Just tossed a new poll up. This time covering CSS frameworks, which we have never polled before. Kind of curious to see which of them is the most popular, among the people that actually use them. I’ve only included six of the ones that seem to me like the most popular, but if I have missed a really big one, let me know soon and I’ll add it quick before there are many votes.
Poll is down in the sidebar. RSS readers, you’ll have to make the jump to weigh in.
Just voted!
It’s a little daffy that I can only choose one because my answer would be: “No CSS framework but YAML”.
That means, I don’t use CSS frameworks often but when I do, YAML is my framework of choice. In my humble opinion no other CSS framework is as good as YAML and all the others are worse than my own solutions because they’re just grid layouts.
Emastic for bigger projects and Malo for smaller sites.
I haven’t started using frameworks until a recent project where I knew it would help me get to the layout I needed quickly, or so I thought.
Now that I have used it once, I probably won’t go back to it again. I feel like I ended up with more CSS than I needed, even after I spent some time going through and trying to clean out the classes I didn’t use.
I would rather take that extra time to build from the ground up – or at least from my usual base CSS – and know that I have clean code, than get a design up quickly but end with mess.
Blueprint via Compass
You should add another option. “Other”
Added.
I use the Yahoo Reset, base and sometimes fonts. But never the grids.
I personally haven’t been able to convince myself that a framework will save me any time. Where I work I don’t design the sites so it became a wste of time to try and adapt a frameworks grid to each current project.
I agree with Jesse. You need an other option. I use boilerplate. Basically the reset and typography of blueprint without the grid. Grids are evil and non-semantic. The HTML should be semantic and all the layout should be done via css. Just my two cents.
@Jake, I agree that grids leave a bad non-semantic aftertaste, but they don’t have to. That’s why we use Compass (link above) with SASS to ‘mix-in’ grid styles without littering the markup with span-xx.
Voted. The page jumped to a static page of the results in number form however… I’m assuming it was meant to be an AJAX thing?
That is an awful side effect that only affects some people. On my iMac, it doesn’t do it, but on my laptop, it does. Exact same operating system and version of Firefox. So weird.
I have been trying to fix it for ages and have never found a good solution. Yeah, it’s definitely related to AJAX somehow.
Same for me and I’m on Vista 64bit on FF 3.0.5
Same issue. Latest Firefox, Windows XP SP2.
Another ditto on that – Vista 64bit ff
I have that issue here too on OS X ff3, and Im running on one of the shiny new macbooks with the aluminium chassis
Same for me
Vista 32 latest firefox and also on chrome
Guilty on my iMac – Safari 3.2.1
yeah same with me, Safari 3.2.1, but when I hit the back button it loaded ok – and I voted 960.gs since it the one I’ve play about with and tried the most :)
same on ubuntu and FF 3.0.5
happens to me on my MacBook but not my iMac, same as you Chris, it’s strange.
I found the “I built and use my own” option pretty interesting…
That seems like the most reasonable solution. It’s a pain to grab a reset file and do all the work of setting up typography and header, wrapper, content, footer divs, etc…
Got any advice on setting something like this up for yourself? Maybe for a future post…
Same thing happened to me as with Harley Alexander. i am using a dell Ubuntu Machine with 8.10 and ff 3.05 if that gives a clue. Btw, I don’t use a framework
It’s YAML for me. Great versalite system, which is suited perfectly for the Theme framework (BlankTheme) that we’re making for the Zikula Web Application Framework.
The newest versions of YAML are slim, can be trimmed down easily and very flexible IMHO.
I just use Eric Meyer’s reset css, and adapt it depending on the project I work on (means that most of the time I delete table related css).
I believe frameworks are nice but as pointed out on many blogs and in many articles they have their shortcomings.
I use a modified Eric Meyer’s reset and I intend on building a framework that suits my needs best. I believe CSS has a great deal of “individuality” in the way it’s written so while frameworks may help for rapid development or a skeleton of some sorts, most people would feel most comfortable with their own.
Not to mention I actually enjoy writing CSS (as opposed to XHTML) and that every project has it’s own needs and parameters.
