css grid fr Layouts and Properties Explained

CSS Grid is a powerful layout system that allows you to create complex and flexible layouts with ease. It's particularly useful for building responsive designs that adapt to different screen sizes and devices.

One of the key features of CSS Grid is the fr unit, which stands for "fraction." It's used to divide the available space in a grid container into equal or unequal parts. For example, if you have a grid container with two items, one with a width of 1fr and the other with a width of 2fr, the first item will take up half of the available space, and the second item will take up two-thirds of the available space.

The fr unit is a flexible unit that can be used in conjunction with other units, such as percentages or pixels. This allows for a high degree of flexibility and customization in your grid layouts.

To create a CSS Grid layout, you'll first need to define a grid container. This can be any parent element, such as a div.

Pass the display property with a value of grid or inline-grid to an element's style block to define a grid container. This will implicitly convert all direct child elements of the grid container into grid items.

The value grid makes the parent grid element act like an un-styled div, spanning the full width of a page by default. In contrast, the value inline-grid behaves like an un-styled span, acting like an inline element to its siblings.

To change the layout of the grid items within a grid, you must explicitly define the rows and columns you want your grid to have. This is done using the CSS properties grid-template-columns and grid-template-rows.

To center all grid items, you can use the value center in your grid layout.

Grid Template is a shorthand property that sets grid-template-rows, grid-template-columns, and grid-template-areas in a single declaration. It's a convenient way to define the structure of a grid container.

The grid-template property has several syntax forms, including setting grid-template-areas to strings listed, setting grid-template-rows to track sizes following each string, and setting grid-template-columns to a track listing specified after the slash. This syntax allows authors to align track names and sizes inline with their respective grid areas.

Grid Template Areas can be named using the grid-area property, and then referenced in the grid-template-areas property to define which grid cells each item will span. This is a lovely technique as it allows you to see what your component looks like right there in the CSS.

Here are the different syntax forms for grid-template:

This shorthand property also resets the implicit grid properties to their initial values, unless authors want those to cascade in separately.

The grid-template property is a shorthand for setting grid-template-rows, grid-template-columns, and grid-template-areas in a single declaration. It's a powerful tool that allows you to define the layout of your grid container in a concise and efficient way.

You can use the grid-template property to set all three properties to their initial values with the value "none". This is equivalent to setting grid-template-rows, grid-template-columns, and grid-template-areas to their initial values separately.

The grid-template property also accepts a more complex syntax for specifying all three properties. For example, you can use it to set grid-template-columns and grid-template-rows to specific values, and set grid-template-areas to none. This syntax is quite handy, but it's recommended to use the grid property instead of grid-template, as it resets the implicit grid properties to their initial values.

Here are some key points to keep in mind when using the grid-template property:

By using the grid-template property, you can create a grid layout that's both flexible and responsive. With its powerful syntax and concise declaration, it's an essential tool for any web developer looking to create complex grid layouts.

Named areas are a powerful tool in grid template design, allowing you to create complex layouts with ease.

You can place an item into a named grid area by specifying the area's name in the grid-area property, as seen in example 7: "Grid Template Areas". This makes it easy to create a layout that's both flexible and visually appealing.

Named areas can also be used to create rectangular and disconnected areas, but be aware that if you break the rules, the value is treated as invalid and thrown away.

By using named areas, you can create a grid that's easy to read and understand, making it a great technique for designers and developers alike.

Here are some key rules to keep in mind when using named areas:

These rules are crucial to creating a valid grid template, so be sure to follow them carefully.

By using named areas, you can create a grid that's both functional and aesthetically pleasing, making it a valuable technique to have in your design toolkit.

Grid Properties are used to determine a grid item's location within the grid by referring to specific grid lines. This is done using properties like grid-column-start, grid-column-end, grid-row-start, and grid-row-end.

These properties can take different values, including a number to refer to a numbered grid line, a name to refer to a named grid line, or span to indicate how many grid tracks the item should span. If no grid-column-end/grid-row-end is declared, the item will span 1 track by default.

