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960 Grid System

Nathan Smith
March 01, 2012

960 Grid System

Slides from on the 960 Grid System, from a talk I gave at Refresh Oklahoma City.

Nathan Smith

March 01, 2012
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  1. Relax. Please don’t try to take notes feverishly. Email —

    http://sonspring.com/contact Twitter — http://twitter.com/nathansmith Slides — http://slideshare.net/nathansmith/refresh-okc Feel free to email me later, and download these slides as well. These links are at the end, too.
  2. An important discipline when using any framework is striving to

    understand the underlying language. In other words, use it as a tool – Not a black box. Before we get started, let’s agree: Code is not magic
  3. Veteran “ninjas” master a variety of tools – Not just

    one. Use a framework as an extension of yourself – Not just as a crutch. BY HAND FRAMEWORK http://imdb.com/title/tt1046173
  4. “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 — developer evangelist at Mozilla http://thinkvitamin.com/code/web-development-is-moving-on-are-you
  5. “Point being, choose your battles wisely. In the time you

    could argue the relevance of naming conventions like these – I just built a 16-column layout.” Matthew Anderson — designer at OneHub.com http://onehub.com/past/2009/5/13/why-we-chose-960gs-css-framework
  6. Truth be told, I don’t really care if you use

    the 960 Grid System or not. I tell people who get all emotional over “semantics” (ID & classes have none) that it takes less energy to not use something than to argue about it. It also takes considerably more energy to do research. Being ignorant is blissful and easy! Allow me to clear up a (potential) misconception...
  7. Semantics can reside in microformats’ class names, because parsers are

    built to look for them specifically http://microformats.org
  8. The term “Semantic Web” refers to W3C’s vision of the

    Web of linked data. Semantic Web technologies enable people to create data stores on the Web, build vocabularies, and write rules for handling data. Linked data are empowered by technologies such as RDF, SPARQL, OWL, and SKOS. — World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) CSS gets no — at the Semantic Web party http://www.w3.org/standards/semanticweb
  9. <tag class="peanut_butter jelly">Yummy content</tag> Semantics live here Not here So

    let’s get this straight... ... Except in the case of microformats.
  10. Don’t be a Luddite (Note: I was with Sass/SCSS) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luddite

    The Luddites were a social movement of British textile artisans in the nineteenth century who protested – often by destroying mechanized looms – against the changes produced by the Industrial Revolution, which they felt were leaving them without work and changing their way of life.
  11. Added semantics via role="..." & HTML5 tags <header role="banner"> <nav>...</nav>

    </header> <div role="main"> <article> <section>...</section> </article> <aside>...</aside> </div> <footer role="contentinfo"> ... </footer> http://adactio.com/journal/4267 — http://dev.w3.org/html5/html4-differences/#new-elements
  12. Added semantics via role="..." & HTML5 tags <header role="banner"> <nav>...</nav>

    </header> <div role="main"> <article> <section>...</section> </article> <aside>...</aside> </div> <footer role="contentinfo"> ... </footer> http://adactio.com/journal/4267 — http://dev.w3.org/html5/html4-differences/#new-elements
  13. Um, okay, but why grids? “My design skillz are so

    awesome, I’ve never needed to use grids.” #anyways #whatevs #whocares #sobored
  14. The reason I create and use CSS frameworks is because

    I hate doing mundane tasks repeatedly (yawn). I’d rather be working in JavaScript. FYI: I don’t especially love CSS.
  15. Co-author Tech editor Tech editor jQueryEnlightenment.com oreilly.com/catalog/9780596159788 JavaScriptEnlightenment.com JavaScript books

    I’ve worked on... All involving Cody Lindley, who has been a JavaScript mentor to me: http://codylindley.com
  16. There are many “dragons” sharing the same public facade in

    web development: ColdFusion, Java, .NET, Perl, PHP, Ruby, Python... To render in a browser, it all has to pass through HTML. So, I think that front-end is a good place to be! :) Front-end is the opposite of a mythological hydra http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lernaean_Hydra
  17. But I digress. I’ll forever be known as “the 960

    guy.” But I guess that’s not so bad... Right? #anyways #whatevs #whocares #sobored
  18. The premise of the system is ideally suited to rapid

    prototyping, but it would work equally well when integrated into a production environment. There are printable sketch sheets, design templates, and CSS files that have identical measurements. What’s this whole 960.gs thing all about?
  19. 960 SHIps WITH PrINtABlE *.PDf SKeTCH SHeEts, BeCAUSe sOmEtIMeS THe

