A lot of the CSS Frameworks throw the word "curate" or "curated" around like it is something special about their particular brand or feature set. Let's get real folks, there's nothing curated about any of the CSS Frameworks. Not even the one I am toying around with.
Let's take a look at what a curator does, and use the meaning from museums. I got this from a career guide (indeed.com) and I agree with its definition.
A museum curator is a person who works in a museum and is responsible for curating collections, exhibits and other artifacts that will be displayed at the museum. These professionals play a large role in how the museum's visitors experience the materials they see.
Museum curators manage the collections and artifacts as well as care for them to ensure they maintain their integrity and condition.Museum curators may also offer information and design displays that benefit visitors and guide them throughout their museum experience.
~ indeed.com article
There is some basis to curating. I would expect the curating process to include:
- research
- definition and categorization
- maintenance
If I walked into two different museums featuring paleontology exhibits, each displaying Mastodons, to have the same definitions and displays of Mastodons. Not nearly the same, there are enough examples of mastodons found in the world to know the shape, bone structure, stance. The variations would come from age, maturity, gender.
It's the same for CSS. The history of CSS is known. Håkon Wium Lie invented CSS in 1994. It's now managed and maintained by a group of people within the W3C and known as the CSS Working Group. The group defines the defaults of CSS. Since the group has no control over the implementation of CSS, these defaults are known as "recommendations". The implementation of CSS is left to the individual browsers like Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Opera, etc. Those that develop websites and web applications are able to define their own CSS.
I would expect, then, that curating CSS means that the HTML tags are managed and maintained to the W3C standards and new CSS code for the framework closely adheres to the guidelines of the W3C.
Now, I don't do that. Not a chance. Historically, CSS was based on printing standards with influence from word processing. That is, based on "pull" technology – where the eye is drawn to the object (paper or similar). CSS applies to "push" technology, that is where the device pushes "light" transmission to the eye. There is a difference: with push technology the eye fatigues must faster and visual acuity based on factors like age deterioration have more impact. Fonts desired for print have no use in screen display. First of all, print fonts have design elements for ink bleed ... if you look closely at the fonts used in the early days of computers, you'll notice they look a bit "fuzzier" than today's fonts created specifically for electronic viewing. Today's fonts: no ink bleed features. First, there's no ink in electronic devices, no liquidity that "bleeds". A print version ink bleed feature is specifically for the properties of liquid ink ... by the time the ink bleed area fills in with ink, it has the appearance of being straight.
I do not use any description that suggests I curate my CSS. For example, I proudly re-define the sizing and spacing of <h1> through <h6> and make them more visually appealing for websites and reading. Mine are more akin to the typographic styling of print publishing where the heading appears to have a relationship with the text it supports. That means, to me, extra space above so that it appears separate from the text above (and less space below). It also implies some changes to <p> altering spacing in particular to application (none to the top, all spacing to the bottom).
Curated, hogwash. There's nothing curated about any of the CSS Frameworks. I think what they mean is that they "curate" their own opinions and make sure the code supports those opinions.
What got me going on this is that I have written a new grid system. I like the "skelton" framework syntax ... and mine is somewhat similar. However, I have decided to rewrite the grid system entirely and go in a new direction. Same code, but an entirely different way of writing it in HTML. One of the struggles (and that's what a curator should consider) is that I can break the CSS and follow non-standard HTML implementation, or I can follow standard HTML implementation. It would add five characters to each CSS rule. What to do? (I'm thinking non-standard, by the way).