You know that feeling when you click on a link promising “insider web tricks,” expecting to uncover some hidden CSS wizardry, only to be met with a glorified glossary? You scroll, hoping for a payoff, and find nothing but raw code snippets with zero context.
This exact scenario is playing out right now on a site called HTMLCat. It promises “small, native web tricks worth remembering.” But as the developers in the comments quickly realized, these aren’t tricks. They’re just standard, boring mentions of HTML and CSS features. One frustrated developer nailed it: “They’re not really ‘tricks’ as much of mentions of assorted features… You get to discover a similar assortment of things just clicking around MDN.”
Code snippets without demonstrated behavior aren’t teaching tools; they are just noise dressed up as expertise.
I’m going to say what everyone is thinking: minimalist curation in technical documentation is a plague. When you strip away the output, when you hide the actual visual result of the code, you aren’t helping anyone. You’re just showing off your ability to copy and paste a <details> tag. The premise of a “trick” implies hidden cleverness, but native platform features are meant to be standard and discoverable. Framing them as insider knowledge is a bait-and-switch.
And the irony of this particular resource is staggering. The page literally hides the scrollbars. Yes, a page dedicated to teaching web usability actively breaks web usability by removing the fundamental way users navigate content.
You cannot champion native web features while simultaneously breaking the native web experience to show them off.
But here is the beautiful thing about the developer community: the comments saved the day. The comment section became the actual article. Instead of praising the hollow list, developers pushed back. And instead of pointing to the original site, they pointed to a real resource: Jason Knight (AKA deathshadow) and his CUTCODEDOWN project.
Why? Because Knight doesn’t just list feature names. He provides opinionated, example-rich expertise. He shows cause and effect. He treats you like a developer trying to build something, not a tourist looking at post-its.
In a world of shallow curation, opinionated expertise will always win. Stop collecting tricks and start demonstrating behavior.
FAQ
Q: Isn't minimalist design better for quick reference?
A: No. Minimalism in visual design is fine; minimalism in technical context is useless. If a developer can't see what a piece of code does without copying it into their own editor, your resource has failed.
Q: What should a good technical resource include?
A: Every code snippet must have a live, visible output attached to it. Don't just tell me what a tag does—show me the rendered result and explain why it matters in a real-world scenario.
Q: Are you saying all curated lists are bad?
A: Curated lists are fine, but framing standard documentation as 'hidden tricks' is dishonest. Stop trying to be the cool kid on the block and just provide thorough, opinionated examples.