    BeSt DEsIGn ToOl IS No ToOl At ALl! WE OfTeN JUMp RIgHT INtO DEsIGn Or CODe SoFtWARe, BUt SKeTCHInG THIngS OUt CAN Be MUCH mOrE eFfICIEnT. WHEn I WOrKED AS AN InFoRmATIoN ARCHItECt, SoMe Of mY BeSt WOrK WAS DOnE SImPlY USInG PeN AnD PApEr.
  20. The 960 Grid System is an effort to streamline web

    development by providing commonly used dimensions, based on a width of 960 pixels. There are two variants: 12 and 16 columns, which can be used separately or in tandem. If you like, there’s also a 24-column version. “Dogfooding” = When you use your own product NOM, NOM, NOM — I use 960 regularly! :)
  21. The 12-column grid is divided into portions that are 60

    pixels wide. The 16-column grid consists of 40 pixel increments. Each column has 10 pixels of margin on the left and right, which create 20 pixel wide gutters between columns. The 24-column grid is also included. It consists of columns 30 pixels wide, with 10 pixel gutters, and a 5 pixel buffer on each side of the container. 12, 16, and 24 columns available by default
  22. Typical use case for a 12-column grid <div class="container_12"> <div

    class="grid_4"> I am 1/3 wide. </div> <div class="grid_4"> I am 1/3 wide. </div> <div class="grid_4"> Me too! </div> <div class="clear"></div> <!-- Yuck, I know --> <div class="grid_6"> I am 1/2 wide. </div> <div class="grid_6"> I am 1/2 wide. </div> </div>
  23. Typical use case for a 12-column grid <div class="container_12"> <div

    class="grid_4"> I am 1/3 wide. </div> <div class="grid_4"> I am 1/3 wide. </div> <div class="grid_4"> Me too! </div> <div class="clear"></div> <!-- Yuck, I know --> <div class="grid_6"> I am 1/2 wide. </div> <div class="grid_6"> I am 1/2 wide. </div> </div>
  24. Nested grids & Column rearrangement <div class="container_12"> <div class="grid_6 push_6">

    <div class="grid_2 alpha"> First nested grid. </div> <div class="grid_2"> Middle. No special class. </div> <div class="grid_2 omega"> Last nested grid. </div> </div> <div class="grid_6 pull_6"> Last in markup, first visually. </div> </div>
  25. Nested grids: alpha = first, omega = last (per row)

    <div class="container_12"> <div class="grid_6 push_6"> <div class="grid_2 alpha"> First nested grid. </div> <div class="grid_2"> Middle. No special class. </div> <div class="grid_2 omega"> Last nested grid. </div> </div> <div class="grid_6 pull_6"> Last in markup, first visually. </div> </div>
  26. Column rearrangement (SEO maybe) <div class="container_12"> <div class="grid_6 push_6"> <div

    class="grid_2 alpha"> First nested grid. </div> <div class="grid_2"> Middle. No special class. </div> <div class="grid_2 omega"> Last nested grid. </div> </div> <div class="grid_6 pull_6"> Last in markup, first visually. </div> </div>
  27. Templates available for your weapon of choice... Acorn Fireworks Flash

    InDesign GIMP Inkscape Illustrator OmniGraffle Photoshop QuarkXPress Visio Expression Design
  28. Michael Phelps following a painted line at the bottom of

    a pool doesn’t make him a less talented swimmer. http://livinggallery.oneindia.in/main.php?g2_itemId=32903
  29. “Our best practices are killing us” – Nicole Sullivan http://www.slideshare.net/stubbornella/our-best-practices-are-killing-us

    Three best practice myths... 1. Don’t add any extra elements 2. Don’t add classes 3. Use descendent selectors exclusively
  30. “Our best practices are killing us” – Nicole Sullivan http://www.slideshare.net/stubbornella/our-best-practices-are-killing-us

    Three best practice myths... 1. Don’t add any extra elements 2. Don’t add classes 3. Use descendent selectors exclusively
  31. Take all “rules” in development with a grain of salt

    Sensibly revised... 1. Add extra elements sparingly 2. Add classes thoughtfully 3. Avoid descendent selector kludge...
  32. How would you style these <a> links? <ul class="menu"> <li>

    <a href="/">Home</a> </li> <li> <a href="/about">About</a> </li> </ul>
  33. Use only the selectors that are necessary. .menu a {

