Hi friends,
I'm going to start my first Drupal project :) pretty excited. I have many questions in my head :/ but I will find out the answers and learn many about Drupal while working on this project.
ok, I have the design completed.
now is it better to make xhtml-css coding of all pages, and then implementing these codes to Drupal? or is it better to make xhtml-css coding straight into Drupal theme?
Appreciate advices!
I prefer to code the XHTML/CSS first and then copy-paste/adapt it into the templates, everything is more consistent and you can have a real preview of how the page will look like once it is working dynamically (plus test it in different browsers, etc...).
(In my opinion) It is also faster to do it this way because you first focus purely on the Front-end and then start copy-pasting/adapting the code snippets (once you get to develop several themes you can create a code snippet collection with everything you need).
When I have tried to code it straight I always leave unclosed tags, create non-consistent CSS classes/IDs (specially when creating big websites with hundreds of CSS lines) and other minor mistakes in which I need to spend time later fixing...
My best advice is for you to try coding both ways. Then compare which one has been faster to develop, how comfortable have you felt and which one you prefer for your future projects.
Good luck!
I'd say it depends what your goals are. Preparing HTML and CSS before touching Drupal will make you very familiar with Drupal theming and give you exactly the markup you want, but it will come with a big downside of taking a LOT of time.
On the other hand, going with Drupal's default markup as much as possible will be faster and easier, but won't get you as familiar with Drupal theming and will result in some CSS that will probably feel a little bloated compared to your non-Drupal CSS.
Long term, I'd say bending Drupal markup to your will is best, but it may prove more frustrating than satisfying on your first Drupal project.