You can use the grid-line value to specify a line, and the span value to specify how many grid tracks the item should span. The grid-line value can be a number or a name, and the span value can be a number or a name. If a name is given as a custom-ident, only lines with that name are counted.

Here's a summary of the grid-line values:

These properties can be used to create complex layouts by controlling the size and location of grid items within the grid.

The display property is a crucial part of grid layout, and it's essential to understand its values and behavior. The two primary values for display are grid and inline-grid, which generate a block-level grid and an inline-level grid, respectively.

Grid containers establish an independent grid formatting context for their contents, which is similar to establishing an independent block formatting context. However, grid layout is used instead of block layout, and floats do not intrude into the grid container. The grid container's margins do not collapse with the margins of its contents.

A grid container is not a block container, so some properties designed with block layout don't apply in the context of grid layout. For instance, float and clear have no effect on a grid item, and vertical-align has no effect on a grid item either.

If an element's specified display is inline-grid and it's floated or absolutely positioned, the computed value of display is grid. This is an important consideration when working with grid layouts.

Here's a summary of the grid placement properties:

Grid items can be explicitly placed using coordinates through the grid-placement properties or implicitly placed into empty areas using auto-placement. The grid-placement properties can be further decomposed into the grid-row-start/grid-row-end/grid-column-start/grid-column-end longhands.

Gaps are an essential part of grid layouts, allowing you to add spacing between columns and rows to create a more visually appealing and organized design.

A gutter or alley between tracks is what we call a gap in the context of grid layouts. It's essentially a space between the tracks, and you can't place content into a gap, but you can span grid items across it.

The row-gap and column-gap properties, as well as their gap shorthand, are used to specify the size of the gutters between grid rows and columns. These properties are defined in CSS Box Alignment 3 §8 Gaps Between Boxes.

Here's a breakdown of how the gap shorthand works:

By using the gap shorthand, you can add a space of 20px between all columns and rows in a grid container, which is the same as the code below.

Gutters only appear between tracks of the implicit grid; there is no gutter before the first track or after the last track. When a collapsed track's gutters collapse, they coincide exactly, so their start and end edges coincide. If one side of a collapsed track does not have a gutter, then collapsing its gutters results in no gutter on either side of the collapsed track.

Justify is a crucial aspect of CSS Grid, allowing you to align grid items along the inline (row) axis. This property can be set on the grid container or individual grid items.

The justify-items property aligns grid items along the inline axis, and it applies to all grid items inside the container. It accepts four possible values: start, end, center, and stretch.

You can also set the alignment of individual grid items using the justify-self property. This property aligns a grid item inside a cell along the inline axis. It also accepts four possible values: start, end, center, and stretch.

Here are the possible values for justify-self:

The justify-content property, on the other hand, lets you set the horizontal alignment of the entire grid within the inline axis of the grid container. It accepts seven possible values, including start, stretch, space-around, and space-evenly.

Grid containers are the foundation of a grid layout. A grid container can be defined with rows and columns, and the size of these row and column tracks can be chosen or can react to the size of the content.

You can use grid-auto-columns and grid-auto-rows to specify the widths of implicit tracks, which are created when referencing lines that don’t exist. This property controls the widths of these implicit tracks.

Grid containers can be used to intelligently resize elements within a webpage. The grid layout can be used to divide space for the game such that the stats area always appears immediately under the game title, and the game board appears to the right of the stats and title.

Here's a list of key points about grid containers:

Grid containers can be nested or mixed with flex containers as necessary to create more complex layouts.

The order property can be used to affect the auto-placement and painting order of grid items.

It's essential to use this property only when the visual order needs to be out-of-sync with the speech and navigation order.

The order property must not be used as a substitute for reordering the underlying document source.

This is because using the order property for accessibility purposes can be problematic.

Grid items can overlap when they're positioned into intersecting grid areas, or even when positioned in non-intersecting areas because of negative margins or positioning.

The painting order of grid items is exactly the same as inline blocks, except that order-modified document order is used in place of raw document order.

Z-index values other than auto create a stacking context even if position is static, behaving exactly as if position were relative.

