tailwindcss-fl

TailwindCSS plugin to generate fluid utility classes by leveraging existing config.

Motivation

• Increase productivity by writing less markup
• Increase readability with more concise class lists
• Increase consistency by using ratios to scale down
• Enable smooth scaling between sizes rather than sizes jumping between breakpoints

Media query classes

<div class="m-4 lg:m-6 xl:m-8 max-w-sm lg:max-w-lg xl:max-w-xl">
    <h2 class="text-base lg:text-2xl xl:text-4xl">
        <!-- -->
    </h2>
</div>

Fluid classes

<div class="fl-m-8 fl-max-w-xl">
    <h2 class="fl-text-4xl">
        <!-- -->
    </h2>
</div>

Installation

$ npm install tailwindcss-fl

Add to tailwind.config.js

module.exports = {
    plugins: [
        require('tailwindcss-fl')({
            screenMin: 'screens.sm',
            screenMax: 'screens.xl',
            defaultRatio: 1.618,
        }),
    ],
}

Utilities

Out the box, the following classes are generated.

Key	Classes
fontSize	fl-text-{ keys }
margin	fl-{ m, mt, mr, mb, ml, mx, my, -m, -mt, -mr, -mb, -ml, -mx, -my }-{ keys }
padding	fl-{ p, pt, pr, pb, pl, px, py }-{ keys }
space	fl-{ space-x, space-y }-{ keys }
gap	fl-gap-{ keys }
width	fl-w-{ keys }
maxWidth	fl-max-w-{ keys }
height	fl-h-{ keys }
top/right/bottom/left/inset	fl-{top, right, bottom, left, inset, -top, -right, -bottom, -left, -inset}-{ keys }
borderWidth	fl-border-{t, r, b, l}-{ keys }
borderRadius	fl-rounded-{ keys }

Custom classes defined in tailwind.config.js under theme: {} will be used to generate the fluid utility classes.

List of generated classes using the default provided by tailwind

Config

Below is the full default config.

{
    prefix: 'fl',
    separator: '-',
    defaultRatio: 1.618,
    screenMin: 'screens.sm',
    screenMax: 'screens.xl',
    rootRem: 16,
    clamp: true,
    extend: true,
    variants: [],
    theme: { },
}

Option	Type	Description
prefix	String	Class name prefix for fluid classes.
separator	String	Class name sepator for fluid classes.
defaultRatio	Number	Scale down using golden ratio 1.618.
screenMin	Array	Screen size to scale from. screens.{key} or custom rem/px value.
screenMax	Array	Screen size to scale to. screens.{key} or custom rem/px value.
rootRem	Number	1rem is equal to 16px. Default should work for most cases.
clamp	Boolean	Enable the use of clamp() to avoid using media queries.
extend	Boolean or Array	Extend existing class values, or provide an array of keys to extend, ['margin', 'padding'].
variants	Array	Tailwind variants, not recommended.
theme	Object	Detailed in depth below.

Theme

theme: { } allows for more fine-tuned control of fluid classes.

Using defaultRatio only

Define a defaultRatio to be applied to all classes under a specific key.

theme: {
    maxWidth: 2,
    padding: 1.5,
},

The default ratios are applied to classes fl-max-w-{ keys } and fl-{ p, pt, pr, pb, pl, px, py }-{ keys }

List of generated classes with properties and ratios

Using defaultRatio and/or a custom config

For more control, a config object can be used to target specific utility classes, the same way tailwind does.

This is especially useful for fontSize because smaller font sizes should not scale down much.

theme: {
    fontSize: {
        defaultRatio: 1.125,
        config: {
            'base': 1.125,
            'lg': 1.125,
            'xl': 1.25,
            '2xl': 1.25,
            '3xl': 1.35,
            '4xl': 1.35,
            '5xl': 1.5,
            '6xl': 1.5,
        },
    },
},

Class names can be grouped for the same ratio.

theme: {
    fontSize: {
        defaultRatio: 1.125,
        config: {
            'base lg': 1.125,
            'xl 2xl': 1.25,
            '3xl 4xl': 1.35,
            '5xl 6xl': 1.618,
        },
    },
},

The custom ratios are applied to classes fl-text-{ keys }

List of generated classes with properties and ratios

Passing an array to custom config

The power of the plugin is extending existing utilities using ratios.

However, an array of [min, max, screenMin, screenMax] can also be passed, either to overwrite an existing class, or to create a new custom class.

Parameters are based on postcss-range-value.

Param	Type	Description
min(required)	String or Number	rem/px value or a scale down ratio
max(required)	String or Number	rem/px value or a scale up ratio
screenMin	String	screens.{key} or rem/px value
screenMax	String	screens.{key} or rem/px value

Some examples below

theme: {
    maxWidth: {
        defaultRatio: 2,
        config: {
            /* scale down by 2x resulting in 12rem to 24rem between default screen sizes */
            '12/24': [2, '24rem'],

            /* scale up by 2x resulting in 24rem to 48rem between default screen sizes */
            '24/48': ['24rem', 2],

            /* scale from 32rem to 64rem between screens.md and screens.lg */
            '32/64': ['32rem', '64rem', 'screens.md', 'screens.lg'],
        },
    },
},

The custom values are added to classes fl-max-w-{ keys }

List of generated classes with properties and ratios

Support

Follow @withjacoby