Neat is an open source fluid grid framework built on top of Bourbon with the aim of being easy enough to use out of the box and flexible enough to customize down the road.

Learn more about Neat and why we built it here.

Getting started

Requirements:

• Sass 3.2+
• Bourbon 2.1+

Put the /neat folder in your Sass directory and import it right below Bourbon in your stylesheets:

@import "bourbon/bourbon";
@import "neat/neat";

Using the grid

The default grid uses 12 columns (a setting that can be easily overridden as detailed further down).

Containers

Include the outer-container mixin in the topmost container (to which the max-width setting will be applied):

  div.container {
    @include outer-container;
  }

You can include this mixin in more than one element in the same page.

Columns

Use the span-columns mixin to specify the number of columns an element should span:

@include span-columns($span: $columns of $container-columns, $display: block) 

• columns is the number of columns you wish this element to span.
• container-columns (optional) is the number of columns the container spans, defaults to the total number of columns in the grid.
• display (optional) changes the display type of the grid. Use block—the default—for floated layout, table for table-cell layout, and inline-block for an inline block layout.

eg. Element that spans across 6 columns (out of the default 12):

div.element {
    @include span-columns(6);
}

If the element's parent isn't the top-most container, you need to add the number of columns of the parent element to keep the right proportions:

div.container {
  @include outer-container;

  div.parent-element {
    @include span-columns(8);

    div.element {
      @include span-columns(6 of 8);
    }
  }
}

To use a table-cell layout, add table as the display argument:

@include span-columns(6 of 8, table)

Likewise for inline-block:

@include span-columns(6 of 8, inline-block)

The following syntaxes would also work:

@include span-columns(6 / 8,inline-block);
@include span-columns(6 8,inline-block);

Rows

In order to clear floated or table-cell columns, use the row mixin:

@include row($display);

• display takes either block—the default—or table.

Shifting columns

To move an element to the left or right by a number of columns, use the shift mixin:

@include shift(2); // Move 2 columns to the right
@include shift(-3); // Move 3 columns to the left

Please note that the shift() mixin is incompatible with display table.

Padding columns

To add padding around the entire column use pad(). By default it adds the same value as the grid's gutter but can take any unit value.

@include pad; // Adds a padding equivalent to the grid's gutter
@include pad(20px); // Adds a padding of 20px

The pad() mixin works particularly well with span-columns(x, table) by adding the necessary padding without breaking your table-based grid layout.

Removing gutter

Neat automatically removes the last columns's gutter. However, if you are queueing more than one row of columns within the same parent element, you need to specify which columns are considered last in their row to preserve the layout. Use the omega mixin to achieve this:

@include omega; // Removes right gutter

You can also use nth-omega to remove the gutter of a specific column or set of columns:

@include nth-omega(nth-child);

• nth-child takes any valid :nth-child value. See [https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/CSS/:nth-child](Mozilla's :nth-child documentation)

eg. Remove every 3rd gutter using:

@include nth-omega(3n);

Filling parent elements

This makes sure that the child fills 100% of its parent:

@include fill-parent;

Breakpoints

The breakpoint() mixin allows you to use media-queries to modify both the grid and the layout. It takes two arguments:

@include breakpoint($query:$feature $value, $total-columns: $grid-columns)

• query contains the media feature (min-width, max-width, etc.) and the value (481px, 30em, etc.). If you specify the value only, min-width will be used by default (ideal if you follow a mobile-first approach). You can also change the default feature in the settings (see section below).
• total-columns (optional) is the total number of columns to be used inside this media query. Changing the total number of columns will change the width, padding and margin percentages obtained using the span-column mixin.

Example 1

.my-class {
    @include breakpoint(481px) {
      font-size: 1.2em;
    }
}

// Compiled CSS

@media screen and (min-width: 481px) {
    .my-class {
      font-size: 1.2em;
    }
}

Example 2

.my-class {
    @include breakpoint(max-width 769px) {
      float: none;
    }
}

// Compiled CSS

@media screen and (max-width: 769px) {
    .my-class {
      float: none;
    }
}

Example 3

.my-class {
    @include breakpoint(max-width 769px) {
      @include span-columns(6);
    }
}

// Compiled CSS

@media screen and (max-width: 769px) {
    .my-class {
      display: block;
      float: left;
      margin-right: 2.35765%;
      width: 48.82117%; // That's 6 columns of the total 12
    }

    .my-class:last-child {
      margin-right: 0;
    }
}

Example 4

.my-class {
    @include breakpoint(max-width 769px, 6) { // Use a 6 column grid (instead of the default 12)
      @include span-columns(6);
    }
}

// Compiled CSS

@media screen and (max-width: 769px) {
    .my-class {
      display: block;
      float: left;
      margin-right: 4.82916%;
      width: 100%; // That's 6 columns of the total 6 specified for this media query
    }
    .my-class:last-child {
      margin-right: 0;
    }
}

For convenience, you can create a list variable to hold your media context (breakpoint/column-count) and use it throughout your code:

$mobile: max-width 480px 4; // Use a 4 column grid in mobile devices (requires all three arguments to work)

.my-class {
  @include breakpoint($mobile) {
    @include span-columns(2);
  }
}

// Compiled CSS

@media screen and (max-width: 480px) {
  .my-class {
    display: block;
    float: left;
    margin-right: 7.42297%;
    width: 46.28851%; // 2 columns of the total 4 in this media context
  }
  .my-class:last-child {
    margin-right: 0;
  }
}

Here is a summary of possible argument combinations:

// YAY
@include breakpoint(480px);
@include breakpoint(max-width 480px);
@include breakpoint(480px, 4);
@include breakpoint(max-width 480px, 4);
@include breakpoint(max-width 480px 4); // Shorthand syntax

// NAY
@include breakpoint(480px 4);
@include breakpoint(max-width 4);
@include breakpoint(max-width, 4);

Changing the defaults

All the default settings can be overridden, including $grid-columns and $max-width. The complete list of settings can be found in the /settings subfolder. In order to override any of these settings, redefine the variable in your site-wide _variables.scss and make sure to import it before Neat (failing to do so will cause Neat to use the default values):

@import "bourbon/bourbon";
@import "variables";
@import "neat/neat";

Browser support

• Firefox 3.5+
• Safari 4.0+
• Chrome 4.0+
• Opera 9.5+
• IE 9+
• IE 8 with selectivizr (no breakpoint() support)

Credits

Bourbon is maintained and funded by thoughtbot, inc. Tweet your questions or suggestions at Kyle / Reda.

License

Bourbon Neat is Copyright © 2012 thoughtbot. It is free software, and may be redistributed under the terms specified in the LICENSE file.