The Power of CSS Grid: A Guide to Building Responsive Layouts

Published on July 24, 2020

Introduction

In this post, we will explore the power of CSS Grid and how it can be used to build responsive layouts that adapt to different screen sizes and devices. We will start with the basics and then move on to more advanced topics…

Creating a Basic Grid Layout

To get started with CSS Grid, you first need to create an element that will serve as the container for your grid. This is usually a <div> element with the display property set to grid. For example:

<div class="container">
  <!-- Your content goes here -->
</div>

Once you have created the container, you can use CSS Grid properties to define the layout of your grid. For example, you can set the number of columns and rows in your grid using the grid-template-columns and grid-template-rows properties:

.container {
  display: grid;
  grid-template-columns: repeat(3, 1fr);
  grid-template-rows: repeat(2, auto);
}

This will create a grid with three columns and two rows, where each column is assigned an equal amount of space (represented by the 1fr value) and each row is automatically sized based on its content.

Adding Content to Your Grid

Once you have defined your grid layout, you can add content to it using the grid-area property. This property allows you to assign a specific area of your grid to an element, which can then be placed in that area using the grid-column and grid-row properties:

.item {
  grid-area: main;
}

.item2 {
  grid-area: sidebar;
}

In this example, we have two elements with classes .item and .item2, respectively. We are using the grid-area property to assign them to specific areas of our grid, where “main” is a named area that spans the entire grid, and “sidebar” is a named area that spans only the first column.

Using Grid-Related Properties

There are many other CSS Grid properties that you can use to customize your layouts. For example, you can set the gap between rows and columns using the grid-row-gap and grid-column-gap properties:

.container {
  display: grid;
  grid-template-columns: repeat(3, 1fr);
  grid-template-rows: repeat(2, auto);
  grid-row-gap: 20px;
  grid-column-gap: 15px;
}

This will create a gap of 20 pixels between rows and a gap of 15 pixels between columns. You can also use the justify-content and align-items properties to specify how content is distributed within an area:

.container {
  display: grid;
  justify-content: center;
  align-items: center;
}

This will center the content horizontally and vertically within each cell of the grid.

Conclusion

CSS Grid is a powerful tool for building responsive layouts that adapt to different screen sizes and devices. By using the grid-template-columns, grid-template-rows, grid-area, and other properties, you can create complex grids that are both flexible and visually appealing. With practice and experimentation, you can use CSS Grid to build a wide range of layouts that meet your specific needs.

Thank you for reading!