#grid-kiss: Keep CSS Grids simple, stupid
This is a PostCSS plugin aiming to replace the 24 new properties brought by CSS Grids with a single one that you immediately understand when you see it.
- Example
- Try it online
- How to draw a grid ?
- Alternative styles
- Installation
- Usage
- Properties supported
- Alignment of the grid
- Alignment inside zones
- Dimensions values for rows and columns
##Example
body {
grid-kiss:
"+-------------------------------+ "
"| header ↑ | 120px"
"+-------------------------------+ "
" "
"+-- 30% ---+ +--- auto --------+ "
"| .sidebar | | main | auto "
"+----------+ +-----------------+ "
" "
"+-------------------------------+ "
"| ↓ | 60px "
"| → footer ← | "
"+-------------------------------+ "
}
is converted to:
body > header {
grid-area: header;
align-self: start
}
body > .sidebar {
grid-area: sidebar
}
body > main {
grid-area: main
}
body > footer {
grid-area: footer;
justify-self: center;
align-self: end
}
body {
display: grid;
align-content: space-between;
grid-template-rows: 120px 1fr 60px;
grid-template-columns: 30% 1fr;
grid-template-areas:
"header header"
"sidebar main "
"footer footer"
}
which displays this kind of grid layout:
You can play with the plugin on the playground. Edit the CSS and HTML on the left and the grid will be updated instantly.
- Draw the different zones of your grid as shown in the example. You can use some tools like AsciiFlow.
- Inside every zone, write a CSS selector that matches the corresponding element. It can be a
tag
name, a.class
, an#id
, orany.other[valid]#selector
- The elements matched have to be direct descendants of the grid element
- Separate each row by a newline (
\n
) and give the same indentation level to every row - Make sure each row starts and end by a double quote
"
- Make sure the zone corners (
+
) are correctly aligned. Every index in the rows where a corner character is found creates a new column. - Do not hesitate to make large zones with unused space, it may be useful for future modifications
- Use Insert. key and Multi-cursor if supported by your editor to draw and edit your grids easily
┌ ┐ └ ┘
for corners and│ ─
for segments
div {
grid-kiss:
"┌──────┐ ┌──────┐ "
"│ │ │ ↑ │ "
"│ │ │ bar →│ 200px "
"│ ↓ │ └──────┘ "
"│ baz │ - "
"│ ↑ │ ┌──────┐ "
"│ │ │ ↑ │ 200px "
"└──────┘ │ │ "
" │ foo │ - "
"┌──────┐ │ │ "
"│ qux │ │ ↓ │ 200px "
"│ ↓ │ │ │ "
"└─20em─┘ └──────┘ "
}
╔ ╗ ╚ ╝
for corners and║ ═
for segments
main {
grid-kiss:
"╔═══════╗ ╔════════════════╗ "
"║ ║ ║ .article ║ auto "
"║ ↑ ║ ╚════════════════╝ "
"║ nav ║ ╔════╗ ╔════════╗ "
"║ ║ ║ ║ ║ aside →║ 240px"
"╚═ 25% ═╝ ╚════╝ ╚═ 80em ═╝ "
}
- with yarn
yarn add postcss-grid-kiss --dev
- with npm
npm install postcss-grid-kiss --save-dev
If you never used PostCSS before, read PostCSS usage documentation first.
- with command line interface :
postcss src/your.css --output dist/compiled.css --use postcss-grid-kiss
- with Node:
const postcss = require('postcss'),
gridkiss = require('postcss-grid-kiss');
postcss([ gridkiss ])
.process(css, { from: 'src/your.css', to: 'compiled.css' })
.then(function (result) {
fs.writeFileSync('compiled.css', result.css);
if( result.map ) fs.writeFileSync('compiled.css.map', result.map);
});
Read PostCSS documentation for usage with Gulp, Webpack, Grunt or other toolchains.
display: grid
✅grid-template-columns
✅grid-template-rows
✅grid-template-areas
✅grid-column-gap
❌ [1]grid-row-gap
❌ [1]grid-gap
❌ [1]justify-items
❌ [2]align-items
❌ [2]justify-content
✅align-content
✅grid-auto-columns
❌ [3]grid-auto-rows
❌ [3]grid-auto-flow
❌ [3]grid
❌ [4]
[1]: gaps are actually faked as empty zones, so you can draw these zones explicitely
[2]: justify-items
and align-items
are not used on the container level, instead use alignment helpers for each zone
[3]: grid-auto-columns
, grid-auto-rows
and grid-auto-flow
are not used, instead define explicitely all the zones
[4]: grid-kiss
aims to replace the grid
property
grid-column-start
❌ [5]grid-column-end
❌ [5]grid-row-start
❌ [5]grid-row-end
❌ [5]grid-column
❌ [5]grid-row
❌ [5]grid-area
✅justify-self
✅align-self
✅
[5] named areas are used instead of indexes
Specifies how all the zones are aligned inside the grid container. Irrelevant if one of the zones fits all the remaining free space.
