This document discusses accelerated theming using the NineSixty grid system. It provides an overview of grid systems and their history, explains how grid systems work by dividing content into columns and gutters, and provides examples of layouts that can be created using a 12-column grid. It specifically examines the 960 grid system, how it divides content into 60px columns, centers content at 960px wide, and can be used with both 12-column and 16-column layouts simultaneously.
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Accelerated grid theming using NineSixty (Drupal Design Camp Boston 2010)
1. Accelerated grid
theming using NineSixty
+
Todd Nienkerk
Drupal Design Camp Boston | June 19, 2010
5. History of the grid
‣ The practice of using a grid to guide design and
page layout is nearly a century old
‣ In the 1910s and 1920s, ornamental design gave
way to Rationalism and New Objectivity
Source: Grids are Good by Khoi Vinh and Mark Boulton
11. Typographic grids
‣ After World War II, a number of graphic designers,
influenced by the modernist ideas of Die neue
Typographie (The New Typography), questioned
the relevance of the conventional page layout of
the time
‣ They devised a flexible system to help designers
achieve coherency in organizing the page
Source: Grid (page layout) on Wikipedia
13. Nearly a century ago
‣ Modernists looked to build a new aesthetic by...
‣ deriving beauty from the innate qualities of the
machine
‣ championing standardization
Source: Grids are Good by Khoi Vinh and Mark Boulton
14. Nearly a century ago
‣ Modernists looked to build a new aesthetic by...
‣ deriving beauty from the innate qualities of the
machine
‣ championing standardization
‣ Sound familiar?
Source: Grids are Good by Khoi Vinh and Mark Boulton
15. Today
‣ Web designers have turned to grid-based design
in order to...
‣ derive beauty from the innate qualities of the
browser
‣ champion standardization
‣ 17 years after the invention of the web, we are
finally embracing a century-old design philosophy
Source: Grids are Good by Khoi Vinh and Mark Boulton
16. Grid systems on the web
‣ On the web, grid systems usually take the form of
CSS frameworks
‣ A framework is a “reuseable abstraction of code
wrapped in a well-defined API”1
‣ A collection of tools and shortcuts designed to
minimize code and make your life easier
1 Source: Software framework on Wikipedia
17. Examples of frameworks
‣ Ruby on Rails is a well-known Ruby framework
‣ jQuery is a JavaScript framework
‣ Drupal itself can be considered a web application
framework
‣ Includes many APIs for working with databases,
fields, and web forms
18. CSS frameworks
‣ Apply the principles of software frameworks to
web design
‣ They provide standardized rules and shortcuts for:
‣ browser resets
‣ typography
‣ navigation
‣ print style
‣ and...
19. Layout
‣ When applied to web design, grid systems are CSS
frameworks that provides standardized rules and
shortcuts for building a website’s layout
20. “I’m convinced that the people railing
against CSS frameworks are just trying to
drum up some false job security.”
—Je Croft, designer and author
Je Croft.com | What’s not to love about CSS frameworks?
23. Stop reinventing the
wheel
‣ Reduces the amount of CSS and markup you need
to duplicate each time you start a project
‣ No need to refer to old projects to figure out how
to implement layouts
24. Stop fixing and start
designing
‣ Shortens testing phases by providing built-in
support for noncompliant browsers
‣ Minimize Internet Explorer hacks in your layout
‣ A well-tested grid system will rarely be the source
of your problems
25. Stop deconstructing CSS
‣ Understanding someone else’s design is much
easier when a standard grid system is used
26. “Embrace constraints”
— Mark Kraemer, National UX Practice Lead, EMC.com
‣ All modern displays
support at least
1024×768 resolution
‣ Despite the many
advances in web
technology, it’s all
just rectangles
Photo: Aaron Schmidt on Flickr (Creative Commons BY-NC-SA)
27. Enforcing a grid can
accelerate design while
maintaining order
Photo: jontidmarsh on Flickr (Creative Commons BY-SA)
28. “Our craft is becoming a commodity, and the
people in charge don’t care about the quality of
the markup, CSS, or how short our JavaScript is.
What matters is how fast you can get it to
market, how many people it reaches, and how
cheaply it can be built.”
