ITCSS

A starter boilerplate based on the ITCSS (Inverted Triangle CSS) methodology.

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About

ITCSS is a mobile-first, responsive, battle-tested CSS framework based on the ITCSS methodology utilizing the BEM methodology.

This boilerplate is intented to be used as a starting point in your application. You should use this as a foundation for your CSS and build on top of it.

If you want to use the full capabilities of this boilerplate such as variables, mixins, etc., then you should include it in your PostCSS files.

You should also install the required PostCSS plugins and configure your PostCSS environment following the configuration file here

You can also use the build which is plain CSS but lacks mixins, custom media queries and other useful tools.

Install

# Via NPM
npm i itcss

# Via Yarn
yarn add itcss

Usage

If you are using a module bundler (such as Webpack, Parcel, Browserify):

# In your CSS entrypoint
@import 'itcss';

# Or if the above does not resolve, try
@import 'itcss/index.css';

There are several predefined variables which you can overwrite:

:root {
	/* Color Variables */
	--color-base: #333;
	--color-primary: #fff;
	--color-secondary: #000;
	--color-action: #ef4c23;

	/* Text Variables */
	--font-sans-serif: sans-serif;
	--font-serif: serif;
	--font-monospace: monospace;
	--font-size-base: 1rem;
	--line-height-base: 1.35;
	--font-size-h1: 2rem;
	--font-size-h2: 1.75rem;
	--font-size-h3: 1.5rem;
	--font-size-h4: 1.25rem;
	--font-size-h5: var(--font-size-base);
	--font-size-h6: 0.75rem;

	/* Transition Variables */
	--timing: 0.4s;
	--easing: ease-in-out;

	/* Spacing between grid items */
	$gap: 0.5rem;

	/* Number of columns in the grid */
	$columns: 12;

	/* The maximum width of the shell container */
	--shell-width: 75rem;

	/* The left and right padding of the shell container */
	$shell-gap: 1rem;

	/* A list of responsive breakpoint names */
	--breakpoints: (xs, sm, md, lg, xl);

	/* A list of display properties */
	--displays: (block, inline, inline-block, flex, inline-flex);

	/* A list of text alignment properties */
	--alignments: (center: center, right: right, left: left, justify: justify);
}

You should place the overwriting variables after the @import statement.

Supported browsers

This boilerplate is using the most recent version of the CSS specification. In order to support more browsers you must use a tool such as PostCSS. The combined and built version of this boilerplate is using the Postcss-Preset-Env in stage: 0. This means that you can use the most recent CSS features and be sure that they will work older browsers.

The combined and built version of this boilerplate has been tested and works in all evergreen browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Opera, Safari, Brave, Vivaldi, iOS Safari, Chrome on Android, Samsung Internet) and IE 10+.

In order to do so in your setup, please refer to the postcss.config.js file.

Available files, selectors, variables and their usage

Settings

_colors.css - contains CSS custom properties declared to the :root node for all colors
_text.css - contains CSS custom properties declared to the :root node for all font settings
_transitions.css - contains CSS custom properties declared to the :root node for transition duration and timing function
_variables.css - contains CSS custom properties declared to the :root node for all other variables/settings

Tools

_chevron.css - a mixin for a directional arrow icon

Usage:

/* prettier-ignore */
@mixin chevron
	2rem /* width and height */,
	0 0 1px 1px /* border width */,
	var(--color-action) /* border color */,
	-5px 0 0 0.5em /* margin */,
	-135deg /* rotation */;

_flexbox.css - a set of mixins for flexbox

Contains several mixins:

/* General purpose flex container */
/* prettier-ignore */
@mixin flex
	center /* align-items */,
	flex-end /* justify-content */,
    wrap /* flex-wrap */,
    row /* flex-direction */,
    flex /* display */;

/* Flex container with flex-direction set to "row" */
/* prettier-ignore */
@mixin flex-row
	no-wrap /* wrap */,
	center /* align-items */,
	flex-end /* justify-content */;

/* Flex container with flex-direction set to "column" */
/* prettier-ignore */
@mixin flex-column
	no-wrap /* wrap */
	center /* align-items */
	flex-end /* justify-content */;

/* Inline-flex container with flex-direction set to "row" */
/* prettier-ignore */
@mixin inline-flex-row
	no-wrap /* wrap */,
	center /* align-items */,
	flex-end /* justify-content */;

/* Inline-flex container with flex-direction set to "column" */
/* prettier-ignore */
@mixin inline-flex-column
	no-wrap /* wrap */
	center /* align-items */
	flex-end /* justify-content */;

/* Inline-flex container with flex-direction set to "row" */
/* prettier-ignore */
@mixin inline-flex-row
	no-wrap /* wrap */,
	center /* align-items */,
	flex-end /* justify-content */;

/* Inline-flex container with flex-direction set to "column" */
/* prettier-ignore */
@mixin inline-flex-column
	no-wrap /* wrap */
	center /* align-items */
	flex-end /* justify-content */;

_media-queries.css - mixins for all supported media queries

Custom media queries:

/* (max-width: 1439px) */
@media (--small-desktop) {
}

/* (max-width: 1279px) */
@media (--tablet-landscape) {
}

/* (max-width: 1023px) */
@media (--tablet-portrait) {
}

/* (max-width: 767px) */
@media (--mobile) {
}

/* (max-width: 767px) */
@media (--xs) {
}

/* (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1023px) */
@media (--sm) {
}

