What's happening to CSS-Tricks, State of Devs 2026, announcing State of HTML 2026, and more | Front End News #116

What's happening to CSS-Tricks, State of Devs 2026, announcing State of HTML 2026, and more

— Front End News #116 | 5 October 2026 —

In this issue, we cover the current round of troubles befalling CSS-Tricks, the results of the State of Devs 2026 survey, and we're invited to partake in the State of HTML 2026 survey.

In Browser News, we have updates from the Chrome Web team on Baseline and the Web Platform. We cover the releases of several major browsers: Chrome 153-154, Firefox 155-157, Safari 27, Vivaldi 8.2, and Polypane 31. Harry Roberts also added six more episodes to his weekly web performance series.

On the Release Radar, we got Astro 7.3, Preact 11, and React 19.3, to name just a few. The Resource list includes many reference sources, utilities, and assets. We wrap up with some articles that caught my attention and a few more creators that could use our support.

I am currently looking for new opportunities, with a focus on the front-of-the-frontend, either in general or on the Shopware platform in particular. You can contact me on my website.

What's happening to CSS-Tricks?

As far as we can say, DigitalOcean left CSS-Tricks to rot for the second time. They haven't paid Geoff Graham's recent invoices; in his video, Kevin Powell also mentions that some authors haven't received their fees either. The community has been very supportive, and I've compiled the main messages in a short timeline.

To my knowledge, when I finished writing this article, DigitalOcean had made no official statement on the situation.

Whatever happens next, CSS-Tricks has been left in limbo twice. The site is still online. However, this is simple preservation, and even that should not be taken for granted. Getting the site to grow again and publish new articles would take an unknown amount of resources. And the willing cooperation of DigitalOcean, which is the current rightful owner.

In the end, this is just one of the most visible examples of the current negative trend affecting the established developer education sources. The ecosystem is in flux, and the traditional ways are proving less viable and sustainable with every passing day.

The State of Devs 2026 Survey Results

We have the results for the State of Devs 2026 survey, and the overall mood is not bright. Job insecurity, burnout symptoms, layoffs, and AI-fueled uncertainty are just the tip of the iceberg. There is a $100000 gap between the median salary in the US and the rest of the world. And having a job title with the word "engineer" means you might be paid up to $65000 more than someone with a title containing the word "developer".

The State of HTML 2026 Survey

The State of HTML 2026 survey is open. Share how you use HTML and the wider web platform, which features you find useful, and where browsers still need to improve. Not only can you find new things about the web platform, but browser vendors pay attention to the results when planning future releases.

💻 Browser News

Web Platform Updates

Chrome

Chrome 153 brings experimental support for single-axis scroll containers and implements the dedicated <camera> and <microphone> capability elements.

Chrome 154 implements responsively-sized iframes, CSS scroll-marker-group modes, and CSS text-decoration-inset.

As Chrome releases now come every two weeks, the team maintaining the developer blog decided to release the DevTools series monthly, with the latest issue covering releases 153 and 154. The MCP server has new security controls, you can highlight unused styles, the Devices panel has an updated list, grouped by form factor, and more.

Firefox

Firefox 155 shows how many trackers it has blocked in the address bar. CSS Nesting has a limit of 75 levels to prevent crashes. This release also implements the progress() and alpha() CSS functions, many security fixes, and more.

Firefox 156 focuses mainly on improving performance and fixing bugs and security issues.

Firefox 157 brings the biggest visual refresh in a long while, built upon an updated design system. There is also support for at-rule browser support detection using @supports at-rule().

Polypane

Polypane 31 brings an infinite canvas layout for your many open panes. The entire download size is smaller, the app launches faster, and the list of improvements goes on. And everything runs on Chromium 155.

Polypane also finally has an official presentation video. And an official YouTube channel. I am looking forward to seeing the kind of video content they will make.

Vivaldi

Vivaldi 8.2 for desktop continues to bring quality-of-life improvements, like the private calculator directly in the URL bar and the quick-install button for PWAs. The mobile version also received the calculator. The Android version can now install extensions from the Chrome Web Store.

An Enterprise version is also in the works for organizations that need features like policies, managed deployment and updates, or widespread customizations.

WebKit

Safari 27 is a huge update, bringing over 80 features. At the top of the list is the MCP server, followed by customizable <select> elements, scroll anchoring, support for the <model> HTML element, and much more.

🚀 Web Performance

Harry Roberts continues his weekly web performance series with six more entries. How's that for consistency?

📡 The Release Radar

🛠️ Front End Resources

There's more where that came from. Explore the rest of the Front End Resource collection.

📑 Interesting articles

Declan Chidlow (a.k.a. Vale) also deserves a special shoutout for the series of essays focused on the hoops developers had to jump through in the aftermath of the First Browser War:

🏆 The Developer Creator Club

Developer education is not in the bright spot it used to be. Creators find it harder and harder to make this activity sustainable. But we, the community, can help them bypass this phase.

Important note: I am listing these products to help more people discover them. I have not purchased or reviewed them, so I cannot personally vouch for their quality, value, or results. Please evaluate each product based on the information provided by its creator and the creator's established work and reputation.

Geoff Graham

Geoff has long been a prolific writer in web dev education. He also managed CSS Tricks from the moment DigitalOcean acquired it until the recent fiasco I highlighted above.

Stefan Judis

Stefan writes about the web platform, from browser APIs and CSS to the small features that are easy to miss. He also publishes Web Weekly, a free newsletter that helps developers keep up with what the web can do.

Jens Oliver Meiert

Jens is an independent web developer, author, and publisher with a long-running body of work around HTML, CSS, web development, and professional practice.

Wrapping things up

Ukraine is still suffering from the Russian invasion. To find ways to help, please read Smashing Magazine's article We All Are Ukraine 🇺🇦 or contact your trusted charity.

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That's all I have for this issue. Have a great and productive week, keep yourselves safe, and spend as much time as possible with your loved ones. I will see you again next time!