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Ask HN: What CSS template do you use to start quickly?

13 points by mise 16y ago

I'm starting to help on the interface of an open source project but I'm not an interface ninja. Is there an (openly licensed) collection of CSS templates online?

briandoll 16y ago
There are loads of "free web template" sites online that offer HTML/CSS templates that could get you started. Personally, I think Theme Forest (http://themeforest.net/ http://themeforest.net/) has the best templates available, for a small fee (~$10). Start with a template, hack it up to meet your needs, and go from there. So much faster and easier than doing it all yourself on an app where good UI is important, but isn't the point of the site.
jeffmould 16y ago
If you are looking for just CSS frameworks try: http://blueprintcss.org http://blueprintcss.org http://bluetrip.org http://bluetrip.org or http://developer.yahoo.com/yui/grids/ http://developer.yahoo.com/yui/grids/
peter_l_downs 16y ago
It's not exactly a template, but I just used the 1140px css grid system this past weekend to get a side project up and going. I had no css experience before this, but the website turned out (i think) beautifully. http://cssgrid.net/ http://cssgrid.net/ Pros: - Took a non-html person about 40 minutes to figure out - Can look really nice without much effort - Simple - Free! Cons: - I'm not sure it falls under the definition of a true template
tgriesser 16y ago
I'd definitely start with the Eric Meyer reset before writing custom css just to get rid of any defaults you might be unaware of... http://meyerweb.com/eric/tools/css/reset/ http://meyerweb.com/eric/tools/css/reset/ I'm also a fan of the 960.gs grid, really quick to learn and good for the majority of structured layouts.
askar 16y ago
960.gs has been very friendly with me so far!
bdclimber14 16y ago
I don't consider Blueprint or other CSS frameworks templates, but in general I think templates cause more work than they prevent. Things look nice to start with, but you quickly find yourself trying to figure out how to remove or change CSS styles instead of just building on top of.

13 points by mise 16y ago

I'm starting to help on the interface of an open source project but I'm not an interface ninja. Is there an (openly licensed) collection of CSS templates online?

briandoll 16y ago

There are loads of "free web template" sites online that offer HTML/CSS templates that could get you started. Personally, I think Theme Forest (http://themeforest.net/ http://themeforest.net/) has the best templates available, for a small fee (~$10). Start with a template, hack it up to meet your needs, and go from there. So much faster and easier than doing it all yourself on an app where good UI is important, but isn't the point of the site.

jeffmould 16y ago

If you are looking for just CSS frameworks try: http://blueprintcss.org http://blueprintcss.org http://bluetrip.org http://bluetrip.org or http://developer.yahoo.com/yui/grids/ http://developer.yahoo.com/yui/grids/

peter_l_downs 16y ago

It's not exactly a template, but I just used the 1140px css grid system this past weekend to get a side project up and going. I had no css experience before this, but the website turned out (i think) beautifully. http://cssgrid.net/ http://cssgrid.net/ Pros: - Took a non-html person about 40 minutes to figure out - Can look really nice without much effort - Simple - Free! Cons: - I'm not sure it falls under the definition of a true template

tgriesser 16y ago

I'd definitely start with the Eric Meyer reset before writing custom css just to get rid of any defaults you might be unaware of... http://meyerweb.com/eric/tools/css/reset/ http://meyerweb.com/eric/tools/css/reset/ I'm also a fan of the 960.gs grid, really quick to learn and good for the majority of structured layouts.

askar 16y ago

960.gs has been very friendly with me so far!

bdclimber14 16y ago

I don't consider Blueprint or other CSS frameworks templates, but in general I think templates cause more work than they prevent. Things look nice to start with, but you quickly find yourself trying to figure out how to remove or change CSS styles instead of just building on top of.