Modern CSS Layouts with Nuxt 3 and Tailwind CSS*

01. Wha Bam, Centered!place-items: center

Plays Nice With
:)
Drag Me! 

  .ex1 .parent {
    display: grid;
    place-items: center;
  }
Explore Original Code Sample on CodePen

HTML and Tailwind CSS Structure

Let's dissect this block of HTML and Tailwind CSS code to understand its structure and styling. This code creates a visually appealing user interface with nested grid containers and custom styles. Let's break it down step by step. 

<div
  class="grid h-full min-h-[200px] w-full place-items-center border border-solid border-pink-600 bg-pink-300"
>
  <div
    class="grid place-items-center break-words rounded-2xl border border-dashed border-blue-600 bg-blue-300 p-4 text-base"
    contenteditable
  >
    :)
  </div>
</div>

HTML Structure

The HTML code consists of two <div> elements, one nested within the other.

1. Outer <div> Element

This is the outer <div> element.

  • grid: This class suggests that the element should use CSS Grid for layout.
  • h-full: This class sets the height of the element to be 100% of its parent container.
  • min-h-[200px]: This class sets a minimum height of 200 pixels for the element.
  • w-full: This class sets the width of the element to be 100% of its parent container.
  • place-items-center: This class centers the content both horizontally and vertically within the element.
  • border border-solid border-[var(--pink--b)]: This applies a border to the element. The border style is solid, and the color is defined by a custom variable --pink--b.
  • bg-[var(--pink)]: This sets the background color of the element using a custom variable --pink.

This <div> will serve as a container for the inner content.

2. Inner <div> Element

This is an inner <div> element, nested within the outer <div>.

  • grid: This suggests that the element should use CSS Grid for layout.
  • place-items-center: This centers the content both horizontally and vertically within the element.
  • break-words: This allows words to break if they exceed the width of the container.
  • rounded-2xl: This applies a large rounded corner to the element, giving it a pill-shaped appearance.
  • border border-dashed border-[var(--blue--b)]: This applies a dashed border to the element. The border color is defined by a custom variable --blue--b.
  • bg-[var(--blue)]: This sets the background color of the element using a custom variable --blue.
  • p-4: This adds padding of 4 units around the content inside the element.
  • text-base: This sets the font size to a base size.
  • contenteditable: This attribute makes the element editable by the user, allowing them to type and edit the content directly in the browser.

The content of this <div> is a smiley face :).

Content

This combination of HTML and Tailwind CSS results in an interface with an outer pink container and an inner blue container. The inner container allows user input and is styled with rounded corners, making it visually appealing.

This code snippet also demonstrates the use of custom Tailwind CSS variables for colors, promoting maintainability and consistency throughout the codebase.

Understanding how HTML elements and Tailwind CSS classes work together is fundamental to building effective user interfaces.

Tailwind CSS Classes Explained

Let's go through the Tailwind CSS classes used in your code snippet one by one:

  1. grid: Sets the display property of the element to "grid", allowing you to create a grid layout.
  2. h-full: Sets the height of the element to be 100% of its parent's height, in this case, the full height of its container.
  3. min-h-[200px]: Sets the minimum height of the element to 200 pixels. The min-h- prefix is used in Tailwind to set a minimum height.
  4. w-full: Sets the width of the element to be 100% of its parent's width, in this case, the full width of its container.
  5. place-items-center: Centers the child elements both horizontally and vertically within a grid container.
  6. border: Applies a basic border to the element.
  7. border-solid: Sets the border style to be solid.
  8. border-[var(--pink--b)]: Sets the border color to a shade of pink defined by a CSS variable named --pink--b.
  9. bg-[var(--pink)]: Sets the background color of the element to a shade of pink defined by a CSS variable named --pink.
  10. Within the inner div:
    • grid: Sets the display property to "grid" for the inner div.
    • place-items-center: Centers the content of the inner grid element both horizontally and vertically.
    • break-words: Allows words to break and wrap onto the next line if they exceed the width of the container.
    • rounded-2xl: Applies a rounded border with a high degree of rounding (in this case, 2xl).
    • border: Applies a basic border to the element.
    • border-dashed: Sets the border style to be dashed.
    • border-[var(--blue--b)]: Sets the border color to a shade of blue defined by a CSS variable named --blue--b.
    • bg-[var(--blue)]: Sets the background color of the element to a shade of blue defined by a CSS variable named --blue.
    • p-4: Adds padding of 1rem (16 pixels) to all sides of the element.
    • text-base: Sets the font size to a base size, which is typically 16 pixels in most browsers.
  11. contenteditable: An HTML attribute that makes the element editable by the user, allowing them to modify the content.

The smiley face :) is the content inside the inner div.

In summary, this code snippet sets up a grid container with specific dimensions, border colors, and background colors defined by CSS variables. Inside this container, there's another grid element with centered content, specific border styles, colors, padding, and a base font size. This inner grid element also has editable content.