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 Writing HTML (CSS) Stylesheets for Docutils_
==============================================

:Author: Lea Wiemann
:Contact: LeWiemann@gmail.com
:Date: $Date$
:Revision: $Revision$
:Copyright: This document has been placed in the public domain.

.. _Docutils: http://docutils.sourceforge.net/


The look of Docutils' HTML output is customizable via a CSS
stylesheet.  The default stylesheet is called ``html4css1.css`` and
can be found in the ``writers/html4css1/`` directory of the Docutils
installation.  Use the command ``rst2html.py --help`` and look at the
description of the ``--stylesheet-path`` command-line option for the
exact machine-specific location.

To customize the stylesheet, first copy ``html4css1.css`` to the same
place as your output HTML files will go.  Next, place a new file
(e.g. called ``my-docutils.css``) in the same directory and use the
following template::

    /*
    :Author: Your Name
    :Contact: Your Email Address
    :Copyright: This stylesheet has been placed in the public domain.

    Stylesheet for use with Docutils.  [Optionally place a more
    detailed description here.]
    */

    @import url(html4css1.css);

    /* Your customizations go here.  For example: */

    h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, p.topic-title {
      font-family: sans-serif }    

For help on the CSS syntax, please see `the WDG's guide to Cascading
Style Sheets`__ and, in particular, their `list of CSS1 properties`__.

__ http://www.htmlhelp.com/reference/css/
__ http://www.htmlhelp.com/reference/css/all-properties.html

It is important that you do not edit a copy of ``html4css1.css``
directly because ``html4css1.css`` is frequently updated with each new
release of Docutils.

Also make sure that you import ``html4css1.css`` (using "``@import
url(html4css1.css);``") because the definitions contained in the
default stylesheet are required for correct rendering (margins,
alignment, etc.).

If you think your stylesheet is fancy and you would like to let others
benefit from your efforts, you are encouraged to post the stylesheet
to the Docutils-users_ mailing list.  We can upload it to the
`Docutils repository`__ if you would like us to do so.

If you decide to share your stylesheet with other users of Docutils,
please keep website-specific customizations not applicable to
Docutils' HTML code in a separate stylesheet.

.. _Docutils-users: ../user/mailing-lists.html#docutils-users
__ http://docutils.sourceforge.net/sandbox/stylesheets/


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