Tips to help you create responsive layouts easily

Are you looking to create responsive layouts suitable for . Then please refer to the simple tips below. They can make your process of creating responsive layouts easier.

Get started with a basic Style Sheet

Always start with basic styling when writing CSS. Don't worry about the layout. Instead, choose generic styles like typography, colors, and backgrounds. Reset maring, remove underline on links and more.

Once the general styling is done, you can create the layout and target individual elements in the layout. Basically, start from top to bottom, then move through the components.

The example below resets the margin on all elements to 0, defines the typograhy, color of all main headings, and adds a consistent margin to all.

body, h1, h2, h3, p {   margin: 0; } h1, h2, h3 {   color: blue;   font-family: "Verdana" sans-serif;   font-weight: 900;   line-height: 1; } h2, h3, p {   margin-bottom: 1rem; }

This is a responsive layout because when you resize it, the size of the elements changes as well.

Avoid fixed sizes

When starting to think about layouts, the first thing you need to remember is to avoid fixed sizes, such as width: 1000px, height: 200px, etc. Setting a fixed height and width will only cause problems when it has to be adjusted. fix.

Instead, use flexible height & width. For example, use min-height and min-width instead of height and width.

Consider the following sample code:

Let's say you set the width of an element to be 600px. When the size is less than 600px, the content will overflow:

You should change the property from width to max-width instead. With max-width, the element is allowed to shrink when the browser window is minimized and vice versa.

Remember that the default web is responsive

Remember that your site is responsive even before you write a single line of CSS code. This mindset can help you avoid complicating the design process. The layout will work on large screens and small screens. It may not be pretty. It can even be difficult to read on large screens. But the site style adapts to nearly any view.

Use media queries to add complexity

Try to use media queries only when additional complexity is needed, such as if you want 3 columns on a large screen. Otherwise, don't use them if you want a simple and easy-to-see web layout.

Use Modern CSS

By using modern CSS approaches, you can get rid of most alignment and breakpoint issues and move towards achieving responsive layout design on the fly.

For example:

h1 { font-size: clamp(3rem, 1rem + 10vw, 7rem)}

The h1 tag contains the min and max font sizes. The minimum size we want to achieve here is 3rem and the highest is 7rem. The middle part is what repeats (1rem + 10 vw). As a result, the title will automatically shrink when the viewing window is smaller and larger when on a larger screen.

Here are some tips to help you create responsive layouts for the web. How do you like web design? Please share your experience with TipsMake readers!

Jessica Tanner

Update 27 June 2023