I know you can wrap your react app with <ThemeProvider /> and you can set a variable for the theme and access it like so:
const Text styled`
color: ${((props) => props.theme.red)};
`
But it's it CSS itself have the variable feature?
You can just do
:root {
--red: tomato;
}
.text {
color: var(--red);
}
is it ok to mix them? or stick to either styled-components or CSS?
Yes it is OK. Those 2 technologies have nothing to do with each other and are not conflicting.
As long as your components can inherit the CSS variables (AKA custom properties) they will work.
Just make sure they are really inherit.
Clearly defining variables on the root element selector (html) will make them available everywhere, but sometimes you don't want global variables, but more local, per page/area/component, so you need to structure you code taking that into account.
The real power of CSS variables is in their inheritance (unlike SCSS variables which are injected/replaces during the build-process).
The power of styled-components is isolation & the ability to share code with javascript. This does hinder their ability to inherit CSS variables defined at parents-level.
You need not bother yourself with this question at all, and simply ignore the fact you are using styled-components. All that matters is the HTML structure, which how inheritance works.
I Googled things for you:
https://medium.com/fbdevclagos/how-to-leverage-styled-components-and-css-variables-to-build-truly-reusable-components-in-react-4bbf50467666
https://betterprogramming.pub/7-ways-to-inherit-styles-using-styled-components-69debaad97e3
https://dev.to/arnonate/using-css-variables-to-tame-styled-component-props-2f9o
I need to get some colour values out of a DB and use them in my CSS so that each customer has a colour branded version of my React.js application, but I'm not sure how.
I have other elements of branding such as logos, slogans and terminology which I'm pulling out of the DB, storing as a JSON file, and referencing around the site, which works fine, but the problem is the colours which I need to use in my stylesheet as I need to use the pseudo classes that CSS offer.
I've found this postcss-import-json package which claims to do this, but I can't seem to get it to work as intended.
So far I've...
Imported the package...
npm install --save-dev postcss-import-json
Created a JSON file called 'masterConfig.json'
Imported the above file into my main stylesheet using the name i've called my colour (primary)...
:root { #import-json "../Assets/MasterConfig/masterConfig.json" (primary); }
Added the above colour name to my list of colours...
:root {primary: primary}
I've also tried this with the -- prefix by changing to #import-json... (primary as primary prefix --)
...and added it in my code where it is to be used...
style={{background: "var(--primary)"}}
^^^ with and without the prefix
Am I doing something wrong?
I've noticed in the example it uses the $ symbol, so can this only be used with SCSS?
Any help with this, or any other way to achieve this would be great, thanks!
So, I was quite surprised that I didn't already know how to do this, it seems so trivial and doesn't need any additional package.
To change a CSS varibale from JavaScript code, simply target the root element as you normally would, and set the property!
CSS
Create a variable (I'm using a fallback colour)
:root {--primary: #123456;}
JavaScript
I'm using React, and set this is my App.js componentDidMount function so it's global to my app. I've hard-coded the colour, but this can be pulled from the DB.
componentDidMount() {
const root = document.documentElement;
root.style.setProperty('--primary', '#CCCC00');
}
BooYaa!
There appears to be two was to access the variable you've defined, I've done it in two separate ways and you can implement whichever makes your code neater!
Referencing the variable inline:
CSS
:root {
--testcolor: red;
}
HTML
<div style="background:var(--testcolor)">
Many words
</div>
Example of the working product in JS Fiddle: https://jsfiddle.net/ta37nzer/
Accessing the variable through a class:
CSS
:root {
--testcolor: red;
}
.exampleClass {
background: var(--testcolor);
}
HTML
<div class="exampleClass">
Many words
</div>
Example of the working product in JS Fiddle: https://jsfiddle.net/ta37nzer/1/
I have 2 icons - a filled thumbs-down (reject) and an unfilled thumbs-up (approve). I need to have both a thumbs up and down image which fills in on hover.
I am trying to use FontAwesome's flip CSS to achieve this. The icons themselves are from an iconfont generated using ico-moon and relate to classes .icon-approve and .icon-reject.
.icon-approve-hover-fill {
#extend .icon-approve;
}
.icon-approve-hover-fill:hover {
#extend .icon-reject;
#extend .fa-flip-vertical;
}
.icon-reject-hover-fill {
#extend .icon-approve;
#extend .fa-flip-vertical;
}
.icon-reject-hover-fill:hover {
#extend .icon-reject;
}
My issue is that for the reject-hover-fill case that the .icon-reject-hover-fill:hover is still flipping due to the .fa-flip-vertical; in the .icon-reject-hover-fill base class.