    /* Terse = Get ‘er done! */ } ul.menu li a { /* Too heavy = Overkill. */ }
  34. Frameworks are kind of like sheet music. They are organized,

    and can keep teams on the same page. http://www.flickr.com/photos/avlxyz/3280803912
  35. Whither: Grid framework or Responsive design? Doing a fixed-width design

    using a grid framework is relatively easy. Whereas, doing a responsive design that looks solid at every resolution is multivariate and there is not (yet) an automated, foolproof solution. VS
  36. Pet peeve: “Use tomorrow’s technology, today!” The mere fact we’re

    even able to use it today makes it today’s technology. As designers and developers, it’s easy to get so caught up in wanting to use the latest and greatest (to a fault) that we forget to try and tackle present-day problems with proven technologies.
  37. Symphony + Jazz = Crazy ~ Like playing jazz flute

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anchorman:_The_Legend_of_Ron_Burgundy
  38. How to use Adapt.js = A human-readable config <script> //

    Edit to suit your needs. var ADAPT_CONFIG = { // Where is your CSS? path: 'assets/css/', // false = Only run once, when page first loads. // true = Change on window resize and page tilt. dynamic: true, // Optional callback... myCallback(i, width) callback: myCallback, // First range entry is the minimum. // Last range entry is the maximum. // Separate ranges by "to" keyword. range: [ '0px to 760px = mobile.css', '760px to 980px = 720.css', '980px to 1280px = 960.css', '1280px to 1600px = 1200.css', '1600px to 1920px = 1560.css', '1920px = fluid.css' ] }; </script>
  39. How to use Adapt.js = A human-readable config <script> //

    Edit to suit your needs. var ADAPT_CONFIG = { // Where is your CSS? path: 'assets/css/', // false = Only run once, when page first loads. // true = Change on window resize and page tilt. dynamic: true, // Optional callback... myCallback(i, width) callback: myCallback, // First range entry is the minimum. // Last range entry is the maximum. // Separate ranges by "to" keyword. range: [ '0px to 760px = mobile.css', '760px to 980px = 720.css', '980px to 1280px = 960.css', '1280px to 1600px = 1200.css', '1600px to 1920px = 1560.css', '1920px = fluid.css' ] }; </script>
  40. 845 bytes Minified, Adapt.js is less than 1 KB. (Allow

    me to put into perspective) What about adding JavaScript page-weight?
  41. 60 × 40 pixel JPG @ 70% quality = 908

    bytes My son, figuring out that the wind can spin pinwheels 908 bytes http://www.flickr.com/photos/nathansmith/5625332824
  42. Or, as my dad used to tell me as a

    kid... “Don’t worry about problems smaller than a gnat’s backside.” Note: If the extra HTTP request for JS is a concern, the file size is small enough to just include inline in the document’s <head>.
  43. Not to go all “Ron Burgundy” on you, but... “Kind

    of a [small] deal” I didn’t set out to write a terse snippet of JavaScript. That’s just how easy the problem was to solve. Seriously though, consider what will be best for your project. Nothing is a magic bullet. Code is just code. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anchorman:_The_Legend_of_Ron_Burgundy
  44. In fact, here’s a slew of alternatives you might like

    better. You should explore every option, and choose one that makes sense to you. Or, if nothing seems like a good fit, I’d encourage you to create one! To reiterate: I don’t care if you use 960.gs or Adapt.js
  45. And the list goes on... But you get the point.

    There are plenty of options out there to choose from. (I just want to mention two more things)
  46. To prevent developers from wasting countless hours on styling dumb

    form elements Note: I wasted countless hours styling dumb form elements, so you don’t have to! Forms = Quite possibly, the worst part of web design
  47. “Future plans include a tutorial on how to use jQuery

    to add styling hooks to form elements, since I know from experience that is no cup of tea.” — Source = Me when announcing 960.gs in 2008! — Excuse = New HTML5 elements set me back :) It’s been awhile in the making... http://sonspring.com/journal/960-grid-system
  48. http://sass-lang.com I prefer using Sass to expedite writing CSS I

    didn’t think I would like Sass, but I do. Oh, and if you’re going to use Sass, use Sass, not SCSS.
  49. Questions? Comments? Hate mail? :) Email — http://sonspring.com/contact Twitter —

    http://twitter.com/nathansmith Slides — http://slideshare.net/nathansmith/refresh-okc Thanks for attending my presentation! Feel free to email or say “hi” on Twitter.