/* (min-width: 1024px) and (max-width: 1279px) */
@media (--md) {
}

/* (min-width: 1280px) and (max-width: 1439px) */
@media (--lg) {
}

/* (min-width: 1439px) */
@media (--xl) {
}

/* (min-width: 0) */
@media (--xs-up) {
}
/* (min-width: 768px) */
@media (--sm-up) {
}
/* (min-width: 1024px) */
@media (--md-up) {
}
/* (min-width: 1280px) */
@media (--lg-up) {
}
/* (min-width: 1439px) */
@media (--xl-up) {
}

/* (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) */
@media (--reduced-motion) {
}

/* hover support */
@media (--hover) {
} ;

_mixins.css - all other mixins

Available mixins:

/* absolutely positions an element with known dimensions in the center of their relative parent element */
@mixin centered;

/**
	generates rules for responsive helpers
	$breakpoint: a breakpoint prefix such as xs, sm, md, lg or xl
*/
@mixin breakpoint-helpers $breakpoint;

/* creates !important declaration for the given $display argument */
@mixin display $value;

/**
	generates rules for grid columns for a given breakpoint
	$breakpoint: a breakpoint prefix such as xs, sm, md, lg or xl
*/
@mixin grid $breakpoint;

Generic

_form-elements.css - default styles for form elements
_reset.css - additional browser reset and normalize (normalize.css is also included)
_transitions.css - default transitions for focusable/active elements

Elements

_document.css - default styles for the body element
_headings.css - default styles for all heading (h1 - h6) tags
_links.css - default styles for anchors
_texts.css - default styles for text elements

Objects

_grid.css - a grid system

Available selectors are:

/* defines a grid container */
.o-grid {
}

/* defines a grid item */
.o-grid__item {
}

/**
	depending on the --breakpoints variables
	the following selectors will vary.
	1 means 1/12 of the available width.
	12 means all of the available width.
	Here are the defaults
*/
/* From 0 to 767px */
.xs-1 to .xs-12
/* From 768px to 1023px */
.sm-1 to .sm-12
/* From 1024px to 1279px */
.md-1 to .md-12
/* From 1280px to 1439px */
.lg-1 to .lg-12
/* From 1440px above */
.xl-1 to .xl-12;

_main.css - styles for the main element

Available selectors are:

/* defines the main content. used with <main> element */
.o-main {
}

_shell.css - styles for the site container

Available selectors are:

/* defines the site container */
.o-shell {
}

/* defines the site container as flex container */
.o-shell--flex {
}

/* makes the site container take the whole browser width */
.o-shell--fluid {
}

_wrapper.css - styles for the site wrapper

Available selectors are:

/* defines the parent container of all other elements. usually the only child of the <body> element */
.o-wrapper {
}

Components

_btn.css - default styles for the buttons

Available selectors are:

/* default styles for a button */
.c-btn {
}

/* makes the button fill its parent's width */
.c-btn--block {
}

_list.css - default styles for lists. A list is an element with a classname which starts with c-list

Utilities

_align.css - alignment class utilities

Available selectors are:

/* align to the left */
.alignleft {
}

/* align to the right */
.alignright {
}

/* clear the alignment */
.alignnone {
}

/* clear the alignment and center horizontally */
.aligncenter {
}

_clear.scss - utilites to clear after floats

Available selectors are:

/* clear both */
.clear {
}
/* clear right */
.clear-right {
}
/* clear left */
.clear-left {
}

_fullsize-background.css - helper for background image

Available selectors are:

/* makes the element's background image take the whole size of the element using "background-size: cover" */
.fullsize-background {
}

_hidden.css - helper class/attribute for hidden elements

Available selectors are:
```
.hidden,
[hidden] {
}
```
_preferences.css - contains user preferences settings such as reduced-motion or prefers-color-scheme preferences.

_responsive-utilities.css - helpers for showing/hiding elements on different resolutions. For resolutions reference please check the media queries section.

Available selectors are:

.visible-xs-block {
}
.visible-xs-inline {
}
.visible-xs-inline-block {
}
.visible-xs-flex {
}
.visible-xs-inline-flex {
}
.visible-sm-block {
}
.visible-sm-inline {
}
.visible-sm-inline-block {
}
.visible-sm-flex {
}
.visible-sm-inline-flex {
}
.visible-md-block {
}
.visible-md-inline {
}
.visible-md-inline-block {
}
.visible-md-flex {
}
.visible-md-inline-flex {
}
.visible-lg-block {
}
.visible-lg-inline {
}
.visible-lg-inline-block {
}
.visible-lg-flex {
}
.visible-lg-inline-flex {
}
.visible-xl-block {
}
.visible-xl-inline {
}
.visible-xl-inline-block {
}
.visible-xl-flex {
}
.visible-xl-inline-flex {
}
.hidden-xs {
}
.hidden-sm {
}
.hidden-md {
}
.hidden-lg {
}
.hidden-xl {
}

_text-align.css - text alignment utilities

Available selectors are:

/* align text to the left */
.text-left {
}
/* align text to the center */
.text-center {
}
/* align text to the right */
.text-right {
}
/* align text to the right */
.text-justify {
}