Blueprint: A CSS Framework • Hacker News Board

Re: Blueprint: A CSS Framework

#11

Post by erlanger » Wed, Apr 01, 2009, 9:32 AM UTC

aditya wrote: post #5

My only issue with blueprint and compass was that it seems overly complicated for what I'm trying to do so far. I'm not a CSS guru so maybe I'm missing the point but is there a good reason to use a CSS framework on medium sized projects? Or, rather, is there something inherently nice about using grids for translating design to markup? It just seems like the framework adds a lot of code and styles that you're never go…

> but is there a good reason to use a CSS framework on medium sized projects?

No, not really.

> is there something inherently nice about using grids for translating design to markup?

Only if you want your markup tightly coupled with page layout.

Re: Blueprint: A CSS Framework

#12

Post by ssharp » Wed, Apr 01, 2009, 12:50 PM UTC

callmeed wrote: post #9

I like blueprint a lot ... but I'm also really liking 960.gs ... I think it might have a slight edge over blueprint.

I like the relative simplicity of 960.gs. It does a reset and then has a fairly simple set of glasses for actually do the grid. It also comes w/ a basic typography class that I'll overwrite w/ my own base preferences.

I find that it saves me A LOT of time when doing sites that fit the grid style, which are most. It's out of the box functionality really shines when you realize you don't need to play around with floats, margins, and other CSS "tricks" to get your CSS layouts working across browsers.

The biggest issue I see with 960 vs. Blueprint is that I believe Blueprint will allow you any width you'd like. Resizing 960 probably isn't a huge ordeal but it's not as simple as in Blueprint.

Re: Blueprint: A CSS Framework

#13

Post by jemmons » Wed, Apr 01, 2009, 2:13 PM UTC

I used to use Blueprint all the time, but found it had many inconsistencies and corner cases -- primarily its vertical pacing of type, but also in its grid. Then, when I'd go to fix these issues manually, I'd always end up befuddled and foiled by its implementation overriding me.

My rules for judging CSS frameworks are: "They should pick something, do it perfectly, stay clear of everything else," because fixing just an aspect of someone else's CSS is such a punishing experience. Blueprint fails all three of these requirements, bundling grid, typesetting, form, print, and templates libraries together, not implementing them all perfectly (well, duh), and not staying out of my way when I don't need one or more of these features.

My current favorite grid implementation (and attendant design philosophy) is OOCSS. I highly recommend everyone check it out and absorb the knowledge presented there: http://wiki.github.com/stubbornella/oocss

Re: Blueprint: A CSS Framework

#14

Post by erlanger » Wed, Apr 01, 2009, 2:58 PM UTC

davidw wrote: post #10

thinkzig wrote: post #2

This looks cool. Is anyone using this? Mind sharing your thoughts? I'm getting ready to do a site redesign and this might be right up my alley.

I used it here: http://www.squeezedbooks.com and here: http://www.welton.it/davidw I'm pretty happy with it. I regularly tried to do my own CSS, coming up with something I thought didn't look half bad, and people would tell me it looked awful, so I figured it was best to just use something out of the box that looks 'ok' to most people.

Not surprisingly, these look just like the default Blueprint styles. Most CSS frameworks are awful because it takes less time to start from scratch than it does to overwrite all of the framework's defaults.

Re: Blueprint: A CSS Framework

#15

Post by neovive » Wed, Apr 01, 2009, 3:26 PM UTC

I've been using a related framework called BlueTrip CSS (http://bluetrip.org/) that combines elements of Blueprint, 960 and Hartija print css. It's a very good framework for rapid website prototyping.

Re: Blueprint: A CSS Framework

#16

Post by thras » Wed, Apr 01, 2009, 3:50 PM UTC

When I use Blueprint, I like to add a "colborder-left" and "border-left" class (which isn't hard).

Re: Blueprint: A CSS Framework

#17

Post by psranga » Wed, Apr 01, 2009, 4:05 PM UTC

When I last looked at Blueprint, it looked pretty good for brochureware websites. But when I tried to use it for something else, I quickly ran into lots of limitations. I ended up coding my own CSS.

What do others think?

We really need a programmer-friendly abstraction layer over the mess that is CSS.

Re: Blueprint: A CSS Framework

#18

Post by vaporstun » Fri, Apr 03, 2009, 2:52 AM UTC

aditya wrote: post #5

My only issue with blueprint and compass was that it seems overly complicated for what I'm trying to do so far. I'm not a CSS guru so maybe I'm missing the point but is there a good reason to use a CSS framework on medium sized projects? Or, rather, is there something inherently nice about using grids for translating design to markup? It just seems like the framework adds a lot of code and styles that you're never go…

I like to use it for the simple fact that it automatically overrides all of the default styles. So no more Times New Roman, and all of the header tags look decent without much modification.

That way, I can usually use most of their defaults and can spend more time coding.

So it is really nice for me on small projects where I just want it to look decent without much effort.