Boilerplate Wordpress Theme with Tailwindcss & Vite

Example of using Vite + TailwindCSS in Wordpress Theme development. Auto generating CSS, auto refresh on every file save/edit and easy production build tool with no hassle. Inspired by vitejs/vite#341

Main features

• fast Auto browser refresh/sync file change/save
• built in Tailwindcss Just-in-time compiler
• extremely small CSS as there is no unsued css at all
• keep your local domain while developing
• npm run build for production packing Javascript and CSS

Installation (Node.js/npm required):

Clone or Unpack and copy folder to your Wordpress installation /wp-content/themes/ folder, or install theme via wp-admin by uploading .zip file and activate the theme. Then from your console or command prompt go to the theme folder and run npm install. Note: NodeJS is requred.

npm install

Quick commands:

# dev server start
npm run dev

# production build
npm run build

Setup

Entry point file main.js is where you include all your scripts and styles. It can be changed via vite.config.json and functions.php.

# get styles
import "./assets/css/styles.css"

# get scripts
import "./assets/js/scripts.js"

Development with live preview/refresh

Ensure define("IS_VITE_DEVELOPMENT", true); exists in your wp-config.php or theme/plugin functions.php. Just run npm run dev and refresh your development website.

npm run dev

After Vite dev server is started open your installed Wordpress website in any browser or refresh it. Then you can start editing index.php, or any other php file in your theme, by adding elements and Tailwind classes. After saving changes your browser page eg your site should refresh immediately. You can freely edit asset files like styles.css, scripts.js too.

Production build

Just run npm run build, set defined IS_VITE_DEVELOPMENT to false and refresh local website.

npm run build

Wordpress should load now production generated assets.

Note: To ensure classes used inside CMS to be processed just add them to safelist.txt and run build again.

Sass / Less

CSS Pre-processors are also supported by ViteJS

# .scss and .sass
npm add -D sass

# .less
npm add -D less

Please check link for details. https://vitejs.dev/guide/features#css-pre-processors

Note for httpS serving

If your local development domain is served via https:// then generating certificate for localhost usage and some changes in config are required

• install mkcert utility and follow the instructions how to generate & install certificate https://github.com/FiloSottile/mkcert
  • example on Windows 10 (PowerShell as Administrator)

# install mkcert
choco install mkcert

# global one time install
mkcert -install

# run in project/theme folder to create localhost-key.pem & localhost.pem 
mkcert localhost

• enable server.https option in vite.config.js
• change VITE_SERVER to https in your functions.php

Customizations

More info on the links below

• https://vitejs.dev/config/
• https://tailwindcss.com/

Visual Studio Code Tailwind Intellisense plugin is a must. https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=bradlc.vscode-tailwindcss

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That's it.

Happy coding! :)

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Change log

v0.3.2

• Refresh speed improved (file search pattern fixed in tailwind.config.js)
• Package name changed
• Vite script loading logic moved to inc/inc.vite.php
• Homepage updated
• Hashed assets filenames on build, force reload not needed

v0.3.1

• Demo layout updated
• Hello World preview image replaced
• Package updates:
  • postcss ^8.4.7 → ^8.4.12
  • autoprefixer ^10.4.2 → ^10.4.4
  • vite ^2.8.6 → ^2.9.1

v0.3.0

• Tailwindcss 3 config fixes

Packages updates:

• autoprefixer ^10.2.5 → ^10.4.2
• postcss ^8.2.14 → ^8.4.7
• postcss-nested ^5.0.5 → ^5.0.6
• tailwindcss ^2.1.2 → ^3.0.23
• vite ^2.2.4 → ^2.8.6

v0.2.7

• Tailwind updated to 2.2.16
• PostCSS updated to v8.3.8
• Autoprefixer updated to 10.3.6
• Vite updated to v2.6.2

v0.2.6

• Tailwind updated to 2.2.15
• Vite updated to v2.5.7
• Autoprefixer updated to 10.3.4
• PostCSS updated to v8.3.6
• PostCSS-Nested updated to 5.0.6
• IS_VITE_DEVELOPMENT check fix

v0.2.5

• PostCSS updated to v8.2.14

v0.2.4

• https solution added
• 404.php template file added

v0.2.3

• Vite updated to v2.2.4
• PostCSS updated to v8.2.13
• Tailwindcss updated to v2.1.2
• https option included into server vite.config.js

v0.2.2

• small workaround added in order Tailwindcss Intellisense to work
• postcss package updated to v8.2.10
• index.php splited into header.php & footer.php
• example page.php template with responsive container added

v0.2.1

• TailwindCSS updated to 2.1.1 (JIT is included in this version)
• experimental @tailwindcss/jit removed
• functions.php cleanup
• tailwind.config.js, mode 'JIT' added (v2.1.1)
• postcss.config.js updated

v0.1.0

• initial release