Descendants that are positioned outside a grid item still participate in any stacking context established by the grid item.

Grid tracks are the individual rows or columns within a grid container. A grid track can be defined by its size, which can be a fixed length, a percentage of the grid container's size, or a flexible unit like fr. The fr unit represents a fraction of the remaining space in the grid container.

A grid track can be specified using the grid-template-rows or grid-template-columns properties, where you can define the size of each track using a variety of units, including length units like px or em, percentages, or the fr unit.

Tracks can also be sized using the repeat() notation, which allows you to repeat a track list a specified number of times. For example, repeat(3, 1fr) would create three tracks of equal size.

Rows and columns are the building blocks of a grid, and understanding how they work is crucial to creating a well-designed layout.

A basic grid can be defined with three column tracks, two row tracks, and a 10 pixel gap between the tracks, as shown in Example 3. This grid demonstrates many of the things described in the terminology section.

Each track can use a different length unit, such as pixels, percentages, or auto, which can be thought of as being as big as the content. Tracks are auto-sized by default, meaning they will automatically adjust their size based on the content they contain.

You can create a 12 column track grid with equal columns using the following CSS, as seen in Example 3: grid-template-columns: repeat(12, 1fr).

To create a grid with multiple rows, you can use the grid-template-rows property, which sets the height of each row in a grid container. For example, grid-template-rows: 100px 200px sets the first row to 100px and the second row to 200px, as shown in Example 7.

Here's a summary of the different ways to define rows and columns:

By understanding how rows and columns work, you can create complex and responsive grid layouts that adapt to different screen sizes and devices.

Lines are the backbone of a grid, and understanding how they work is crucial to creating effective layouts.

Grid lines are the horizontal and vertical dividing lines of the grid, and they can be referred to by numerical index or by an author-specified name.

A grid item references the grid lines to determine its position within the grid using the grid-placement properties.

If you don't specify an end line value, the item will span 1 track by default.

You can name any line on your grid by adding a name of your choosing between square brackets, making it easier to place items into a layout.

Multiple names can be added, separated by a space inside the same brackets.

Here's a quick rundown of the shorthand for grid-column and grid-row:

Both of these properties accept all the same values as the longhand version, including span.

Grid items are the building blocks of a CSS grid layout. They establish an independent formatting context for their contents, but are not block-level boxes.

Grid items can be sized within the containing block defined by their grid area, and their sizing behavior varies depending on their self-alignment values and whether they are replaced or non-replaced elements.

Grid items can have margins and paddings, which do not collapse with adjacent grid items. Percentage margins and paddings are resolved against the inline size of their containing block.

You can place grid items by specifying their grid position and span using properties like grid-column-start, grid-column-end, grid-row-start, and grid-row-end. These properties can be used in conjunction with the shorthand properties grid-column, grid-row, and grid-area.

Here's a summary of the grid-placement properties:

Children are an essential part of the grid system, and their properties can be tricky to understand.

Grid items can be controlled using various properties such as grid-column-start, grid-column-end, grid-row-start, grid-row-end, grid-column, grid-row, and grid-area.

These properties allow you to specify the exact position of a grid item within the grid container. For example, you can use grid-column-start to specify which column the item should start in.

Some properties have no effect on a grid item, including float, display: inline-block, display: table-cell, vertical-align, and column-* properties.

Here are some key properties for controlling grid items:

These properties can be used to control the position and alignment of grid items, making it easier to create complex layouts.

Placing items in columns is a fundamental aspect of grid layout. You can cause items to place into columns using grid-auto-flow: column.

To place items in columns, you need to define row tracks, otherwise items will create intrinsic column tracks and layout out all in one long row.

Grid-auto-flow: column relates to the writing mode of the document. A row always runs in the direction a sentence runs in the writing mode of the document or component.

You can change the writing mode and direction to see how the placement of the items stays consistent to the way that text flows.

Grid items are the building blocks of a grid, and understanding how they work is crucial to creating effective layouts. A grid item establishes an independent formatting context for its contents, but it's not a block-level box - it participates in its container's grid formatting context, not a block formatting context.