—Christian Heilmann, Standards evangelist at Yahoo
Think Vitamin | Web development is moving on — Are you?
30. Columns
‣ Grid systems are built
using columns
‣ Columns are a grid
system’s smallest unit
of measurement
‣ Most grid systems
contain 12–16 columns
Example based on 960.gs (12-column)
31. Column width
‣ Page regions (header,
content, sidebars, etc.)
are defined by column
width
‣ As in: “The header is
eight columns wide”
Example based on 960.gs (12-column)
32. Gutters (margins)
‣ Margins or padding are
used to create gutters
between columns
‣ These gutters provide
margins between page
regions
Example based on 960.gs (12-column)
33. Lean and versatile CSS
‣ A grid system’s CSS should:
‣ Be lean and e cient
‣ Be versatile and reusable
‣ Ensure consistent behavior across all common
browsers — even IE6
34. Wrapping <div> elements
‣ In fixed-width grid systems, the entire layout is
wrapped inside a single <div> element
‣ <div> elements wrap the page regions and define
their widths according to the number of columns
they span
‣ These <div> elements may be nested to create
regions within regions
35. Floating <div> elements
‣ The wrapping <div> class: grid-12
elements are assigned
a column width using a class: class:
CSS class grid-4 grid-4
class:
grid-4
‣ Because these classes class: grid-8
also float the elements,
they simply fall into
class: grid-6 class: grid-6
place on the page
Example based on 960.gs (12-column)
36. What can grid systems
look like?
Examples of grid-based layouts
37. Layout A: Content left, sidebar right
Example based on 960.gs (12-column)
38. Layout B: Content between sidebars
Example based on 960.gs (12-column)
39. Layout C: Content right with two left sidebars
Example based on 960.gs (12-column)
43. What is 960.gs?
‣ 960.gs — also known as the 960 Grid System —
was created by Nathan Smith in order to
“streamline web development workflow”
‣ It’s both a prototyping and development
framework
Source: 960.gs
44. What’s in it
‣ Download it for free at http://960.gs
‣ GPL and MIT licensed
‣ The 960.gs download includes:
‣ Printable sketch sheets for doodling
‣ Design templates for all most applications:
Photoshop, Illustrator, Inkscape, OmniGra e, etc.
Source: 960.gs
45. Technical specs
‣ 960px wide with a 940px usable area
‣ Two versions: 12- and 16-column
‣ These can be implemented separately or
simultaneously
‣ Each column has a 10px margin on the left and
right, which creates a 20px gutter between
columns
Source: 960.gs
46. 12-column version
Columns are 60px wide Gutters are 20px wide
10px margin on the left and Available
right prevents collision with working area
browser chrome is 940px wide
Source: 960.gs
47. 16-column version
Columns are 40px wide
Everything else remains the same
Source: 960.gs
49. ‣ This flexibility allows designers to work with both
60px- and 40px-wide columns
‣ If 12 or 16 columns don’t suit you, 960 is also
divisible by 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 15, 20, 24, 30, 32, 40,
48, 60, 64, 80, 96, 120, 160, 192, 240, 320 and 480
50. CSS and markup
Note: 960.gs uses underscores in its CSS class names. To avoid confusion, the
examples that follow will use hyphens instead, as this is The Drupal Way.
51. Containers
‣ Grids must be wrapped
in a container <div>
.container-12,
‣ Containers center the .container-16 {
margin-left: auto;
content and define margin-right: auto;
which version of the width: 960px;
grid will be }
implemented
52. Grids
‣ Grids are held inside .grid-1,
.grid-2,
containers and are .grid-3,
floated left so they fall ...
