Introduction to CSS Grid Layout

Introduction to CSS
Grid Layout
Rachel Andrew
Fluent, April 2015

Rachel Andrew
http://rachelandrew.co.uk
@rachelandrew
http://grabaperch.com

The trouble with CSS layout
• Floats and clearfix hacks
• Absolute positioning means elements are taken
out of document flow and risk overlaps
• Redundant markup and positioning oddities with
display: table
• White space issues with inline-block

https://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/zervas/2810241612
Flexbox?

Seeing Flexbox as the silver bullet for
layout issues is likely to lead us down
another path of layout hacks.

The cost of taming layout methods
• Developer hours spent learning non-obvious
concepts.
• Compromises in terms of document semantics in
order to achieve responsive layouts.
• Needing to lean on frameworks to help with
complex math.
• Adding markup to create grids
• Using preprocessors to abstract layout hacks

We need a designed for purpose
layout system for the sites and
applications we develop today.

Our HTML consists of a
div with a class of
wrapper and six child
elements.
<div class="wrapper">
<div class="a">A</div>
<div class="b">B</div>
<div class="c">C</div>
<div class="d">D</div>
<div class="e">E</div>
<div class="f">F</div>
</div>

To create a grid we use a
new value of the display
property.
display: grid
.wrapper {
display: grid;
}

We describe the grid using
the new properties:
grid-template-columns
grid-template-rows
.wrapper {
display: grid;
grid-template-columns:
100px 10px 100px 10px 100px;
grid-template-rows:
auto 10px auto;
}

We position items using the
new properties:
grid-column-start 
grid-column-end 
grid-row-start 
grid-row-end
.a {
grid-column-start: 1;
grid-column-end: 2;
grid-row-start: 1;
grid-row-end: 2;
}

To position an item bottom
centre, I start at column
line 3, this is the line after
the gutter track.
.b {
grid-column-end: 4;
grid-row-start: 3;
grid-row-end: 4;
}

To span more tracks we
just change the end row or
column line.
.b {
grid-column-end: 6;
grid-row-start: 3;
grid-row-end: 4;
}

The longhand for line-
based placement means
up to 4 properties to
position each element. .a {
grid-column-end: 2;
grid-row-start: 1;
grid-row-end: 2;
}
.b {
grid-column-end: 4;
grid-row-start: 3;
grid-row-end: 4;
}

Declare start and end
values with grid-column
and grid-row.
Values are separated by a
/ symbol.
.a {
grid-column: 1 / 2;
grid-row: 1 / 2;
}
.b {
grid-column: 3 / 6;
grid-row: 3 / 4;
}

Declare all 4 values using
the grid-area property.
.a {
grid-area: 1 / 1 / 2 / 2;
}
.b {
grid-area: 3 / 3 / 4 / 6;
}

Grid Lines
Lines can be horizontal or vertical. They
are referred to by number and can be
named.
Highlighted is Column Line 2.

Grid Track
A Grid Track is the space between two
Grid Lines. Tracks can be horizontal or
vertical (rows or columns).
The highlighted Grid Track is between
Row Lines 2 and 3.

Grid Cell
The smallest unit on our grid, a Grid Cell
is the space between four Grid Lines. It’s
just like a table cell.
The highlighted Grid Cell is between row
lines 2 and 3 and column lines 2 and 3.

Grid Area
Any area of the Grid bound by 4 Grid
Lines. It can contain many Grid Cells.
The highlighted Grid Area is between
row lines 1 and 3, column lines 2 and 4.

