Introduction to Mastering CSS Layout using Design Patterns

Mastering CSS Layout Welcome

Learn why Design Patterns are so important and how they simplify and systemize CSS layouts

Introduction

Introduction to Design Patterns

The Stack design pattern is used when you need to stack elements on top of each other and set space between them.

The Stack Design Pattern

The inline-cluster pattern is used to place elements inline, set space between them, and cluster the elements when they run out of inline space.

The Inline-Cluster Design Pattern

The split pattern is for putting two elements next to each other, each taking up a fraction of the inline space.

The Split Design Pattern

The cover pattern is used to vertically center content within an element.

The Cover Design Pattern

The center pattern is used to cap out the inline growth while centering the content inside its parent.

The Center Design Pattern

The column-drop pattern is used to a grid-like layout where each row has its column layout.

The Column-Drop Design Pattern

The Grid pattern creates equally spaced columns that persist across rows instead of the column-drop pattern, which does not.

The Grid Design Pattern

Learn what are the 7 design patterns behind every single CSS layout in the world. What they are and when to use each of them.

Design Patterns in CSS Layout

Introduction to the application and attribute selectors

Introduction to Application

In this lesson, we will learn how to implement the stack pattern using CSS Grid

The Stack Design Pattern in CSS Grid

CSS Grid can help you achieve part of this pattern, but it won't work for everything since it won't allow items to “Cluster” at smaller viewports.

The Inline-Cluster Design Pattern in CSS Grid

CSS Grid allows you to set two columns using fr units to set ratios.

The Split Design Pattern in CSS Grid

The cover works like the stack but vertically centers a specific layout part.

The Cover Design Pattern in CSS Grid

Half of the centering is done through your typical auto margin technique.  The children are centering through a few extra CSS Grid properties.

The Center Design Pattern in CSS Grid

The Grid pattern combines a few specific CSS Grid Properties that allow for an auto grid layout optimized to the inline size available to the component.

The Grid Design Pattern in CSS Grid

Deep dive into Design Patterns using CSS Grid. Learn exactly how to build each pattern with CSS Grid and practice your skills.

Design Patterns using CSS Grid

In this lesson, we will learn how to implement the stack pattern using Flexbox.

The Stack Design Pattern in Flexbox

The inline-cluster pattern is accomplished using the wrap and align-items center.

The Inline-Cluster Design Pattern in Flexbox

The Split pattern using flex box can seem complicated, but is a very powerful when all the fractions are setup.

The Split Design Pattern in Flexbox

The split can be made even more responsive by adding the minItemWidth and switchAt.

The Responsive Split Design Pattern in Flexbox

he cover pattern is almost identical to the grid implementation, but just uses flexbox properties.

The Cover Design Pattern in Flexbox

The center pattern sets the same margin properties, but the children is implemented using flex properties instead of grid.

The Center Design Pattern in Flexbox

The grid pattern is impossible using Flexbox, but the column drop is available and achieved using a flex-wrap, justify-center, and, flex-grow.

The Column Drop Design Pattern in Flexbox

Deep dive into Design Patterns using Flexbox. Learn exactly how to build each pattern with Flexbox and practice your skills.

Design Patterns using Flexbox

We will consolidate the two spreadsheets into a single spreadsheet with what I consider the optimal versions of each design pattern while acknowledging the good and bad of each version.

CSS Grid vs CSS Flexbox

Other layout techniques complimentary to the design patterns discussed.

Other Layout Techniques

You're done!

Learn advanced layout techniques, find out when to use Flexbox and when to opt in for CSS Grid and wrap up.

Wrapping up

Learn the Best Practices and Design Patterns behind every CSS layout. Know exactly what you *should* and *shouldn't* do at all times. And develop the intuition to **break every layout into its simplest building blocks** and the ability to **recreate it with both CSS Grid and Flexbox**.

### Why CSS Feels Hard and Frustrating

CSS is different than any other programming language. That's because it's not a programming language itself.

And that's why **CSS can feel painful, stressing, and overwhelming**. 

A common misconception is that with enough practice and experience, it will somehow just "click" eventually, but it doesn't work that way. 