justify-content: stretch
when there are no two consecutive spaces at the beginning or the end of the rows
"+---+ +---+ +---+"
"| a | | b | | c |"
"+---+ +---+ +---+"
"+---+ +---+ +---+"
"| d | | e | | f |"
"+---+ +---+ +---+"
"+---+ +---+ +---+"
"| g | | h | | i |"
"+---+ +---+ +---+"
justify-content: start
when there are two consecutive spaces or more at the end of the rows
"+---+ +---+ +---+ "
"| a | | b | | c | "
"+---+ +---+ +---+ "
"+---+ +---+ +---+ "
"| d | | e | | f | "
"+---+ +---+ +---+ "
"+---+ +---+ +---+ "
"| g | | h | | i | "
"+---+ +---+ +---+ "
justify-content: end
when there are two consecutive spaces or more at the beginning of the rows
" +---+ +---+ +---+"
" | a | | b | | c |"
" +---+ +---+ +---+"
" +---+ +---+ +---+"
" | d | | e | | f |"
" +---+ +---+ +---+"
" +---+ +---+ +---+"
" | g | | h | | i |"
" +---+ +---+ +---+"
justify-content: center
when there are two consecutive spaces or more at the beginning and the end of the rows
" +---+ +---+ +---+ "
" | a | | b | | c | "
" +---+ +---+ +---+ "
" +---+ +---+ +---+ "
" | d | | e | | f | "
" +---+ +---+ +---+ "
" +---+ +---+ +---+ "
" | g | | h | | i | "
" +---+ +---+ +---+ "
justify-content: space-between
when there are two consecutive spaces or more between zones
"+---+ +---+ +---+"
"| a | | b | | c |"
"+---+ +---+ +---+"
"+---+ +---+ +---+"
"| d | | e | | f |"
"+---+ +---+ +---+"
"+---+ +---+ +---+"
"| g | | h | | i |"
"+---+ +---+ +---+"
justify-content: space-evenly
when there are two consecutive spaces or more at the beginning and the end of the rows, and exactly two consecutive spaces between zones
" +---+ +---+ +---+ "
" | a | | b | | c | "
" +---+ +---+ +---+ "
" +---+ +---+ +---+ "
" | d | | e | | f | "
" +---+ +---+ +---+ "
" +---+ +---+ +---+ "
" | g | | h | | i | "
" +---+ +---+ +---+ "
justify-content: space-around
when there are two consecutive spaces or more at the beginning and the end of the rows, and four consecutive spaces or more between zones
" +---+ +---+ +---+ "
" | a | | b | | c | "
" +---+ +---+ +---+ "
" +---+ +---+ +---+ "
" | d | | e | | f | "
" +---+ +---+ +---+ "
" +---+ +---+ +---+ "
" | g | | h | | i | "
" +---+ +---+ +---+ "
align content: stretch
when no space rows
"+---+ +---+ +---+"
"| a | | b | | c |"
"+---+ +---+ +---+"
"+---+ +---+ +---+"
"| d | | e | | f |"
"+---+ +---+ +---+"
"+---+ +---+ +---+"
"| g | | h | | i |"
"+---+ +---+ +---+"
align-content: start
when at least one space row at the end
"+---+ +---+ +---+"
"| a | | b | | c |"
"+---+ +---+ +---+"
"+---+ +---+ +---+"
"| d | | e | | f |"
"+---+ +---+ +---+"
"+---+ +---+ +---+"
"| g | | h | | i |"
"+---+ +---+ +---+"
" "
" "
align-content: end
when at least one space row at the beginning
" "
" "
"+---+ +---+ +---+"
"| a | | b | | c |"
"+---+ +---+ +---+"
"+---+ +---+ +---+"
"| d | | e | | f |"
"+---+ +---+ +---+"
"+---+ +---+ +---+"
"| g | | h | | i |"
"+---+ +---+ +---+"
align-content: center
when at least one space row at the beginning and one space row at the end
" "
"+---+ +---+ +---+"
"| a | | b | | c |"
"+---+ +---+ +---+"
"+---+ +---+ +---+"
"| d | | e | | f |"
"+---+ +---+ +---+"
"+---+ +---+ +---+"
"| g | | h | | i |"
"+---+ +---+ +---+"
" "
align-content: space-between
when there is one space row between zones
"+---+ +---+ +---+"
"| a | | b | | c |"
"+---+ +---+ +---+"
" "
"+---+ +---+ +---+"
"| d | | e | | f |"
"+---+ +---+ +---+"
" "
"+---+ +---+ +---+"
"| g | | h | | i |"
"+---+ +---+ +---+"
align-content: space-evenly
when there is one space row at the beginning, at the end and between zones
" "
"+---+ +---+ +---+"
"| a | | b | | c |"
"+---+ +---+ +---+"
" "
"+---+ +---+ +---+"
"| d | | e | | f |"
"+---+ +---+ +---+"
" "
"+---+ +---+ +---+"
"| g | | h | | i |"
"+---+ +---+ +---+"
" "
align-content: space-around
when there is one space row at the beginning and at the end, and two space rows between zones
" "
"+---+ +---+ +---+"
"| a | | b | | c |"
"+---+ +---+ +---+"
" "
" "
"+---+ +---+ +---+"
"| d | | e | | f |"
"+---+ +---+ +---+"
" "
" "
"+---+ +---+ +---+"
"| g | | h | | i |"
"+---+ +---+ +---+"
" "
Each zone can specify an alignment indicator. When no indicators are specified, defaults are stretch horizontally and vertically.
