Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) first saw the light of day way back in 1996, when they were introduced as a tool to separate the structural content of a web page from its visual presentation. Initially, their use was limited mainly to text formatting, background colors, and basic layout. However, over the years, the role and complexity of CSS has grown exponentially, transforming them into an essential tool for web design and development.

The journey through the evolution of CSS is like an adventure in a digital time machine. However, as with every era, there have been design trends that, looking back, we would prefer to leave in the past. 

In this article, we explore 5 trends from the past that have left an indelible mark on the history of web design... but that are now happily out of date!

1. Once upon a time there were table layouts

At one time, one of the most common methods for creating complex layouts on a web page was to use HTML tables. This approach allowed content to be organized into rows and columns, providing a flexible structure for arranging content. However, as technology and web design best practices have advanced, table layouts have largely been abandoned in favor of more modern, flexible techniques.

Table layouts have several disadvantages that make them unsuitable for creating advanced web layouts. First, using tables involves complex and difficult-to-maintain markup, which can make the HTML code cumbersome and difficult to understand.

Additionally, tables can create accessibility issues for users with disabilities, making it difficult to understand the structure of the page and navigate through content. The inherent rigidity of tables limits the flexibility to design creative and responsive layouts that adapt to different screen sizes and devices.

Additionally, table layouts can negatively impact your website's overall performance, as they require more HTML elements to be processed and rendered. This can slow down page loading and consume more browser resources. Finally, search engines may have difficulty correctly interpreting the content within tables, negatively impacting your site's search engine rankings.

2. Frames and iFrames

Another obsolete method of structuring content and navigation was frames and iFrames, which were once used to create complex layouts and embed external content within a web page.

Frames allowed you to divide your browser window into multiple sections, each of which could load a separate HTML page. This approach provided the ability to dynamically update a portion of the page without having to reload the entire page, improving the user experience.

However, the use of frames presented several problems. One of the main ones was the lack of accessibility and usability, as it made it difficult for users to navigate the site and maintain a coherent context. Frames also caused problems with link sharing, as the URL displayed in the browser did not necessarily match the URL of the main page.

Frames have gradually been replaced by iFrames, which allow one web page to be embedded within another. iFrames have simplified the process of embedding external content, such as videos, maps, or social widgets, within a web page. However, iFrames also present similar challenges in terms of accessibility and usability, as well as potential security issues if not handled properly.

Additionally, excessive use of iFrames can negatively impact website performance, as each iFrame adds an additional HTTP request and can slow down the overall page loading. Additionally, iFrames can present display issues on mobile devices, as they may not be optimized for different screen sizes.

As web technologies advance and new approaches to creating dynamic layouts and embedding external content are developed, the use of frames and iFrames has become increasingly limited. Today, developers tend to use more modern and responsive techniques, such as CSS Grid and Flexbox, to create flexible layouts that adapt to different screen sizes, while embedding external content is often handled through APIs and third-party tools.

3. Flashy animations and background textures? No thanks

The early eras of CSS and web design saw an abundance of excessive animations and complex background textures.

"Flashy" animations were characterized by rapid movements, flashy transitions, and flashy visual effects that often dominated the page. These animations, if used excessively or poorly placed, could distract from the actual content of the page and make the user experience confusing and unpleasant. 

Background textures, on the other hand, were repetitive graphic patterns used as the background of a website. These patterns could be made with background images or through CSS using the background-image. While some background textures were subtle and helped create an interesting visual atmosphere, others were overly elaborate and tacky. Using overly detailed or tacky backgrounds could visually clutter a page, making it difficult to read text or navigate a site and make it more accessible, especially for visually impaired users who may find it difficult to distinguish text from background.

These elements, while technically impressive at the time, often distracted from the actual content of the page, slowed down loading times, and compromised usability on resource-constrained devices.

Both of these approaches were popular in the era before modern web design techniques, but over time they have gradually been abandoned in favor of a cleaner, more minimalistic, and content-centric approach. Today, developers and designers tend to use more subtle and functional animations, such as CSS transitions and SVG animations, which improve the user experience without overloading the page. Similarly, modern web design techniques focus on the use of simpler and lighter backgrounds and patterns, which adapt better to different device sizes and promote the readability of the content.

4. Overuse of decorative fonts: less is more

Another common mistake was the excessive use of decorative characters and elaborate fonts, often to the detriment of the readability and clarity of the text, but also the accessibility of the web pages. Developers often chose elaborate and decorative fonts in an attempt to add style and personality to their web pages.

However, this practice could make text difficult to read, especially on devices with small screens or in poor lighting conditions.

Over time, web designers have recognized the importance of legibility and clarity of text and have begun to favor the use of simple, clean, and legible fonts. The current trend is to use sans-serif fonts for main text and reserve decorative characters for occasional headlines or design elements. This approach not only improves the readability of text, but also helps create a more consistent and professional user experience.

5. Inline styles and ID overload

Another now strongly discouraged habit was the excessive use of inline styles and a huge reliance on IDs to apply CSS styles.

Developers often directly inlined CSS rules into HTML elements using the "style" attribute. This approach made it difficult to manage and maintain the code, as the style was dispersed throughout the HTML markup rather than centralized in separate CSS files. Additionally, using inline styles meant repeating the CSS code for each individual element, increasing the complexity of the code and reducing its readability.

Similarly, there was ID overload for styling, where developers used HTML IDs as if they were CSS selectors to apply specific styles to individual elements. This approach resulted in redundant and inefficient code, since IDs should be unique and used to identify specific elements within HTML markup, not to apply styles.

Both of these approaches resulted in disorganized and difficult-to-maintain CSS code, especially on complex websites with many pages and elements. They could also cause CSS specificity issues, making it difficult to override styles and maintain design consistency.

Over time, more structured and organized approaches have been adopted to manage the style of web pages, such as the use of external style sheets and the classification of HTML elements with meaningful classes for applying styles. This has allowed a better separation between structure and presentation, improving the maintainability and scalability of the code. Furthermore, the adoption of CSS methodologies such as BEM (Block Element Modifier) ​​and the appropriate use of CSS selectors has helped to reduce complexity and improve the management of styles in web pages.

The CSS 3 Revolution and Beyond

Fortunately, the evolution of CSS, particularly with the introduction of CSS3, has led to significant improvements that have made many of these practices obsolete. Tools like Flexbox, Grid Layout, and media queries have revolutionized responsive design, allowing developers to create flexible, adaptive layouts with less code and greater precision.

More and more attention is being paid to performance, focusing on optimization to reduce web page loading times,accessibility, with new tools and techniques that aim to improve the experience for users with disabilities, and finally to the Cross-browser compatibility , has become a priority. Even theintegration with other web technologies, such as HTML and JavaScript, will continue to grow, leading to a greater interactivity and advanced features.

In short, the future of CSS will be characterized by constant technological progress and adaptation to the changing needs of web developers and users.