Multiple CSS

[TheServant]

I have been looking through the tonnes of pages/forums about using multiple CSS's and I was wondering if all CSS's are cached if you have more than one?

I have read both sides of the debate on whether or not to use multiple CSS files, and I have been using one for a long time now, but it is getting very big and difficult to edit (as it's still in dev) so I am going to try have more than one. Anyway, once it's finished I might put it all back into one, but at the moment the readability advantages look more valuable than the tiny increase in efficiency? Any personal thoughts appreciated.

[Markus]

I have been looking through the tonnes of pages/forums about using multiple CSS's and I was wondering if all CSS's are cached if you have more than one?

I have read both sides of the debate on whether or not to use multiple CSS files, and I have been using one for a long time now, but it is getting very big and difficult to edit (as it's still in dev) so I am going to try have more than one. Anyway, once it's finished I might put it all back into one, but at the moment the readability advantages look more valuable than the tiny increase in efficiency? Any personal thoughts appreciated.

This is not a definite answer, but it would seem silly to me that a browser wouldn't cache more than 1 external css file. Lot's of big websites use multiple css files. I wouldn't worry about it.

[drhowarddrfine]

The only disadvantage of multiple files is multiple http requests. Whether that slows things down for the site depends on the internet connection and the server.

[tharden3]

Sorry for my ignorance (but I value learning), what do you mean by multiple CSS files? Do you mean multiple files for multiple HTML pages? Or in your case using one CSS file for multiple HTML pages? Would one CSS file reduce load times for a site? Just curious.

Thanks,
Tim

[David Laakso]

...what do you mean by multiple CSS files?

Short Answer:
Taking one extremely long style sheet and dividing into individual (5 in this example) style sheets:
layout.css
typog.css
color.css
links.css
misc.css

[tharden3]

Short Answer:
Taking one extremely long style sheet and dividing into individual (5 in this example) style sheets:
layout.css
typog.css
color.css
links.css
misc.css

oh, I see. Thanks. That's kind of interesting, I never thought of doing it like that. My CSS pages are getting longer and longer with this new website I'm designing, so I could understand how separating them could be more efficient.

[David Laakso]

I could understand how separating them could be more efficient.

It could also wind up being an inefficient ball of confusion. Different strokes for different folks. The method that is best for you will find you...

[TheServant]

Thanks for all your replies, I will give it a go, but as David said, it is actually possible to be even more confusing which I quickly realized.

Regards,
TheServant

[drhowarddrfine]

it is actually possible to be even more confusing which I quickly realized.

It can be at first but it's a mindset and depends on how you write the html. The first time I did it, it wound up being a big mess. The second time made perfect sense.