Use 2 spaces for indentation in your file (not a tab
character)
to make sure your formatting will look the same everiwhere
Remember about correct indentation between parent and child elements
Each level of nesting, including text, contained inside the element, requires 2-space offset. Also blank line shouldn't be between parent and child elements.
GOOD example
<body>
<div>
<p>
Awesome text
</p>
</div>
</body>
BAD example
<body>
<div>
<p>
Awesome text
</p>
</div>
</body>
Add empty lines between multiline sibling blocks of HTML
To add some "air" and simplify reading. But don't add them between parent and child elements.
GOOD Example
<ul>
<li class="nav__item">
<a href="#home">Home</a>
</li>
<li class="nav__item">
<a href="#shop">Shop</a>
</li>
<li class="nav__item">
<a href="#contacts">Contacts</a>
</li>
</ul>
BAD Example
<ul>
<li class="nav__item">
<a href="#home">Home</a>
</li>
<li class="nav__item">
<a href="#shop">Shop</a>
</li>
<li class="nav__item">
<a href="#contacts">Contacts</a>
</li>
</ul>
Keep your attributes correctly formatted
If the HTML-element has long attribute values or number of attributes is more than 2 - start each one, including the first, on the new line with 2-space indentation related to tag. Tag’s closing bracket should be on the same level as opening one.
GOOD Example
<input
type="text"
name="surname"
id="surname"
required
>
BAD Examples
<input type="text" name="surname"
id="surname" required>
<input type="text"
name="surname"
id="surname"
required>
<input
type="text"
name="surname"
id="surname"
required>
<input
type="text"
name="surname"
id="surname"
required>
Lines of code have 80
chars max
It is just easier to read such lines
Use semantic tags where possible
Like
header
,section
,article
,p
. It improves your page SEO and helps screen readers.div
andspan
does not have any meaning
alt
attribute should describe the image content
GOOD example
<img alt="Samsung Galaxy S22 2022 8/128GB Green" />
REALLY BAD example
<img alt="image" />
STILL BAD example
<img alt="phone" />
Class names represent the meaning of the content (not the styles or tag names)
GOOD example
<nav class="nav">
<ul class="nav__list">
...
<li class="nav__item">
<a href="#apple" class="nav__link">Apple</a>
</li>
</ul>
</nav>
BAD example
<nav class="no-padding">
<ul>
...
<li class="li">
<a href="#apple" class="a-last-no-decoration">Apple</a>
</li>
</ul>
</nav>
Don't use spaces in links
Have you seen any link with literal space in it on the Internet? Remember, anchor links start with
#
Don't use *
selector (it impacts performance)
Set styles only for elements that require them. Zeroing out your margins, paddings or other styles with '*' is still inefficient for browser.
Don't use tag names for styling (except html
and body
)
Style all elements using
.classes
and if needed with:pseudo-classes
,pseudo-elements
and[attributes]
HTML Example
<nav class="nav">
<ul class="nav__list">
...
<ul>
</nav>
GOOD CSS Example
.nav__list {
list-style: none
}
BAD CSS Examples
ul {
list-style: none
}
nav ul {
list-style: none
}
Remember to use fallback fonts - alternative font-family in case the main one doesn't work
Be consistent with your margins (Add only top or bottom, but not both)
To avoid potential margin collapse
Don't fix container size (if there is no such a requirement)
Let the content size dictate it. To avoid overflow or accidental scroll bar