into place .grid-16 {
display: inline;
automatically float: left;
position: relative;
‣ They also provide 10px margin-left: 10px;
margins on the left and margin-right: 10px;
}
right
53. Grid widths
‣ The width of each grid
is determined by the .container-12 .grid-1 {
container that wraps it width: 60px;
}
‣ For example, a one-
.container-16 .grid-1 {
column grid is either width: 40px;
60px or 40px }
depending on whether
it’s a 12- or 16-column
layout
54. ‣ Note that grid width does not increase by 60px or
40px each time
‣ Each increase must account for the 20px gutter
between grids
.container-12 .grid-1 { .container-16 .grid-1 {
width: 60px; width: 40px;
} }
.container-12 .grid-2 { .container-16 .grid-2 {
width: 140px; width: 100px;
} }
.container-12 .grid-3 { .container-16 .grid-3 {
width: 300px; width: 160px;
} }
56. Prefixes and su xes
‣ If you want to leave
space between .container-12 .prefix-1 {
columns, use a prefix padding-left: 80px;
or su x class }
.container-12 .suffix-1 {
‣ Prefix classes add padding-right: 80px;
padding to the left of a }
column
‣ Su x classes add
padding to the right
57. Adding a prefix and su x
.container-12
.grid-4
.grid-3 .prefix-1 .grid-3
.suffix-1
59. Multiple rows: markup
<div class="container-12">
The container <div>
defines the layout <!-- row 1 -->
<div class="grid-12">
version in use
This grid occupies the full width
</div>
<!-- row 2 -->
<div class="grid-3">
One wide
No need to put
</div>
each row in its own <div class="grid-4 prefix-1 suffix-1">
wrapping <div> Four wide with a prefix and suffix of one each
</div>
<div class="grid-3">
One wide
</div>
</div> <!-- /container -->
61. ‣ Here’s the catch: Because each grid includes a
10px left and right margin, nesting grids can break
your layout
.grid-6
.container-12
.grid-6
.grid-3
.grid-6
.grid-3
62. Alpha and omega fix
broken nesting
‣ When nesting grids, use the alpha and omega
classes to remove the margins
‣ alpha removes the left margin. It’s the first nested
grid.
‣ omega removes the right margin. It’s the last
nested grid.
63. .grid-6
.container-12
.grid-3 .grid-3
.alpha .omega
.grid-3 .grid-3
.grid-6
.alpha .omega
.alpha removed .omega removed
the left margin the right margin
73. About NineSixty
‣ NineSixty is the Drupal port of 960.gs
‣ Developed by Joon Park, aka dvessel on
Drupal.org
‣ Intended to be used as a base theme
Source: Drupal.org
75. NineSixty’s improvements
‣ Content-first layout using “push” and “pull” classes
‣ Now part of 960.gs proper
‣ Dynamic grid widths based on context using ns()
‣ Debugging tools and grid visualization
‣ Right-to-left (RTL) language support
76. Content-first layout
‣ A design convention in which the content is output
as close to the top of the markup as possible
‣ Content should be output before all sidebars
‣ This can be very di cult to achieve on a site with
one or more left columns
77. Push and pull classes
‣ Content-first layout can be achieved in NineSixty
by “pushing” the content grid to the right while
“pulling” a sidebar to the left
‣ These classes use the same naming convention
as .grid-X, .prefix-X, and .suffix-X, where X is the
grid’s width:
‣ .push-X and .pull-X
78. ‣ Push and pull values should match the grid value
of the opposite grid
<div class="container-12">
<div id="content" class="grid-6 push-3">
Match numbers to
Content
swap locations
</div>
<div id="sidebar-left" class="grid-3 pull-6">
Sidebar: Left
</div>
<div id="sidebar-right" class="grid-3">
Sidebar: Right
</div>
</div>
Source: NineSixty’s README.txt
79. Before adding push and pull
.container-12
#content #sidebar-left #sidebar-right
.grid-6 .grid-3 .grid-3
<div class="container-12">
<div id="content" class="grid-6">
Content
</div>
<div id="sidebar-left" class="grid-3">
Sidebar: Left
</div>
<div id="sidebar-right" class="grid-3">
Sidebar: Right
</div>
</div>
80. After adding push and pull
.container-12
#sidebar-left #content
#sidebar-right
.grid-3 .grid-6
.grid-3
.pull-6 .push-3
<div class="container-12">
<div id="content" class="grid-6 push-3">
Content
</div>
<div id="sidebar-left" class="grid-3 pull-6">
Sidebar: Left
</div>
<div id="sidebar-right" class="grid-3">
Sidebar: Right
</div>
</div>
81. Dynamic grid widths
‣ In some cases, you may want grids to resize
themselves when a region isn’t populated
‣ For example, a 3-6-3 layout should become 3-9 if
the right column is empty
‣ Dynamic width assignment is handled using the
ns() function
‣ Defined in template.php
82. Structure of ns()
These “pairs”
Default subtract from the
value default value
ns('class-X', $region, Y, $region, Z, ...)
