Rebuilding a CSS, what tools should I be using

I have an existing CSS and would love to revamp it, what CSS tools should I be using to do this?

I have an existing web application that already has tons of CSS, but want a total revamp.

Tools and sug开发者_开发百科gestions about how to do this would be great.

your best option is a simple text editor, a good CSS book and Google.

no sarcasm or anything intended. if you want to revamp your CSS, learn CSS and write it yourself. no tool will ever produce the same quality as hand written CSS.

I'm inclined to say you should just use a standard text editor and the refresh button on your browser. Visual Studio has auto complete for CSS styles so that could help.

Alternatively you could try something like this

Stylizer

but personally I think its overkill

Use a simpel text editor, with some syntax highlighting.

Read up on, Object Oriented CSS.

Slideshow about this: http://www.slideshare.net/stubbornella/object-oriented-css

Use Firefox, install the "Firebug" and "Web Developer" Add On. They are invaluable when you need to explore the current setup.

You'll get a "Inspect Element" feature with Firebug that also allows you to inspect small changes rapidly.

Use (search for) reset stylesheets for a good start; and really go for the semantics of your content, not just pure CSS effects.

I wouldn't do a "total revamp" unless I had a fantastic reason to do so. That being said, the only tools I would use is a standard editor with syntax-highlighting (like intype), and firebug. Avoid wysiwyg editors like the plague! They will write horrible markup/css, and you'll find yourself wanting to do yet another revamp down the road. Learn to write solid styling rules, and avoid verbosity.

Another interesting firefox plugin that works in conjuction with firebug is firediff. This will help you keep track of the changes you're making in firebug, to carry them over into your project files.

I would also keep the major browsers (Opera, Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and IE7/8) opened in parallel to one-another, for constant testing. You'll meet some designers who say "Get it working in Firefox, then test later in IE," but I call that nonsense - test it in all, all the time, and you won't have to figure out solutions for one in the end.

I am using Yaml for creating CSS based layout. It's not a "tool" to revamp existing CSS files but comes with a lot of examples and predesigned CSS files to design floating layouts with CSS (and helps to add all those terrible browser-specific hacks to get cross-browser working pages). Not sure if this could be interesting for your purpose, just take a look.

Structually, you could try using a grid layout like 960.

If you'd like to try a CSS framework, you could use something like cssscaffold or compass.

You may be interested in trying the "object oriented css" style moving forward.

Your original question is a little non-specific, though.