Am I suffering "divitis"? (CSS especialist needed) [closed]

I've read lots of articles that condemn the excessive use of divs. I have a feeling that I might be doing that in the following mark up:

.container {
  margin: 0 auto;
  overflow: hidden;
  width: 960px;
}

/* header */

#header {
  background: #EEE;
}

#header h1 {
  float: left;
}

#header h2,
#header a,
#header p {
  color: #999;
}

#header h1 a {
  background: url(../images/logo.png) no-repeat scroll 0 0;
  float: left;
  height: 30px;
  text-indent: -9999px;
  width: 500px;
}

#banner {
  border-bottom: 1px solid #DDD;
  padding: 0 0 15px 0;
  margin: 30px 0 30px 0;
  overflow: hidden;
  width: 960px;
}

#lang {
  float: right;
  padding: 9px 0 0 0;
}

#lang li {
  float: left;
  margin: 0 0 0 20px;
}

#lang li a {
  font-size: 10px;
}


/* intro */

#intro {
  overflow: hidden;
  padding: 0 0 30px 0;
}

#tagline {
  float: left;
  margin: 0 40px 0 0;
  width: 540px;
  /* 560 */
}

#tagline h2 {
  font-size: 24px;
}

#about {
  float: right;
  width: 380px;
}

<div id="header">
  <div class="container">
    <div id="banner">
      <h1><a href="http://widerdesign.co.nr/">wider design</a></h1>
      <ul id="lang">
        <li><a href="index.php">English</a></li>
        <li><a href="es/index.php">Español</a></li>
        <li><a href="tw/index.php">中文(繁體)</a></li>
        <li><a href="cn/index.php">中文(简体)</a></li>
      </ul>
    </div>
    <div id="intro">
      <div id="tagline">
        <h2>Nulla vitae tortor mauris</h2>
        <p>Pellentesque faucibus est eu tellus varius in susc...</p>
      </div>
      <div id="about">
        <h2>right</h2>
        <p>Pellentesque faucibus est eu tellus varius in susc...</p>
      </div>
    </div>
    <!-- #intro -->
  </div>
  <!-- .container -->
</div>
<!-- #header -->

Explanation of the use of those divs:

• header: Defines the background color which expands until the end of the window (lies outside of the div .container)

• container: centers the content (but not the background)

• banner: to define the background or border color around ul#lang and h1

• intro: same as above but for #tagline and #about (otherwise I have to define say padding or margin for tagline and about individually)

Am I overusing divs? Can this be simplified?

It looks perfect. This should be taken as an example!

One symptom of "divitis" is when you see a list of <div>'s instead of using a <ul>.

For the most part your markup is fine. Each site presents slightly different problems. I would argue that your code could be improved by removing #intro and just applying the CSS to the two columns.

Depending on the rest of your page, you may be able to do without the #header div.

Additionally, you can style html AND body if needed to help with multiple backgrounds/containers. Just remember that body starts acting like a div (doesn't extend to the bottom of the browser) as soon as you start applying styles to html.

Using divs or the new HTML 5 block elements, is all about making semantic sense first, and giving places to hang your CSS second.

Since each of your div elements serves a specific purpose where they provide semantic grouping of elements that go together, I would say your code is just fine.

For the record, this is divitis:

<div class='image'>
  <div class='shadow'>
    <div class='bottom-shadow'>
       <img src="..." alt="" />
    </div>
  </div>
  <div class="clear"></div>
</div>

You're using <ul>s for navigation, and <h1><h2> for headings - that's good enough for me. I couldn't think of a more fitting element for any of the divs you are using. Would pass my quality check without further ado.

You're using <p>, <h*> when you need them so it's correct.

What is bad is using div instead of an appropriate element. There isn't such thing here.

Everyone may have a different opinion on this subject, but here's my opinion:

You're not over using <div>.

If you were using <div> when you should be using <h2>, <p>, etc, then you would certainly be doing it wrong. In other words, if you're bending <div> to fit your every purpose, you've got a problem.

Unfortunately, when CSS started to get popular, there were a lot of articles written promoting this practice with titles/themes following a "Use <div> instead of <tagX>!" pattern.