I need .icon-reject-hover-fill:hover to effectively be it's own class and not inherit the useless extra flip from .icon-reject-hover-fill. I assume there's a way to achieve this without me needing to re-create my font with flipped icons? I need it to work down to IE 8 and can be either basic CSS or SASS (though it needs to work with Sencha's flavour of SASS in ExtJS 6).
The .icon-reject-hover-fill:hover selector is stronger than .icon-reject-hover-fill. If .icon-reject-hover-fill has CSS properties you don't want when the element is hovered, just specify the desired value inside .icon-reject-hover-fill:hover{}, in your custom CSS.
However, instead of adding a class that has properties you want to unset, just create another class, of your own, that contains only the stuff you want from the class you are importing. Trying to unset properties that have been set is the fastest path to CSS mess-up, quickly escalating into code that is almost impossible to maintain.
The usual way to reset an already set property in CSS is {property-name: initial;}. Please note that not all CSS properties can take initial as value.
Using Foundation 4 buttons allows you to customize design using the mixins.
This is the same for most elements.
However, there are many settings that the mixins don't expose to customization, e.g.:
Font color
Hover effect
Border color
These are all calculated based on the button background color.
The button is just an example, but I have the same issue with all other elements.
Is there a recommended way to customize parts which are not exposed by the mixin?
I don't want to go into the source and change the actual mixin definition.
If my design spec is very different from Foundation defaults, would it be better to not use Foundation?
Almost every setting can be customized using SASS variables. The most common ones are accessible in _variables.scss, but you can overwrite any of the other variables used in the actual component SCSS files.
For values that don't already have variables, you can override the styles using CSS and include the overrides in a wrapper mixin. Ex:
#mixin my-button-style($bg:$primary-color, $radius:false, $disabled:false) {
#include button-style($bg, $radius, $disabled);
/* CSS overrides go here */
border-color: pink; /* etc */
}
I am working on a Rails project that is just starting. We want to use twitter bootstrap as a base for our styles, at the beginning we would simply use bootstrap's class names directly on the HTML code, just like is shown in bootstrap's documentation, but after reading the following posts:
Lessons learned in maintainable css
Please stop embedding Bootstrap classes in your HTML
it became clear why that's not the proper why to use bootstrap, so after some more readings:
Decouple Your CSS From HTML
smacss
among other, it seemed that using sass #extend was the proper way to avoid using bootstrap's class names, so instead of doing this:
<button type="submit" class="btn">Search</button>
we would do this:
<button type="submit" class="button">Search</button>
and our sass code would look like this:
.button {
#extend ".btn";
}
The problem with that approach, besides the bunch of extra selectors that will be added each time we extend a bootstrap class just to use a different name, is that in cases where bootstrap uses selectors like this:
.form-search .input-append .btn, .form-search .form-input-append .btn {
border-radius: 0 14px 14px 0;
}
the button won't get the right style because sass will not apply that same rule to our custom class name, I mean, sass is not doing this:
.form-search .input-append .btn, .form-search .input-append .button,
.form-search .form-input-append .btn, .form-search .form-input-append .button {
border-radius: 0 14px 14px 0;
}
So I wonder, is this the right way to avoid embedding bootstrap's class names into HTML, if so, how should I handle this problem (it happens frequently)? if not, what would be a better way to use custom class names but still get the styles from bootstrap.
I really appreciate your thoughts on this. Please keep in mind that I am just learning about overall web design (css, sass, less, html, js, etc.).
When you rename .btn to .button, you also should rename .form-search to .form-searchnew etc?
In that case your sass code in the example above should be something like:
.form-searchnew .input-appendnew .button {
extend(.form-search .input-append .btn);
}
Which make sense (i don't know sass) and results in the css you expect.
I think bootstrap is not about css only. Bootstrap is about css, html(structure) and javascript. Even when you separate css from html i would not easy to migrate to an other framework. Beside the css you will have to change the html structure and javascript call too.
Example migrate from Twitter's Bootstrap 2 to 3 (see: Updating Bootstrap to version 3 - what do I have to do?). I also wondered if you could migrate by extending the old classes to the new css (see: http://bassjobsen.weblogs.fm/migrate-your-templates-from-twitter-bootstrap-2-x-to-twitter-bootstrap-3/). After reading the migration guide, i think you couldn't.
