CSS level 1 (CSS1) The W3C released the first official version of CSS in 1996. This early version included the core capabilities associated with CSS, such as the ability to format text, set fonts, and set margins. Netscape 4 and Internet Explorer 3 and 4 support Level 1. Web designers needed a way to position elements on the screen precisely. CSS1 was already released, and CSS Level 2 was still in the future, so the W3C released a stopgap solution: CSS-Positioning. This standard proposed that the parties concerned could debate for awhile before the CSS-P standard became official.

With the advent of laser and inkjet printers, we seem to be buried under mounds of perfectly printed paper. Even the Web seems to have increased the amount of paper we use. If an article on the Web is longer than a couple of scrolls, many people print it. But the Web was created to display information on the screen, not on paper. Web graphics look blocky when printed, and straight HTML lacks much in the way of layout controls. That said, you can take steps to improve the appearance of printed Web pages.

The Parts of a CSS Rule All rules, regardless of their locations or types, have the following structural elements: n Selectors are the alphanumeric characters that identify a rule. A selector can be an HTML tag selector, a class selector, an ID selector, a universal selector or a combination of those basic selectors to create context based styles. Properties identify what is being defined. Several dozen properties are available; each is responsible for an aspect of the page content’s behavior and appearance. Values are assigned to a property to define its nature.

This is a visual guide to show each region's placement on the page.