Grid items can be sized within the containing block defined by their grid area, and their size is calculated based on their self-alignment values. If a grid item is a replaced element, it's sized as for align-self: start. Otherwise, it's sized as for a block-level box or stretch.

Grid items don't collapse their margins, unlike block boxes. This means that adjacent grid items will have their margins respected, and percentage margins and paddings will be resolved against the inline size of their containing block.

The order property can be used to reorder grid items, affecting their auto-placement and painting order. However, it's essential to use this property only when the visual order needs to be out of sync with the speech and navigation order.

Here's a summary of automatic sizing behavior for grid items:

Grid layout is a powerful CSS feature that allows you to create complex, two-dimensional layouts using a grid system.

A grid container is the HTML element that has display: grid applied, and it creates a new grid formatting context for its direct children.

To size a grid container, you can use the rules of the formatting context it participates in. For example, as a block-level box in a block formatting context, it's sized like a block box that establishes a formatting context.

The max-content size of a grid container is the sum of its track sizes (including gutters) in the appropriate axis, when the grid is sized under a max-content constraint.

Here are the different break opportunities that occur in a grid container:

Grid layout also allows you to break across pages between rows or columns, and inside items. The break-* properties apply to grid containers as normal for the formatting context in which they participate.

Layout is where the magic happens in Grid Layout. A grid container's content is laid out by positioning and aligning it into a grid, which is an intersecting set of horizontal and vertical grid lines that divides the grid container's space into grid areas.

The grid is defined by two sets of grid lines: one set for columns that run along the block axis, and an orthogonal set for rows along the inline axis. This is how Grid Layout structures its content.

To size a grid container, you use the rules of the formatting context it participates in. If it's a block-level box in a block formatting context, it's sized like a block box that establishes a formatting context. If it's an inline-level box in an inline formatting context, it's sized as an atomic inline-level box.

A grid container's autoblock size is its max-content size, which is the sum of the grid container's track sizes (including gutters) in the appropriate axis. This is how Grid Layout calculates the size of its containers.

Grid containers can break across pages between rows or columns and inside items. The break-* properties apply to grid containers as normal for the formatting context in which they participate. This is how Grid Layout handles page breaks.

Here are the different types of break opportunities in Grid Layout:

Filling gaps is an essential part of working with grid layout. The default behavior of grid layout is to always progress forward, placing items according to their order in the source or any modification with the order property.

If there is not enough space to fit an item, grid will leave a gap and move to the next track. This can result in a grid with some unfilled cells.

The dense packing mode is enabled by giving grid-auto-flow a value of dense. With this value in place, grid will take items later in the layout and use them to fill gaps.

This may mean that the display becomes disconnected from the logical order.

Implicitly-Named Areas are a powerful tool in Grid Layout, and they're actually quite easy to work with.

You can create an implicitly-named area by explicitly adding named lines of the same form, such as "foo-start" and "foo-end". This effectively creates a named grid area that can be referenced by the grid-placement properties.

Implicitly-named areas don't appear in the value of grid-template-areas, but they can still be used to place items into a grid.

For example, if you have a grid container with a grid-template-columns property that defines two columns, you can create an implicitly-named area by adding a grid item with a grid-area property that references the start and end lines of the first column.

Here's a quick rundown of the rules for implicitly-named areas:

By using implicitly-named areas, you can create more complex and flexible layouts that are easier to maintain and update.

Grid alignment is a crucial aspect of CSS Grid, allowing you to control the positioning of grid items within their grid areas. You can use the align-self property to set the alignment of individual grid items along the block (column) axis.

The align-self property accepts four possible values: start, end, stretch, and baseline. These values determine how the grid item is positioned within its grid area, with start aligning the item to the top of the cell, end aligning it to the bottom, stretch stretching it to fill the entire height of the cell, and baseline aligning it along the text baseline.

You can also use the align-items property on the grid container to set the alignment of all grid items within the container. This property accepts the same values as align-self, and can be used to create a consistent alignment throughout the grid.

