Wikipedia:New CSS framework

Goal

To desing a common CSS framework on which all templates can build their appearance.

Rationale

Common.css is filled with CSS that is applied to a large number of templates and other user interface elements. The code for templates takes roughly up more then 60% of all the CSS. This is largely due to each template havigng a dedicated chunk of CSS that only applies to that particular template. Many templates share a common base, which results in a lot of duplicated code. This results in longer loadtimes, inconsistent design and poor managebility.

To address these issues, a rework of the CSS codebase is in order, focussing on small building blocks that can be shared between many templates. These building blocks are easy to maintain and provide a consistent design between templates, resulting in a less cluttered overall look. Instead of targeting specific templates, these CSS 'modules' target various elements that make up these template, such as borders, headers, cells and floating elements. Some template-specific code must remain, especially where (inline) styling depends on (dynamic) content of these templates.

The design standpoint is (initially) provide a consistent overall look and to reduce/eliminate the number of lines and borders within a template, to a point where individual design elements, such as padding within, or spacing between cells should no longer burden template designers. It will also eliviate many issues now inherent in the current design, such as nesting templates.