I would perhaps use a grid based framework for a newspaper site, but not much more then that.
I haven’t used a framework, but am considering looking into one. Would be interesting to read an article comparing the various frameworks and the pros/cons of each as well as just building from scratch.
About the only framework I ever use is Eric Meyer’s reset. Other than that, I just use my own bits I have created over time. I don’t have anything against frameworks (I use them for JavaScript), I just don’t see where they would save me any time over using my own code.
For the people who do use frameworks: Do you feel like it saves you time or gives you a better solution than you would have created your self?
Ok they are so misconceptions for use of CSS Grid Frameworks. I think you should use CSS Grid Framework only if you have complex grid structure (newspaper site, big portals ..). What happens if you have 100 different layouts in the same site? You will write 100 css for every page or you will use one CSS Framework who will solve all 100 layouts?
Css Framework can be time savers only if you are familiar with the Framework and if you have medium or advanced knowledge of CSS. You should be able to resolve all the scenarios that CSS Framework doesn’t cover.
Other thing do your client care that your CSS code is not semantic? Do you write semantic code? And in the end WTF is semantic code! We have no universal standard. For someone semantic is header, footer,main, sidebar for other Logo/branding,Copyright information,Content. For me is important that the code is well documented and what better documented code then some public CSS Framework with lot of community support.
Here is my tip: If you are building one web site in every 3 mounts don’t bother with CSS Frameworks but if you are building at least 3 web sites per mount you can consider some css Framework.
@Chris: I will appreciate if you could put Emastic to the poll, for me is very important to know if someone uses Emastic. I think even do Emastic is more smaller,flexible,fluid and covers all the types CSS structure builds it came last to the market and it is always in shadow of “the old school” frameworks .
Hello
i make my personnel framework :)
i can use any framework
I agree with Vladimir on this one: The term “semantic” is used in so many ways that it kind of loses it’s meaning.
The first framework I tried was YUI, and that was a horrible HORRIBLE experience!!! Talk about cluttered markup and divitis!
To me the benefits of a framework should be:
Rapid prototyping that can be transfered into production easily.
Abstraction from crossbrowser issues. My life is too short to deal with ie-hacks. I also use ie7.js btw. Purists, shoot me … (-;
Blueprint provides these benefits to me, and therefore it’s my framework of choice.
The tasteful basic typography of Blueprint is an added bonus. (-:
I too had the issue of the results being shown on a static page, not ‘ajaxed’ :-) (I’m on an Acer laptop, Vista Home Premium using Chrome as browser).
I must say, I find the results so far VERY interesting, considering the readership of your blog/feed. It seems that over 50% don’t even use a framework, and the next choices are lagging well behind.
I personally voted that I don’t use a framework, although I have been reading more about them lately, and considering whether it’s worthwhile using them. The one’s I’ve heard most about are Blueprint and 960 Grid. I just have a standard file that I start with for each new project. I think it’s the ‘leanest’ way of doing it – only adding the things I’m actually going to use, rather than taking out a bunch of stuff that I won’t use!
Perhaps I’ll keep taking a closer look at these frameworks – after all, that’s what it’s all about – keeping up with and analysing the latest trends :-)
I dont use them ;)
Gopal,
http://www.productivedreams.com
Tweets by gopalraju
My own
Easily blueprint.
960.gs because of its wonderful PSD templates.
960.gs is very simple and does a gread job!
i don’t use CSS framework frequently but when i did i used YAML
I start with a modified version of the Eric Meyer reset and add a few ideas from Blueprint and YUI. Then add a heavy dose of my own resets, helper classes, and basic layout id’s/classes. I think of it as more of an “extended reset with a small library” than a full-fledged framework.
I also like to use the 960.gs pdf printouts for the pencil-and-paper phase.
I would assume that most people that say they don’t use a framework probably rolls their own. Why on earth would anyone want to code the same basic styles they use on every site again and again and again?
My Own.
Javascript frameworks make sense, but CSS ones in my opinion do not <— MY OPINION
I’ve started using BlueTrip for my new projects. It’s a mix of Blueprint, Tripoli, and 960.gs.