ;)

workmad3 2009-10-19 13:29:42

Tell me what you think about Blueprint, please. More is more.

Yar 2009-10-19 13:33:12

I started off with Blueprint but found it a little heavy and eventually worked my way to a more lightweight, generic css reset. I don't remember where my current one came from because i've customized it so much and pulled it from one project ot the next.

AJ 2009-10-19 13:47:57

Okay, that definitely helps, thank you.

Yar 2009-10-19 14:22:02

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Is a "CSS Reset" necessary for cross-browser CSS?

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