Like sharke said, don't worry about older browsers too much. You may be surprised at how well they respond. Several browsers made efforts to be standards based years ago but web developers kept using the same techniques and hacks anyway. So, some already had the ability to use modern coding processes long before it became the norm. For those with even more ancient browsers, they probably have bigger problems than your site not working like the fact their computer is dreadfully slow and vulnerable to malware.

Well fortunately all the reference sites I'm using (well mainly the W3schools one...) show the supported tags for different versions and what major browsers support them. I've also found some neat tools to test code with and just today learned about "shivs" and "polyfill" stuff so the page can default to older methods of doing things. I wasn't planning on keeping fancier stuff like video/audio on the server but it's nice it is there and is giving me ideas.
 
I also like the idea that with HTML5 for DOCTYPE I don't have to screwaround with all the different kinds. It looks to be backwards compatible for the most part anyway so no biggie. The only real annoying thing to me at the moment is learning the CSS stuff. It is way more complicated to me than the old tags BUT I can see the benefit because I only have to apply it once instead of on every instance where that type of thing is needed... so yeah... it's worth it. I just wish they could have figured out a way to base the CSS code on the old tags wherever possible instead of changing everything.
 
Notepad++ is really cool though. Very helpful.

The problem with basing css on old tags is that the old tags were never designed for a gralhic heavy web. HTML was invented when the internet was text based. All of the additions were designed to be workarounds. Even earlier versions of css fell short on predicting the direction the web would take. Hang in there. Soon css will be second nature

Well after poking at this all day it all seems to be doing what I need it too (so far). The unfortunate part is the HTML is wicked easy and surprisingly I'm able to do a lot just from memory... the CSS though I have to look almost everything up even when I know the right basic code because it doesn't seem to work the same way when doing different things. Like when using id's apparently I have to create a whole new set of instructions for every change even if it is the same element I'm screwing with. For example I have to open a new set of curly brackets to change a font then another to change the weight then another to change the color etc... as opposed to just writing one long set of instructions like I can do with a regular element like paragraphs. Kind of weird. I'm sure there is a reason but it's confusing. It doesn't help the words used aren't quite as logical to me and I REALLY have to pay attention to how it is all set up or it won't work/will do something funky.
 
:-/
 
I'll get it though. Heck... today was just my first day and I built a page with all the basic elements I need, including some pretty complicated content that is tricky to format even in notepad, so I guess I'm doing alright.

Beepster
Like when using id's apparently I have to create a whole new set of instructions for every change even if it is the same element I'm screwing with. For example I have to open a new set of curly brackets to change a font then another to change the weight then another to change the color etc... as opposed to just writing one long set of instructions like I can do with a regular element like paragraphs. 

That doesn't sound right. For any CSS rule, you can state as many parameters you like between the curly brackets, as long as they're separated by semicolons, for instance:
 
#share_index {
position: absolute;
height: auto;
width: 470px;
top: 465px;
}
 
Be careful not to confuse ID's with classes. ID's should only be used to identify a unique element that is only used once on the page, whereas classes are used when you want to stylize a group of elements in a certain way. 
 
Post what you're trying to do in terms of code and we can put you on the right track for sure. 
 

I've actually closed it all up for the day and am making dinner so maybe tomorrow. I think after I really rip apart the difference between class and id I'll be able to handle it better. I tried using class but it wasn't working right. I needed to learn id anyway and it does apply to what I was doing though.
 
However the specific thing I was doing was trying to change the anchor/link behavior for a specific section. The coding just doesn't work out right the way it needs to be done (the way it needs to be written "logically" just doesn't fit right... like the "a" after the id just doesn't fall anywhere it should). After some digging I found the supposed correct way to do it and it specifically stated you have to do stuff like that one at a time (the info may have been faulty though... it is the internet). Sure enough it worked but yeah... seemed weird.
 
It should be noted I am currently working on an internal CSS code at the top of the actual page until I get the hang of it. Not on another page or wrapped around the actual element (the latter apparently needing to be formed a completely OTHER way... lol). I think my brain was just frying out on it.

Oh and what you wrote was pretty much how I was doing it but I'm not sure what that share-index thing is. I just named the div around the element then pointed the CSS to that with the # sign, the name then the set of instructions. No worky.
 

That CSS rule I posted was just an example from my own site - the "share-index" is the name I gave to a particular section of the page. It's also worth remembering that you can use multiple classes on a single element. You just separate them with spaces in the attribute, for example: 
 
<p class ="class1 class2 class3">BLAH BLAH</p>
 
And then in the CSS you would have
 
.class1 {some rules}
.class2 {some rules}
.class3 {some rules}
 
...etc.
 
If you feel like posting the link to the document you were reading later then by all means do so...might be a good idea to nip any problems or confusions in the bud at this early stage. CSS is one of those things that is confusing at first but once you've gotten the basic idea down it's plain sailing from there (a little like Jamstix).....

I use dotnetnuke and have been for some time. I can get most requirements up in a day (for shopping carts add an extra day and an extra day for troubleshooting such as compliance). It kicks the crap out of wordpress and is pretty fast and modular.

If you are into MS technologies such as IIS and SQL server it is a no brainer.

Ta

.