justify-self: start
with<
or←
+-------------+ +-------------+
| < .item-a | or | ← .item-a |
+-------------+ +-------------+
justify-self: end
with>
or→
+-------------+ +-------------+
| .item-a > | or | .item-a → |
+-------------+ +-------------+
justify-self: stretch
with<
and>
or←
and→
in this order
+--------------+ +--------------+
| < .item-a > | or | ← .item-a → |
+--------------+ +--------------+
justify-self: center
with>
and<
or→
and←
in this order
+--------------+ +--------------+
| > .item-a < | or | → .item-a ← |
+--------------+ +--------------+
align-self: start
with^
or↑
+-------------+ +-------------+
| ^ | or | ↑ |
| .item-a | | .item-a |
+-------------+ +-------------+
align-self: end
withv
or↓
+-------------+ +-------------+
| .item-a | or | .item-a |
| v | | ↓ |
+-------------+ +-------------+
align-self: stretch
with^
andv
or↑
and↓
in this order
+-------------+ +-------------+
| ^ | | ↑ |
| .item-a | or | .item-a |
| v | | ↓ |
+-------------+ +-------------+
align-self: center
withv
and^
or↓
and↑
in this order
+-------------+ +-------------+
| v | | ↓ |
| .item-a | or | .item-a |
| ^ | | ↑ |
+-------------+ +-------------+
New lines and position of alignement characters do not matter. Just make it visually understandable.
Dimensions can be any of the specified values:
-
a non-negative length.
15px
4rem
-
a non-negative percentage value, optionally with a context keyword
20%
25% free
=>25fr
30% grid
=>30%
5% view
=>5vw
or5vh
-
a non-negative number representing a fraction of the free space in the grid container.
5
=>5fr
-
max
ormax-content
: a keyword representing the largest maximal content contribution of the grid items occupying the grid track -
min
ormin-content
: a keyword representing the largest minimal content contribution of the grid items occupying the grid track -
a range between a minimum and a maximum or
minmax(min, max)
100px - 200px
=>minmax(100px, 200px)
-
> *length*
or< *length*
: a minimum or maximum value> 100px
=>minmax(100px, auto)
< 50%
=>minmax(auto, 50%)
-
fit *length*
orfit-content(*length*)
: a keyword representing the formula min(max-content, max(auto, length)), which is calculated similar to auto (i.e. minmax(auto, max-content)), except that the track size is clamped at argument length if it is greater than the auto minimum.fit 100px
=>fit-content(100px)
-
auto
: a keyword representing one part of the remaining free space, i.e.1fr
. When used as a maximum value, it is equal tomax-content
. When used as a minimum value, it it is equal tomin-content
.
When no value is specified, row and column sizes are set as auto
Declare the size of a column by writing the dimension inside the top or bottom border of a zone:
+-- 640px --+ +----------+
| selector | or | selector |
+-----------+ +---30%----+
You cannot set the width of a zone occupying more than one column. This would imply some calculations that may or may not have a solution. As an alternative, you can declare the size of a column just after the last row of the grid:
+-------------+ +-----+ +-------------+ +-20%-+
| .bigzone | | | | .bigzone | | |
+-------------+ +-----+ +-------------+ +-----+
+-----+ +-------------+ or +-----+ +-------------+
| | | .bigzone2 | | | | .bigzone2 |
+-----+ +-------------+ +-20%-+ +-------------+
| 20% | | 60% | | 20% | | 60% |
The |
separators between dimensions are not mandatory, they are only here to make the grid more readable.
Declare the size of a row by writing the dimension just after the last column of the grid
+------+ +------+ ---
| ^ | | .bar | 40em
| | +------+ ---
| .baz |
| | +------+ ---
| v | | ^ | 38em
+------+ | | ---
| .foo |
+------+ | | ---
| .qux | | v | 40em
+------+ +------+ ---
The -
separators between dimensions are not mandatory, they are only here to make the grid more readable.
Credits for images : CSS Tricks - https://css-tricks.com/snippets/css/complete-guide-grid/