Here are the possible values for the align-self and align-items properties:

Alignment is a crucial aspect of grid layout, and it's essential to understand how to align grid items along the rows and columns of a grid container.

The align-items property aligns grid items along the block (column) axis, and it has several values, including stretch, start, end, center, and baseline. The stretch value fills the whole height of the cell, while the start value aligns items to be flush with the start edge of their cell.

You can also set the align-self property on individual grid items to control their alignment along the block axis. This property accepts four possible values: start, end, stretch, and baseline.

The justify-items property aligns grid items along the inline (row) axis, and it has similar values to align-items, including start, end, center, and stretch.

The justify-content property aligns the grid along the inline axis, and it has values such as start, end, center, space-around, space-between, and space-evenly.

Here are the values for the justify-content property:

The place-self property sets both the align-self and justify-self properties in a single declaration, allowing you to control an individual grid item's horizontal and vertical alignment within its grid area.

The place-items property is similar to place-self, but it sets the values for the align-self and justify-self properties on the grid container, controlling the alignment of all grid items within the container.

The align-content property sets the vertical alignment of the entire grid within the block (column) axis of the grid container, and it has values such as start, space-evenly, and stretch.

The place-content property is a shorthand property that sets both the align-content and justify-content properties in a single declaration, allowing you to control the horizontal and vertical alignment of the entire grid within the grid container at once.

Stacking allows you to place items into the same cell of the grid, enabling you to stack items or cause one item to partly overlap another.

Items which come later in the source will be displayed on top of items that come earlier, and you can change this stacking order using z-index.

You can only achieve this stacking effect with explicit grids, not with auto-placed items.

Take a layout of three rows of auto-placed items, and you'll see that the stacking order won't work as expected.

Grid shorthand is a powerful tool for setting multiple grid properties at once. It's a shorthand for setting grid-template-columns, grid-template-rows, and grid-template-areas in a single declaration.

The grid-template property is a shorthand for grid-template-columns, grid-template-rows, and grid-template-areas. It has several distinct syntax forms. One of them sets grid-template-areas to the strings listed, and sets grid-template-rows to the track sizes following each string, filling in auto for any missing sizes, and splicing in the named lines defined before/after each size.

The grid-template property also sets grid-template-columns to the track listing specified after the slash, or none if not specified. This syntax allows the author to align track names and sizes inline with their respective grid areas.

There are two shorthand properties for grid: grid-template and grid. The grid shorthand resets the implicit grid properties to their initial values, whereas the grid-template property doesn't.

Here are some examples of grid shorthand syntax:

The grid-row and grid-column properties are shorthands for grid-row-start/grid-row-end and grid-column-start/grid-column-end, respectively. If two grid-line values are specified, the grid-row-start/grid-column-start longhand is set to the value before the slash, and the grid-row-end/grid-column-end longhand is set to the value after the slash.

Grid Functions are a game-changer for creating efficient and effective layouts. The minmax() function allows you to set a minimum and maximum size for a track, which can be useful when working with remaining space.

You can use minmax() to force a track to take an equal share of the space in the grid container minus gaps by replacing 1fr with minmax(0, 1fr). This makes the minimum size of the track 0 and not the min-content size.

The repeat() function is also super handy when you want to create a grid with multiple equal tracks, like six equal columns. It saves you from having to explicitly define each track using the grid-template-columns property.

The minmax() function is a powerful tool for setting track sizes in CSS Grid.

It allows you to set a minimum and maximum size for a track, which can be useful for distributing remaining space.

Grid looks at the intrinsic size of the content, then distributes available space after giving the content enough room.

You can replace 1fr as a track size with minmax(0, 1fr) to force a track to take an equal share of the space in the grid container minus gaps.

This makes the minimum size of the track 0 and not the min-content size.

Grid will then take all of the available size in the container, deduct the size needed for any gaps, and share the rest out according to your fr units.

The minmax() function is a game-changer for CSS Grid, allowing you to set a minimum and maximum size for a track. This can be particularly useful when you want to ensure a track takes up an equal share of the available space in the grid container.

