[TYPO3-project-4-3] Fluid CSSEngine folder structure

[Jigal van Hemert]

Hi,

Ernesto Baschny [cron IT] wrote:
> Tomaz Zaman schrieb:
>> I like to have total contol over the output of the website (although
>> TYPO3 sometimes doesn't allow that :)), so i take care of all files
> I am sure you automate your minifying and concatenating yourself, but
> this is surely not the most efficient (i.e. "professional") way to work.
> I sure like to have boring and error prone tasks to be automated.

This can become a heated discussion, but I can feel part of the 
apprehension regarding automation and CSS.

The CSS experts (I'm not one of them) know a lot of browser 
peculiarities (aka bugs) and the solution for them. Sometimes these have 
to be solved by setting some seemingly unnecessary properties and 
sometimes you can use browser specific CSS-files.

If these carefully crafted and tested constructions are combined and 
modified by some automatic optimization the result can ruin the hard 
work of the CSS author.

Websites are often built by:
- a graphic designer who produces for example a series of .psd files 
with all the layouts
- a frontend expert who produces the HTML/CSS (plus maybe client side 
scripting)
- a TYPO3 integrator who produces page templates, extension templates 
and TS configuration to let TYPO3 produce the desired output

Many recognize the frustration that CSS-styled-content generates its own 
HTML constructions (which can be changed, I know).
The idea behind CSS-styled-content was probably that it would output 
general HTML which has enough classes and id's to support a lot of styling.
In real life the styling is often done before TYPO3 kicks in.

> I want it easy, of course, and I want it in T3. What is wrong with that?
> You want it difficult by choice?

I don't think it's a matter of difficult versus easy. Maybe each major 
feature -- such as this -- should be evaluated if it is worth the effort 
with regard to the target audience of TYPO3. If the target audience 
likes HTML/CSS to be handled in a different way this kind of automated 
CSS handling could maybe be made as a third party extension.

Resource of core developers (or those who develop core functionality) 
are a scarce commodity...

Regards,
-- 
Jigal van Hemert.