Explorer 1: JPL's Design System

This package aims to include all of the frontend assets (JS and SCSS) necessary to create components using the HTML markup examples in the Explorer 1 Storybook.

Table of contents

• What's included
• Installation
• Using bundled assets
  • CSS and JS
  • Fonts
• Compile your own: Using assets a la carte
  • Styles
  • JavaScript
  • Additional requirements for carousels
  • Additional requirements for modals and lightboxes
• Component templates (HTML)
• For contributing developers

What's included

This package includes the base styles of Explorer 1 (typography, colors, spacing, etc.) along with select components. Branding guidelines, available components and usage examples can be found in the Explorer 1 Storybook.

Package contents

@nasa-jpl/explorer-1/
├── dist/
│   ├── css/
│   │   ├── explorer-1.min.css
│   │   └── font-face.css
│   ├── fonts/
│   │   ├── archivo-narrow/
│   │   └── metropolis/
│   └── js/
│       └── explorer-1.min.js
├── src/
│   ├── fonts/
│   ├── js/
│   └── scss/
└── tailwind.config.js

Explorer 1's CSS classes are based on our custom Tailwind CSS configuration. Tailwind CSS is a utility-first CSS framework, and Explorer 1's CSS class names are based on this model. Learn more about how to use Tailwind CSS.

Installation

Install with npm:

npm install --save @nasa-jpl/explorer-1

Using bundled assets

CSS and JS

Include all styles and scripts by adding the bundled CSS and JS to your project's HTML. You will need to retrieve the files from the installed package in node_modules/@nasa-jpl/explorer-1/dist/, place them somewhere in your project, and update the paths to point to the right location.

<!-- CSS -->
<link href="/path/to/explorer-1.min.css" rel="stylesheet" />

<!-- JavaScript -->
<script src="/path/to/explorer-1.min.js"></script>

The bundled CSS includes only the Tailwind CSS classes that are used by our team's products and in Explorer 1's documentation; other default Tailwind CSS classes are not available. If you want to use Explorer 1 along with other Tailwind CSS classes not provided by explorer-1.min.css, you can use Explorer 1's Tailwind config in your own project. See Compile your own: using assets a la carte for more information.

Fonts

The bundled CSS references fonts with the relative path of ../fonts/. You will need to add the fonts to your build process to ensure they are included in the relative path. An example of how to handle this is to write a Node script that copies the /dist/fonts/ folder to the correct path in your project.

your-project
├── css/
│   ├── explorer-1.min.css
└── fonts/
    ├── archivo-narrow/
    └── metropolis/

Note: if you are using the bundled CSS explorer-1.min.css, do not include font-face.css, otherwise your font styles will be declared twice. See Preloading fonts for more information.

Compile your own: Using assets a la carte

Instead of including all of the bundled CSS and JS, you can import individual assets as needed and compile your own CSS and JavaScript. Using Explorer 1 in this way will require additional tooling and npm packages in your project. This documentation assumes you are familiar with configuring frontend tooling.

Styles

Using styles a la carte requires:

1. Tailwind CSS and @tailwindcss/forms

   npm install --save tailwindcss @tailwindcss/forms

2. Frontend tooling to compile and purge Tailwind CSS and SCSS, such as Parcel with PostCSS and Sass configuration. Tailwind CSS also provides some guidance on how to use preprocessors with Tailwind.

   Note: node-sass is not supported. Use dart-sass.

Using the Explorer 1 Tailwind config

Below is an example of how to use the Explorer 1 Tailwind CSS config in your own tailwind.config.js. This can be useful if you want to set custom purge settings or any other overrides:

// your-project/tailwind.config.js

// import Explorer 1's Tailwind config
const explorer1Config = require('@nasa-jpl/explorer-1/tailwind.config.js')

module.exports = {
  ...explorer1Config,
  purge: ['../**/*.html'], // this will override Explorer 1's purge settings
}

Learn more about Tailwind CSS configuration

Importing SCSS files

Once your tooling and tailwind.config.js is set up, you can import SCSS files from @nasa-jpl/explorer-1/src/scss/ as needed. Your SCSS entrypoint should look something like this:

// main.scss

// Tailwind CSS
@import 'tailwindcss/base';
@import 'tailwindcss/components';
@import 'tailwindcss/utilities';

// Vendors
// Warning: includes Parcel-specific syntax.
// Alternative: you can write your own _vendors.scss with syntax compatible with your compiler.
@import '@nasa-jpl/explorer-1/src/scss/vendors';

// Main elements: Explorer 1 base styles
@import '@nasa-jpl/explorer-1/src/scss/forms';
@import '@nasa-jpl/explorer-1/src/scss/hover';
@import '@nasa-jpl/explorer-1/src/scss/fonts';
@import '@nasa-jpl/explorer-1/src/scss/aspect-ratios';
@import '@nasa-jpl/explorer-1/src/scss/grid';
@import '@nasa-jpl/explorer-1/src/scss/typography';
@import '@nasa-jpl/explorer-1/src/scss/polyfills';
@import '@nasa-jpl/explorer-1/src/scss/animations';

// Themes: include this if you want to use the internal theme colors
@import '@nasa-jpl/explorer-1/src/scss/themes/internal';

// Components: include all components
// Alternative: cherry-pick from _components.scss and include only those that are needed
@import '@nasa-jpl/explorer-1/src/scss/components';

Preloading Fonts

If your project requires more control over font preloading, you can omit the _fonts.scss import, and instead use the font-face.css stylesheet in /dist/css/ with the fonts folder in the same relative path as in dist:

your-project
├── css/
│   ├── font-face.css
└── fonts/
    ├── archivo-narrow/
    └── metropolis/

Then preload the CSS in your template followed by the necessary font files.

<!-- your-project.html -->
<link rel="preload" href="/path/to/font-face.css" as="style" />
<link
  rel="preload"
  href="/path/to/fonts/metropolis/Metropolis-Medium.woff2"
  as="font"
  type="font/woff2"
  crossorigin="true"
/>

JavaScript

At minimum, compiling your own JavaScript requires lazysizes, which is used for lazy loading images. To forgo this requirement, you will need to modify your HTML templates and remove the prepending data- from all data-src and data-srcset attributes.

npm install --save lazysizes

// your-project.js
require('@nasa-jpl/explorer-1/src/js/vendors/_lazysizes.js')

Some components also require additional JavaScript from explorer-1:

// your-project.js
require('@nasa-jpl/explorer-1/src/js/components/_HeroMedia.js')

Reference the JavaScript files in /src/js/components/ for components that require additional JavaScript. The files will share the same name as the component.

Additional requirements for carousels

Carousel components require swiper CSS and JS.

npm install --save swiper

// your-project.scss
// import swiper styles before Explorer 1 styles
@import 'swiper/swiper-bundle.css';

// your-project.js
require('@nasa-jpl/explorer-1/src/js/vendors/_swiper.js')

Additional requirements for modals and lightboxes

Modals and image lightboxes require @fancyapps/ui CSS and JS.

npm install --save @fancyapps/ui

// your-project.scss
// import fancyapps styles and Explorer 1 fancyapps overrides before other Explorer 1 styles
@import '@fancyapps/ui/dist/fancybox.css';
@import '@nasa-jpl/explorer-1/src/scss/vendors/fancybox_customizations';

// your-project.js
require('@fancyapps/ui')

Component templates (HTML)

Reference the Explorer 1 Storybook for HTML snippets you can use to create components and build your pages. Step-by-step instructions on how to copy HTML snippets can be found on the Getting Started Guide for Developers page.

For contributing developers

See the contributing guide for detailed instructions on how to contribute to Explorer 1.