The HTML Playground offers XHTML and CSS references by example. The site is still in beta at version 0.4, but offers an easy to use interface that makes digesting all the information displayed simple. It is a fast loading application and I have just found it to be overall a great tool for learning the basics of HTML and CSS.

The concept is pretty easy and follows an intuitive design and interface. The initial information is loaded from the left top pane and allows you to make a selection. Once you have chosen what you want to learn about, it loads more information into the panel directly to the right. Additional information, if available, is loaded underneath the initial pane. The last pane to load contains the examples and a way for you to try it out yourself. The design follows the logical left to right, top to bottom reading layout so you don't miss a beat when you start using it. Although this seems like a no brainer, think of how many blogs out there, like mine, have the menu on the right, which took some time to get used to when it first started showing up. This simple design principle makes the app very easy to use.

The examples pane includes code highlighting to make reading and learning the code easier. The attributes pane in the bottom left contains a color picker of basic/common colors so you can start to learn the Hex codes for colors (for example: white = #FFFFFF). There are also basic choices for other attributes like align and border to help you learn what is available to customize those tags. The search function works well in allowing you to quickly search and find a specific tag to learn.

This is a free website and a good one to bookmark. I'm not sure how much recent activity there has been in development because the last blog entry was back in December of 2006. However, there has been some activity in the community section of the site as recently as July of 2008, so there may be some continued development taking place. Either way, the website is very useful in its current condition. I hope that there will be more features and information continually added, but for now, check out what's there.

The 5 most popular Posts of the month in August were:

1. Library of Over 500 Free Database Models
   "There are over 500 free database models at this website. They are all viewable in data model form and can be saved as an image or printed. You are also able to request an access database for any of the data models available by simply emailing and asking for one."
   
2. 10 Online Magazines for Developers and Designers
   "10 great online magazines for both developers and designers. These sites offer a ton of great information and resources to help a newbie and pro alike."
   
3. Create Standards Compliant Slide Shows With S5
   "S5 (Simple Standards-based Slide Show System) is an easy way to create nice looking slide shows that are completely standards compliant. Using XHTML, CSS, and JavaScript, S5 allows you to view the normal slideshow as well as a printer friendly version. The transitions are fast and smooth."
   
4. 300+ PHP Presentations Online
   "The PHP Presentation System hosts over three hundred presentations, covering a slew of different topics including performance, testing, debugging, XML, and security. The presentations are from speakers at a variety of conferences. You will see (and hear if interested) presentations from speakers like Derick Rethans, Tobias Schlitt, Rasmus Lerdorf and many many more."
5. 5 Free Tools for Picking Your Website Color Scheme
   "Picking the colors for your next website is not always an easy task. There are so many great looking websites out there that use some very nice colors. How do you find the color to start with as the base or add to compliment it? Thankfully for those of us that aren't as creative as we wish we were there are websites available to help us see what a color scheme would look like."