All examples can be found at http://gridbyexample.com. Use Chrome. Enable “Experimental Web Platform Features” flag.

http://gridbyexample.com/examples/code/layout9.html

The HTML around my
page content.
The various areas of my
page are child elements
of a div with a class of
wrapper.
<header class="mainheader"></header>
<div class="panel"></div>
<div class="content"></div>
</div>

Declaring a grid on
wrapper.
The grid has three
columns, and four rows.
.wrapper {
width: 100%;
max-width: 960px;
margin: 0 auto;
display: grid;
grid-template-columns: 30% 5% 65%;
grid-template-rows: 40px auto 20px auto;
}

Positioning our elements
using the grid-column and
grid-row shorthand.
This is all we need to do
to create our layout.
.mainheader {
grid-column: 1 / 4;
grid-row: 2 / 3;
}
.panel {
grid-column: 1 / 2;
grid-row: 4 / 5;
}
.content {
grid-column: 3 / 4;
grid-row: 4 / 5;
}

I can add a footer to this
layout - and it doesn’t
matter in which unusual
place I want to add the
markup.
<header class="mainheader"></header>
<footer class="mainfooter"></footer>
<div class="panel"></div>
<div class="content"></div>
</div>

Positioning the footer
between row lines five
and six.
.mainfooter {
grid-column: 1 / 4;
grid-row: 5 / 6;
}

Our grid only has 5 row
lines specified - yet we
placed an item between
row lines 5 and 6.
Grid creates an implicit
grid line for us.
.wrapper {
display: grid;
grid-template-rows: 40px auto 20px auto;
}
.mainfooter {
grid-column: 1 / 4;
grid-row: 5 / 6;
}

Grid lines can be explicit or implicit
• Explicit grid lines are those that you specify and
give sizing information. 
• Implicit lines are created when you place
something into a row or column you have not
specified with grid-template-rows or grid-
template-columns

Grid is “table like” however …
• Unlike a table for layout Grid does not rely on
your content being a particular order in the
source. 
• Being entirely described in CSS we can move
things around the Grid at different breakpoints,
introduce or redefine a Grid for any breakpoint.

Using Grid to order the
page elements in a single
column for narrow screen
widths.
.wrapper {
display: grid;
grid-template-rows:
10px auto 10px auto 10px auto 10px auto;
}
.mainheader {
grid-row: 2 / 3;
}
.content {
grid-row: 4 / 5;
}
.panel {
grid-row: 6 / 7;
}
.mainfooter {
grid-row: 8 / 9;
}

Redefine the Grid at min-
width 550 pixels.
Position items as in the
earlier example.
@media (min-width: 550px) {
.wrapper {
grid-template-rows: 40px auto 20px auto 20px auto;
}
.mainheader {
grid-column: 1 / 4;
grid-row: 2 / 3;
}
.panel {
grid-column: 1 / 2;
grid-row: 4 / 5;
}
.content {
grid-column: 3 / 4;
grid-row: 4 / 5;
}
.mainfooter {
grid-column: 1 / 4;
grid-row: 6 / 7;
}
}

Name lines with the name
in parenthesis.
Remember we name grid
lines and not grid tracks.
.wrapper {
display: grid;
grid-template-rows:
10px (row-header-start) auto (row-header-end)
10px (row-content-start) auto (row-content-end)
10px (row-panel-start) auto (row-panel-end)
10px (row-footer-start) auto (row-footer-end);
}

Here we are positioning
based on line numbers.
.mainheader {
grid-row: 2 / 3;
}
.content {
grid-row: 4 / 5;
}
.panel {
grid-row: 6 / 7;
}
.mainfooter {
grid-row: 8 / 9;
}

Here we are positioning
by named lines.
.mainheader {
grid-row: row-header-start / row-header-end ;
}
.content {
grid-row: row-content-start / row-content-end;
}
.panel {
grid-row: row-panel-start / row-panel-end ;
}
.mainfooter {
grid-row: row-footer-start / row-footer-end;
}

We assign a name to the
elements on our page.
I am doing this outside of
any Media Queries.
.mainheader {
grid-area: header;
}
.content {
grid-area: content;
}
.panel {
grid-area: sidebar;
}
.mainfooter {
grid-area: footer;
}