You can use minmax() to replace a track size with a value like minmax(0, 1fr), which sets the minimum size of the track to 0 and the maximum size to 1 fraction of the available space.

The repeat() function is another handy tool that can save you time and effort when working with CSS Grid. It allows you to repeat a track size or pattern, making it easy to create grids with multiple columns or rows.

Grid looks at the intrinsic size of the content, then distributes available space after giving the content enough room. This means that you might not get tracks that each have an equal share of all space available in the grid container.

By using the fr unit, you can create grids where each track takes up an equal fraction of the available space. For example, using 1fr as a track size will give each track a width of 1 fraction of the available space.

Grid Concepts are built on a simple yet powerful idea: dividing the space of a grid container into grid areas. The grid is an intersecting set of horizontal and vertical grid lines.

Grid items, representing the grid container's content, can be placed into these grid areas. There are two sets of grid lines: one defining columns that run along the block axis, and an orthogonal set defining rows along the inline axis.

Grid layout is a powerful tool for designing and building websites, but it can be overwhelming with all the terminology involved.

Grid lines are a fundamental concept in grid layout, and there are actually two sets of them: one for columns and one for rows.

The grid lines that define columns run along the block axis, while the lines that define rows run along the inline axis.

A grid container's space is divided into grid areas, which are the spaces where grid items can be placed.

Grid items are essentially the content of a grid container, and they can be placed into the grid areas defined by the grid lines.

Understanding the terminology is crucial before diving into the concepts of Grid, so take a moment to memorize the meanings of these terms defined by the Grid specification.

The grid container generates implicit grid tracks by adding implicit grid lines to the grid when grid items are positioned outside of the explicit grid bounds.

These implicit grid lines, along with the explicit grid, form the implicit grid. The grid-auto-rows and grid-auto-columns properties size these implicit grid tracks.

The grid-auto-flow property controls auto-placement of grid items without an explicit position, causing the generation of implicit grid tracks once the explicit grid is filled or if there is no explicit grid.

The grid shorthand property can set the implicit grid properties (grid-auto-flow, grid-auto-rows, and grid-auto-columns) together with the explicit grid properties in a single declaration.

Grid Conflict Handling is a crucial aspect of CSS Grid, and understanding how to resolve conflicts is essential for creating effective grid layouts.

If a grid item's placement contains two lines and the start line is further end-ward than the end line, swap the two lines.

When dealing with grid placements, it's essential to pay attention to the relationship between the start and end lines. I've found that this can make all the difference in resolving conflicts.

If the start line is equal to the end line, remove the end line. This can help simplify your grid layout and avoid potential issues.

Grid conflict handling can be tricky, but knowing how to remove unnecessary lines can make a big impact.

Conflict Handling is a crucial aspect of grid layout. If a grid item's placement contains two lines and the start line is further end-ward than the end line, swap the two lines.

This can happen when you're trying to place an item on a grid with multiple lines. I've seen it happen when a developer is working on a complex layout. If the start line is equal to the end line, remove the end line.

When dealing with grid conflicts, it's essential to consider the properties that contribute to the conflict. If the placement contains two spans, remove the one contributed by the endgrid-placement property.

This can help resolve the conflict and allow the grid to render correctly. If the placement contains only a span for a named line, replace it with a span of 1.

In grid conflict handling, the first significant adjustment is to consider the impact of different time zones on conflict resolution. This is crucial for utilities that operate across multiple time zones.

Utilities can reduce conflict times by 30% by implementing a centralized conflict management system. This system can help utilities to track and resolve conflicts more efficiently.

The use of advanced analytics can also help utilities to identify and address potential conflicts before they escalate. By analyzing historical data and real-time system performance, utilities can anticipate and mitigate potential conflicts.

In some cases, utilities may need to adjust their communication protocols to resolve conflicts. For example, they may need to provide more detailed information to other utilities or stakeholders to facilitate conflict resolution.

By making these adjustments, utilities can improve their conflict resolution processes and reduce the likelihood of grid conflicts.