This is what happens when you try to build a layout without first learning, understanding, and implementing the fundamentals. 

And this is when **CSS feels like throwing mud at the wall and hoping something sticks**. 

This is when editing a layout feels like defusing a bomb where one wrong move will turn everything to dust.

Flexbox and Grid definitely make things easier, and so does Bootstrap and TailwindCSS. **But these alone are not enough to help you feel confident in your abilities to build complex, responsive CSS layouts**.

It's like thinking you're a great painter because you have a canvas and a brush.

**These are just *tools***. But to paint a masterpiece, you need to know the fundamentals of painting.

And to build a picture-perfect layout that will last, **you *need* to learn the fundamental CSS Design Patterns**.



### How *Mastering CSS Layouts* Helps:

*Mastering CSS Layouts* teaches you the 7 fundamental Design Patterns that are used to build every layout in existence in the most simple and sturdy way that's easy to make responsive. 

You'll not only be able to recognize them, but also know *exactly* **how to use them in real-life scenarios like complex landing pages, SaaS interfaces, and more**.

You can finally **feel confident in your ability to build any layout there is from scratch** or edit an existing layout without breaking anything. 

Because you'll **know what you should and shouldn't do when building your layout**. 

Thanks to the best practices and foundational building blocks that are used to build all complex and responsive layouts.

These Design Patterns work with both Flexbox and CSS Grid so **you can use whichever you want** whenever it's time to build or edit a layout. 

And when you see a layout that seems harder to implement, you'll know **how to stack patterns on top of each other to achieve the exact result you want** every single time.  

### Course Content Overview

Course Overview:
Total Modules: **5**
Total Lessons: **24**
Total Video Runtime: **1 hour, 27 minutes**

Unlock the Secrets of CSS Layouts with Practical Expertise in Design Patterns

Become confident in building any CSS layout by learning the fundamental CSS Design Patterns and Best Practices that are responsible for all the CSS layouts in the world. 


Make CSS easy and intuitive by identifying those building blocks in seconds in every layout and learn how to code each of them using CSS Grid or Flexbox. By the end of this course, CSS will finally "click". 


Everything will make sense and you'll know how to build from scratch or edit  both simple and complex layouts.

Mastering CSS Layout

Build a responsive landing page using modern CSS layout patterns.

Implement modern CSS layout patterns with CSS Flexbox and Grid.

Optimally accommodate different grid layouts for cards with CSS Grid.

Drop cards to their own columns upon screen size changes with CSS Flexbox.

**How to make CSS make sense** by understanding the fundamental building blocks of web pages

How to **build *any* layout you want** and keep it sturdy and unbreakable

How to **instantly recognize common problems** in web layouts

What are **the 7 Design Patterns that help you solve every layout problem** you're going to ever face

How to **detect what design patterns were used and where** in each layout

How to implement these Design Patterns **in both CSS Grid *and* Flexbox**

**What you should and shouldn't do** when building your layouts

**When to use CSS Grid** and when to opt for Flexbox instead (and why)

How to **become confident in your CSS layout skills**

Understanding the Inline Cluster in CSS Grid

Welcome to this comprehensive guide on the 

 approach in CSS Grid. In the world of web design, CSS Grid provides a flexible framework to arrange and align elements on a webpage. In this guide, we will delve into the concept of "inline clusters", a critical part of CSS Grid. We'll explore how it works, how to implement it, and how it can influence the layout of web pages. Let's get started.

, as the name suggests, involves arranging items inline (horizontally) as a cluster, or group. The default behavior of CSS Grid organizes elements in a column or a stack, essentially in a vertical arrangement. However, the 

 property can be manipulated to force elements into an inline cluster.

[data-inline-cluster] {
  display: grid;
  grid-auto-flow: column;
  align-items: center;
}

 is used to arrange the grid items in columns. On adding a new item, CSS Grid attempts to fit it into the first available column. If there are no new columns available, it automatically creates a new one, thus creating an inline cluster of items.