Describe the layout on
the parent element using
the grid-template-areas
property.
A period “.” indicates that
this grid cell is empty.
.wrapper {
display: grid;
grid-template-rows:
10px auto 10px auto 10px auto 10px auto;
grid-template-areas:
"."
"header"
"."
"content"
"."
"sidebar"
"."
"footer";
}

Redefining the template
areas for the wider
layout. @media (min-width: 550px) {
.wrapper {
grid-template-rows:
2em auto 1em auto 1em auto;
grid-template-areas:
". . ."
"header header header"
". . ."
"sidebar . content"
". . ."
"footer footer footer"
}
}

You can use the repeat
keyword to repeat all or
part of the grid definition.
This would create 4 200
pixel wide tracks,
separated by a 20 pixel
wide gutter track.
grid-template-columns: repeat(4, 200px 20px);

The fr unit is a flexible
length that represents a
fraction of the available
space in the grid
container.
grid-template-columns: 5fr 1fr 10fr 1fr 5fr;

We can give multiple grid
lines the same name.
This means we can use
the span keyword to span
n number of lines, rather
than specifying a specific
grid line.
.wrapper {
repeat(4, (col) 200px (gutter) 20px);
}
.content {
grid-column: col 2 / span gutter 2;
}

The markup used to
create the Grid using the
Skeleton framework.
Like the Bootstrap Grid
and other similar
frameworks it requires
classes that describe the
grid to be added to the
markup.
<div class="container">
<h1>Skeleton Grid</h1>
<div class="example-grid">
<div class="row">
<div class="four columns">Four columns</div>
</div>
<div class="row">
<div class="eight columns">Eight columns</div>
</div>
<div class="row">
<div class="three columns">Three columns</div>
</div>
<div class="row">
<div class="six columns">Six columns</div>
<div class="six columns">Six columns</div>
</div>
</div>

When using CSS Grid
Layout we have no need
to describe our grid in
markup.
<div class="wrapper skeleton">
<h1 class="header">CSS Grid Layout Version</h1>
<div class="box1">Four columns</div>
<div class="box4">Eight columns</div>
<div class="box6">Three columns</div>
<div class="box10">Six columns</div>
<div class="box11">Six columns</div>
</div>

Defining the 12 column
grid.
The repeat keyword
repeats the pattern of
columns or rows the
number of times specified
before the comma.
.wrapper {
display: grid;
repeat(11, (col) 4fr (gutter) 3.5fr ) (col) 4fr (gutter);
grid-template-rows:
auto repeat(4, (row) auto (gutter) 15px);
}

Placing box1 on the grid.
Multiple lines have the
same name. This means we
can use the span keyword.
Here I place box1 starting
at the first line named col,
spanning to the 4th line
named gutter.
In the first row named row,
spanning to the first line
named gutter.
.box1 {
grid-column: col / span gutter 4;
grid-row: row / span gutter;
}

Placing box8 on the grid.
Starting on column line 7,
spanning 3 gutter lines.
In the 3rd row named row,
spanning 1 gutter line.
.box8 {
grid-row: row 3 / span gutter;
}

With Grid Layout we can
easily span rows just like
columns.
.box1b {
grid-column: col / span gutter 4;
grid-row: row / span gutter 2;
}
.box2b {
grid-row: row / span gutter 3;
}

Browser Support
All my examples work in Chrome and Opera unprefixed - you need
to enable the Experimental Web Platform Features flag.
You can also use Webkit nightlies, with the -webkit prefix.
The work in Blink and Webkit is being done by Igalia, sponsored by
Bloomberg.
IE10 and up has support for the old syntax, with an -ms prefix.
Mozilla are currently implementing Grid in Firefox.
There is a Polyfill under active development: https://github.com/
FremyCompany/css-grid-polyfill/

Thank you!
Slides, links to examples and resources: 
http://rachelandrew.co.uk/presentations/css-grid
Office Hours Today - 1.30pm Community Lounge.
@rachelandrew
me@rachelandrew.co.uk

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