Book: The Greatest CSS Tricks Vol. I

Ya know, for a site called “CSS-Tricks” that I’ve run for well over a decade, it’s a little funny we’ve never done a book under that name. I’ve written a book about WordPress and SVG, but never CSS!

Well, allow me to change that. I’ve been working on a “book” called The Greatest CSS Tricks Vol. I, as my attempt to stay true to this site’s name! The big idea to make it like a coffee-table book for CSS, where each chapter is totally independent and talks about one literal CSS trick that I’ve found to be exceptionally clever and useful. A book about quite literally the best CSS tricks I’ve come across over the years.

I quoted the word “book” above because this is the loosest possible definition of a book. I have not yet made it into an eBook format. I have not even considered printing it yet (although there is a “full book” URL available with the whole book together for printing and print-to-PDFing). This book exists as URLs which are essentially fancy blog posts grouped together. I’m also calling it Volume I as there are already ideas for another one!

Some chapters are fairly broadly known concepts that I’m writing up to put a point on. But many of the chapters are based on ideas that can be traced back to individual people and I always try to credit them directly.

Here’s the chapter list so far:

1. Pin Scrolling to Bottom
2. Scroll Animation
3. Yellow Flash
4. Shape Morphing
5. Flexible Grids
6. Border Triangles
7. Scroll Indicator
8. Boxy Buttons
9. Self-Drawing Shapes
10. Perfect Font Fallbacks
11. Scroll Shadows
12. Editable Style Blocks
13. Draggable Elements
14. Hard Stop Gradients
15. Squigglevision

I say so far because I might add a few and rearrange them and such, not to mention it could still use a healthy bit of editing. But I think the bulk of the value of the book is already there.

Value? I think so. While it’s fun to learn some CSS trickery, I think there is value beyond the tricks themselves. Tricks help you see how CSS works at a deeper level. When you understand the trick, you’re seeing how that part of CSS works through a new lens and it helps you be more in tune with the nature of that CSS. It will help you reach for those CSS properties more intuitively when you know what they are capable of.

In another sense, it’s like taking a walk with weights in your backpack. You do it on purpose so that when you walk normally, it feels easier. The tricks are like mental weights. They make writing non-tricky CSS feel easier.

So about buying the book. You don’t buy the book directly. What you buy is an MVP Supporter membership to this site. When you’re an MVP Supporter, you have access to the book, and more. This is the whole package:

• No Ads. You see no ads on this site, except for sponsored posts which are just blog posts and I try to make useful anyway.
• Extra Content. You can read the digital books I’m making (you can already read some chapters, but they are under progress.)
• Easier Commenting. You’ll be logged in, so leaving comments is easier and won’t require the delay for approval.
• Good feels. An extreme sense of satisfaction of supporting this site and our commitment to bringing you useful tech knowledge.

It’s just just $20/year.

Have I, or this site, helped you out over the years? This is the best way to say thanks.

Also, if you would really like to have access to read the book, and can’t afford it right now, I totally get it. Email me at chriscoyier@gmail.com and we can work that out.

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