[thelist] #ID vs .Class

[Andy Budd]

ID's should be used for named elements on a page that only appear once. 
Generally people assign ID's to structural elements on a page such as 
header, content, nav etc. ID's have a high specificity and will 
generally override classes.

Classes are much more powerful than ID's as they allow you to create 
custom styles that can apply to a large number of elements on a page. 
For instance, you could have a class called error that turns the 
background of an input box red or the colour of the text red in a span.

input.class {
   background-color: red;
}

input.span {
   color: red;
}

Elements can have multiple classes applied to them.


Chad Bishop wrote:

> I know that here and there I've read some good reasons to stick with 
> using div id's where possible, instead of assigning classes. In my 
> mind I know that this will better help to structure content, but we 
> were having a discussion today at work, and I was asked why not just 
> use classes? What specifically is the point of going with div id's 
> first?
>
> Can someone point me towards some articles that address this directly? 
> I'd like a good list of the practical benefits of using div id's to 
> the fullest. And, classes where they should be.


Andy Budd

http://www.message.uk.com/