Other solutions. Angular JS decouples Twitter's Bootstrap from javascript. Also in this case migrations does not seem to be painless see: Angular Dialog directives with Bootstrap 3
Maybe also read this post: http://www.jasonwong.org/post/45849350459/migrating-from-zurb-foundation-twitter-bootstrap-to. It refers to Bourdon and Neat.
Example from their website:
<!-- HTML markup for the section right below this code block -->
<section>
<aside>What is it about?</aside>
<article>Neat is an open source semantic grid framework built on top of Sass and Bourbon…</article>
</section>
// Enter Neat
section {
#include outer-container;
aside { #include span-columns(3); }
article { #include span-columns(9); }
}
// And the result is...
As they say: "it relies entirely on Sass mixins and does not pollute your HTML" which seems the way you're looking for.
I recommend you have a look at sass placeholder classes http://sass-lang.com/documentation/file.SASS_REFERENCE.html#placeholders in order not to bloath your css. Most likely you won't be using every single element included in bootstrap and placeholders only get written to your stylesheet if they are actually extended in your code.
Also, I think people tend to get confused about how css frameworks work and how decoupling css and html actually works.
For very large websites (or ones that you expect eventually to grow very large), where performance and css file size is crucial, some kind of OOCSS approach is your best bet. And this means inevitably that you have formatting code directly in your HTML.
If you can allow yourself to be a little less efficient and want your HTML clean, make sure to use semantic classes (examples for buttons: call-to-action, call-to-action-secondary, submit, btn-primary, btn-corporate-color, etc...)
Also remember to decouple your JS from CSS! use special classes for attaching behaviour (example js-submit, js-call-to-action, etc....)
Last but not least: don't plan for updating your css framework. These frameworks are meant to give you a headstart, not to be your overall design solution. Extend them, adapt them, make them your own, invest in design and create your own look in order to make your app unique.
If what makes you think of updating is a worry to keep up with standard changes, better use compass mixins.
Use #extend, but don't quote selectors:
.button {
#extend .btn;
}
Then you'll see that Sass extends related selectors too, like you want (.form-search .input-append .btn etc.).
… besides the bunch of extra selectors that will be added each time we extend a bootstrap class just to use a different name …
#extend works by copying selectors. If you don't want that, you can "extend" in HTML instead -- i.e. add Bootstrap's class names. :)
For being new to most of this, you're on the right track; the resources you've been reading are excellent. But, I think the concerns you have might not be justified:
...the button won't get the right style because sass will not apply that same rule to our custom class name...
In fact, I think you must be mistaken. According to the Sass documentation:
#extend works by inserting the extending selector (e.g. .seriousError) anywhere in the stylesheet that the extended selector (.e.g .error) appears.
See http://sass-lang.com/documentation/file.SASS_REFERENCE.html#how_it_works for the full code example.
Your original solution was actually correct. Use extends, but without the quotes:
.button {
#extend .btn; //no quotes
}
I tested this using your example, and it works correctly. Sass copies all the selectors with ".btn" and on those newly created selectors, it replaces ".btn" with ".button".
Also, if Sass produces too much duplication for your liking, don't worry about it (so long as you are following best practices as pointed out by the links you posted). Duplicate code is easily compressed if the server uses gzip or the equivalent; the client shouldn't notice any slower loading times, although it might take slightly longer to "unzip" the CSS. As for CSS selector speed, don't worry about that either; the only case where speed matters for selectors is on the JavaScript side, particularly with jQuery. For your Sass code, simply follow best practices for maintainability (notably, modularization as you are trying to do, i.e. SMACSS) and you'll be good to go.
The answers given by sam and tjklemz will help you resolve your immediate technical challenge, but it's possible to decouple your CSS and HTML even more. I'll give an example below, but keep in mind that this is just a quick example to demonstrate the power of mixins/extending CSS classes.
I'd also strongly recommend checking out the ZURB Foundation framework, as it is natively SASS, and designed with this style of development in mind.
For example:
<body>
<div id="my-header">
<h1>My Company</h1>
<h2>My Tagline</h2>
</div>
<div id="my-main">
<div class="my-widget">
<h1>Widget Title</h1>
<a>Widget Option 1</a>
<a>Widget Option 2</a>
</div>
</div>
</body>
With the accompanying SCSS:
//these examples wouldn't really work
//because bootstrap needs more markup
#my-header {
#extend .navbar;
}
#my-header h1 {
#extend .branding;
}
#my-main {
#extend .container;
}
//good example
.my-widget {
#extend .well;
#extend .hero-unit;
}
.my-widget a {
#extend .btn;
}