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title: The Inline-Cluster Design Pattern in CSS Grid
description: CSS Grid can help you achieve part of this pattern, but it won't work for everything since it won't allow items to “Cluster” at smaller viewports.
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# Understanding the Inline Cluster in CSS Grid

## Introduction

Welcome to this comprehensive guide on the `Inline Cluster` approach in CSS Grid. In the world of web design, CSS Grid provides a flexible framework to arrange and align elements on a webpage. In this guide, we will delve into the concept of "inline clusters", a critical part of CSS Grid. We'll explore how it works, how to implement it, and how it can influence the layout of web pages. Let's get started.

Here's a demo of what we'll be building:

<ReplitEmbed src="https://replit.com/@newlineauthors/Master-CSS-Layout-23" />

## The Inline Cluster Concept

`Inline cluster`, as the name suggests, involves arranging items inline (horizontally) as a cluster, or group. The default behavior of CSS Grid organizes elements in a column or a stack, essentially in a vertical arrangement. However, the `grid auto-flow` property can be manipulated to force elements into an inline cluster.

**Example:**

```css
[data-inline-cluster] {
  display: grid;
  grid-auto-flow: column;
  align-items: center;
}
```

In the above example, `grid-auto-flow: column` is used to arrange the grid items in columns. On adding a new item, CSS Grid attempts to fit it into the first available column. If there are no new columns available, it automatically creates a new one, thus creating an inline cluster of items.

Travis Waith-Mair

So in this lesson, we're going to talk about the inline cluster.

So first let's get things started and go data, inline cluster.

We're actually going to start off this very much the same way.

We want to do display grid and we want to do, let's go ahead and do the gap.

And we're going to go ahead and do the exact same thing that we were doing

Now you see we've by default, it is putting everything in a column.

But what we want is we want to have the grid auto flow to be in columns.

And then we want to align everything center and you'll see what that does.

So to explain how this works with grid, every time an item is added to a CSS

you will put things in the first available column and then the next available

column and you will continue to do that till it runs out of columns.

And then it will auto flow to the next row and do the same thing for each

Given that since we have not defined any columns, we only have one column.

By default, with the stack, it will auto flow to the next row.

Now, when we say grid auto flow column, this actually reverses that.

It will every time that grid item is added, it will try to add it to a new row.

And if there's no new row defined, it will make a new column automatically.

So you see here that we have this item is automatically flowing and it's

creating a new column every time a new item is added.

Now we're doing a line item center because this is a good default.

Typically, you want your individual things centered inside of this in line.

So some things will take up the entire row.

But if we want to play with that, well, then we can come in here and take a

advantage of our selector and we can say just defy space between.

And this will change the contents to be space between automatically.

And this, you can see this has changed already to forcing space between these

And as you can imagine, we would want things for like center.

And then we would want things for start and end.

We'll take a look at this header, for example, we have this data in line

And we have a space between that we can come in here instead of doing space

We could come in here and go start and we get all the various different ways

The other thing that is very common to want to do is to adjust the alignment.

In fact, we probably want all of these instead of justify.

And this case, it's not content is items.

So let's say we have this section right here.

And let's make just to make it very apparent, we're going to make this logo

So by default, you see here that everything's centered by default, but we can

We can go align and we can also explicitly define centered if that's what we

With a little bit of CSS magic, we can go ahead and define how we want these

items and give a little bit of configuration.

To the implementation of our in line cluster.

No, the limitation with the in line cluster defined by the CSS grid is it will

Because by default, the we would like as we run out of space vertically for

So we would like these items to start wrapping to new rows as it runs out of

But with the CSS grid, you can see here, as we get smaller, we run out of

It's not actually wrapping like we would like to.

So it's continued to attempt to take up as much space as possible.

That is the one limitation of using the in line cluster using CSS grid.

In the same way that we added a line content start to the stack component to

We need to add something similar to our in line component.

This will prevent the columns from stretching.

So we're going to go ahead and practice what we've just learned.

We have a menu component and we want it to look like this.

Go ahead and pause the video and implement it and then on pause it and you'll

Okay, so we have the nav here and we put that in an in line cluster and we use

So that way it would force space in between these two sides.

And then inside this unordered list, we also have another in line cluster.

And that we just gave it a gutter with a size three.

That's the in line cluster implementation.

Let's go ahead and go on to the next lesson that will learn the next pattern.