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1. Accelerated grid
theming using NineSixty
+
Todd Nienkerk
DrupalCamp LA | August 6, 2011

2. Personal introduction

3. Todd Nienkerk
Co-founder, designer, and developer
Four Kitchens
todd@fourkitchens.com
Twitter: @toddross
Photo: Kristin Hillery

4. What is a grid system?

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

6. Photo: kmaraj on Flickr (Creative Commons BY-NC-ND)

7. Photo: dalydose on Flickr (Creative Commons BY-NC-SA)

8. ‣ This shift in design was part of a much larger
movement towards function over form
Source: Grids are Good by Khoi Vinh and Mark Boulton

9. Photo: s.alt on Flickr (Creative Commons BY-NC-ND)

10. Photo: J. Kleyn on Flickr (Creative Commons BY-ND)

11. Typographic grids
‣ After World War II, many graphic designers
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

12. Source: Grid (page layout) on Wikipedia

13. Unigrid system by Massimo Vignelli; image source: AisleOne

14. Unigrid system by Massimo Vignelli; image source: Alki1 on Flickr (Creative Commons BY-NC-ND)

15. Unigrid system by Massimo Vignelli; image source: Alki1 on Flickr (Creative Commons BY-NC-ND)

16. 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

17. Today
‣ Web designers have turned to grid-based design
in order to...
‣ derive beauty from the innate qualities of the
browser
‣ champion standardization
‣ 18 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

18. 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

19. 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

20. 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...

21. Layout
‣ When applied to web design, grid systems are CSS
frameworks that provides standardized rules and
shortcuts for building a website’s layout

22. Why use a grid system?

23. 1) Saves time
2) Saves money
3) Reduces frustration

24. 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

25. 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

26. Stop deconstructing CSS
‣ Understanding someone else’s design is much
easier when a standard grid system is used

27. “Embrace constraints”
— Mark Kraemer, Credera management consulting
‣ 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)

28. Enforcing a grid can
accelerate design while
maintaining order
Photo: jontidmarsh on Flickr (Creative Commons BY-SA)

29. “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, (then) standards evangelist at Yahoo
Think Vitamin | Web development is moving on — Are you?

30. How do grid systems
work?

31. 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)

32. 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)

33. 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)

34. 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

35. 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

36. 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)

37. What can grid systems
look like?
Examples of grid-based layouts

38. Layout A: Content left, sidebar right
Example based on 960.gs (12-column)

39. Layout B: Content between sidebars
Example based on 960.gs (12-column)

40. Layout C: Content right with two left sidebars
Example based on 960.gs (12-column)

41. Layout D: Whatever
Example based on 960.gs (12-column)

42. Layout E: The Mondriaan
Painting by Piet Mondriaan (later Mondrian)

43. How 960.gs works

44. 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

45. What’s in it
‣ Download it for free at 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

46. 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

47. 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

48. 16-column version
Columns are 40px wide
Everything else remains the same
Source: 960.gs

49. Using both versions
simultaneously
‣ 12- and 16-column layouts can be used on the
same page
Halves
Quarters

50. ‣ 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

51. 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.

52. 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

53. Grids
‣ Grids are held inside .grid-1,
containers and are .grid-2,
.grid-3,
floated left so they fall ...
into place .grid-16 {
automatically display: inline;
float: left;
margin-left: 10px;
‣ They also provide 10px
margin-right: 10px;
margins on the left and }
right

54. 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

55. ‣ 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. Putting containers and
grids together
.container-12
.grid-3 .grid-6 .grid-3

57. 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

58. Adding a prefix and su x
.container-12
.grid-4
.grid-3 .prefix-1 .grid-3
.suffix-1

59. Multiple rows
.container-12
.grid-12
.grid-4
.grid-3 .prefix-1 .grid-3
.suffix-1

60. 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. Stack content vertically
with nested grids
.grid-6
.container-12
.grid-6
.grid-3 .grid-3
.grid-6

62. ‣ 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

63. 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.

64. .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

65. The NineSixty theme
drupal.org/project/ninesixty

66. 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

67. Screenshot from ninesixty.fkdemos.com

68. 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

69. 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

70. 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

71. ‣ 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

72. 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>

73. .container-12
#content #sidebar-left #sidebar-right
.grid-6 .grid-3 .grid-3

74. .container-12
#sidebar-left #content
#sidebar-right
.grid-3 .grid-6
.grid-3
.pull-6 .push-3

75. 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>

76. NineSixty in action
‣ Visit 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

77. Implementing a grid-
based layout
Using NineSixty to build your site

78. 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

79. ‣ 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

80. 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

81. 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: drupal.org/node/225125

82. 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

83. 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

84. Examples
960.gs as a prototyping
and development system

85. Refresh Boston: 16 columns
refreshboston.org

86. Refresh Boston: 16 columns
refreshboston.org

87. Tapbots: 12 columns
tapbots.com

88. Tapbots: 12 columns
tapbots.com

89. Twitter Media blog: 12 columns
media.twitter.com

90. Twitter Media blog: 12 columns
media.twitter.com

91. AAFES comp: 12 columns
Credits

92. AAFES comp: 12 columns
Credits

93. stopdesign.com 12 columns
stopdesign.com

94. stopdesign.com 12 columns
stopdesign.com

95. Drupal.org redesign: 12 columns
infrastructure.drupal.org/drupal.org-style-guide/prototype.html

96. Drupal.org redesign: 12 columns
infrastructure.drupal.org/drupal.org-style-guide/prototype.html

97. Questions?

98. Credits
‣ “History of the grid” slides were ‣ This presentation was created and
borrowed heavily from Khoi Vinh delivered Todd Nienkerk, co-
and Mark Boulton’s presentation founder of Four Kitchens, with lots
Grids are Good and from of guidance from Nathan Smith,
Wikipedia creator of the 960 Grid System
‣ Piet Mondriaan painting was found
somewhere online. Copyright
holder is unknown
‣ The items listed above are exempt
from this presentation’s Creative
Commons license

99. All content in this presentation, except where noted otherwise, is Creative Commons Attribution-
ShareAlike 3.0 licensed and copyright 2010 Four Kitchen Studios, LLC.