‣ class can be grid, prefix, suffix, push, or pull
‣ X, Y, and Z are all width values
‣ $region can be any theme region
‣ Use as many pairs as you like
84. From #main:
<?php print ns('grid-16', $left, 4, $right, 3)
. ' ' . ns('push-4', !$left, 4); ?>
If left sidebar is If right sidebar is
Default present, subtract 4 present, subtract 3
width from default width. from default width.
ns('grid-16', $left, 4, $right, 3)
If left sidebar is not present, subtract
Default 4 from the push value. This will result
push value in no push, as 4-4 = 0
ns('push-4', !$left, 4)
Source: NineSixty’s page.tpl.php
85. From #sidebar-left:
<?php php print ns('pull-12', $right, 3); ?>
If right sidebar is
Default present, subtract 3
pull value from default pull value
ns('pull-12', $right, 3)
Source: NineSixty’s page.tpl.php
86. NineSixty in action
‣ Visit http://ninesixty.fkdemos.com to see how
NineSixty...
‣ uses push and pull classes to generate content-
first layout
‣ dynamically assigns grid widths based on
context
‣ can be used to create di erent layouts
88. When not to use a grid
‣ Implementing a grid will probably be impossible if
your site’s layout...
‣ uses irregular column sizes
‣ has irregular margins or gutters
‣ has a width that isn’t divisible by a sane number
89. ‣ Implementing a grid will be di cult — but not
impossible — if your site’s layout...
‣ has gutter widths of odd numbers
‣ is fluid
‣ wasn’t designed on a grid
90. Getting started
‣ Do not change the NineSixty theme on your site!
‣ Hacking NineSixty is like hacking core: It will
make upgrading your site very di cult
‣ Instead, subtheme NineSixty or create a totally
new theme based on NineSixty
91. Subtheme
‣ This method is best if your site is (or can be)
960px wide and can utilize 12 or 16 columns
‣ Subtheming instructions and resources on
Drupal.org:
‣ Subtheming quick and dirty
‣ Sub-themes, their structure and inheritance
92. Build a new theme
‣ You should build a new theme when your site’s
layout...
‣ isn’t 960px wide
‣ doesn’t use 12 or 16 columns
‣ It’s more e cient to use a new theme than to
override virtually all of NineSixty’s CSS
93. Do the math
‣ Be prepared to crunch numbers
‣ Building a new grid can be very confusing
‣ Spreadsheets can help you visualize columns,
margins, and gutters
Image source: Client project
110. Learn more about grids
‣ The Grid System: thegridsystem.org
‣ “The ultimate resource in grid systems”
‣ The Grid System’s Flickr pool
‣ My bookmarks tagged “gridsystems”:
delicious.com/toddross/gridsystems
111. Downloads
‣ 960 grid system: 960.gs
‣ NineSixty theme for Drupal: drupal.org/project/
ninesixty
‣ This and other presentations are available for
download at fourkitchens.com/presentations
112. Contact Todd
‣ Email: todd@fourkitchens.com
‣ also works for Google Chat and AIM
‣ Skype: toddatfk
‣ Twitter: twitter.com/toddross
114. Credits
‣ “History of the grid” slides were ‣ This presentation was created by
borrowed heavily from Khoi Vinh Nathan Smith of Fellowship Tech
and Mark Boulton’s presentation and Todd Ross Nienkerk, co-
Grids are Good and from founder of Four Kitchens, and
Wikipedia delivered by Todd Ross Nienkerk
‣ Piet Mondriaan painting was found
somewhere online. Copyright
holder is unknown
‣ The items listed above are exempt
from this presentation’s Creative
Commons license
115. All content in this presentation, except where noted otherwise, is Creative Commons Attribution-
ShareAlike 3.0 licensed and copyright 2010 Four Kitchen Studios, LLC.