Compass Placeholders

@extendable %placeholders for common CSS3 code provided by Compass.

For example use @extend %hide-text; instead of @include hide-text; this

reduces the file size of the CSS
and speeds up rendering. Read ‘Different CSS techniques and their performance’ for details.

Example: hover-link

Traditional way via Compass

@import "compass";

a.first-link {
  @include hover-link;
}

a.second-link {
  @include hover-link;
}

Result:

a.first-link {
  text-decoration: none;
}

a.first-link:hover {
  text-decoration: underline;
}

a.second-link {
  text-decoration: none;
}

a.second-link:hover {
  text-decoration: underline;
}

Optimized way via Compass Placeholders

@import "compass";
@import "compass-placeholders";

a.first-link {
  @extend %hover-link;
}

a.second-link {
  @extend %hover-link;
}

Result (DRY – don’t repeat yourself):

a.first-link,
a.second-link {
  text-decoration: none;
}

a.first-link:hover,
a.second-link:hover {
  text-decoration: underline;
}

Compass CSS3 Placeholders

Appearance

@extend %appearance-none;
@extend %appearance-normal;
@extend %appearance-icon;
@extend %appearance-window;
@extend %appearance-button;
@extend %appearance-menu;
@extend %appearance-field;

Background Clip

@extend %background-clip-padding-box;
@extend %background-clip-border-box;
@extend %background-clip-text;

Background Origin

@extend %background-origin-padding-box;
@extend %background-origin-border-box;
@extend %background-origin-content-box;

Border Radius

@extend %no-border-radius; // equals border-radius: 0

// Create placeholders for border-radius by setting:
$border-radius-placeholders: 0, 3px, 10px;

// Which results in:
@extend %border-radius-0;
@extend %border-radius-3px;
@extend %border-radius-10px;

// You should prefer to use custom names like %small-border-radius
// and %big-border-radius over those listed above.

Box

@extend %display-box;

@extend %box-orient-horizontal;
@extend %box-orient-vertical;
@extend %box-orient-inline-axis;
@extend %box-orient-block-axis;
@extend %box-orient-inherit;

@extend %box-align-start;
@extend %box-align-end;
@extend %box-align-center;
@extend %box-align-baseline;
@extend %box-align-stretch;

@extend %box-direction-normal;
@extend %box-direction-reverse;
@extend %box-direction-inherit;

@extend %box-lines-single;
@extend %box-lines-multiple;

@extend %box-pack-start;
@extend %box-pack-end;
@extend %box-pack-center;
@extend %box-pack-justify;

// Customize list by setting:
$box-orient-placeholders: horizontal;
$box-align-placeholders: start;
$box-direction-placeholders: normal;
$box-lines-placeholders: single;
$box-pack-placeholders: start, end;
$box-flex-placeholders: 0, 1;
$box-flex-group-placeholders: 1, 2;
$box-ordinal-group-placeholders: 1, 2;

Box Shadow

@extend %no-box-shadow;

Box Sizing

@extend %box-sizing-content-box;
@extend %box-sizing-border-box;

Opacity

@extend %transparent;
@extend %opaque;

// Create placeholders for opacity:
$opacity-placeholders: 0.25, 0.5;

// Which results in:
@extend %opacity-25;
@extend %opacity-50;

Text Shadow

@extend %no-text-shadow;

Transform

@extend %transform-style-flat;
@extend %transform-style-preserve-3d;
@extend %backface-visibility-visible;
@extend %backface-visibility-hidden;

User Interface

@extend %user-select-none;
@extend %user-select-text;
@extend %user-select-toggle;
@extend %user-select-element;
@extend %user-select-elements;
@extend %user-select-all;
@extend %user-select-inherit;

Compass Typography Placeholders

Links

@extend %hover-link;
@extend %unstyled-link;

Lists

@extend %no-bullet;
@extend %no-bullets;

Inline list

@extend %inline-list;

Text

@extend %ellipsis;
@extend %no-ellipsis;
@extend %force-wrap;
@extend %nowrap;
@extend %hide-text;
@extend %squish-text;

Compass Utilities Placeholders

Clearfix

@extend %clearfix;
@extend %pie-clearfix;

Resets

@extend %no-background; // equals background: transparent
@extend %no-border;     // equals border: 0
@extend %no-margin;     // equals margin: 0
@extend %no-padding;    // equals padding: 0

Display

@extend %display-none;
@extend %display-block;
@extend %display-inline;
@extend %display-inline-block;
@extend %display-table;
@extend %display-table-cell;
@extend %display-table-row;

Typography

@extend %font-weight-bold;
@extend %font-weight-normal;
@extend %font-style-italic;
@extend %font-style-normal;
@extend %text-decoration-underline;
@extend %text-decoration-none;
@extend %text-align-left;
@extend %text-align-center;
@extend %text-align-right;
@extend %text-align-justify;
@extend %text-transform-none;
@extend %text-transform-capitalize;
@extend %text-transform-uppercase;
@extend %text-transform-lowercase;
@extend %text-transform-full-width;

User interface

@extend %cursor-default;
@extend %cursor-pointer;

Float

@extend %float-none;
@extend %float-left;
@extend %float-right;

Lists

@extend %list-style-none;
@extend %list-style-image-none;
@extend %list-style-position-inside;
@extend %list-style-position-outside;
@extend %list-style-type-disc;
@extend %list-style-type-circle;
@extend %list-style-type-square;

Vertical Align

See this blog post for details.

@extend %vertical-align;

Using Customized Placeholders

Some placeholders/value combinations are optionional. For example the appearance will have placeholders for none and normal by default:

@import "compass";
@import "compass-placeholders";

.my-class {
  @extend %border-radius-none;  // OK (as `none` is in the default list`)
  @extend %border-radius-3px;   // Error
}

You need to set the customized list before you call @import "compass-placeholders";:

$border-radius-placeholders: none, 3px;
@import "compass";
@import "compass-placeholders";

.my-class {
  @extend %border-radius-none;  // OK
  @extend %border-radius-3px;   // OK
}

Setup

First install the gems and create a project:

gem install compass
gem install compass-placeholders --pre
compass create my-project

Second add to your my-project/compass.rb:

# compass.rb
require "compass-placeholders"

Third import Compass-Placeholders after Compass in your Sass/SCSS file:

// Custom list variables go first:
$appearance-placeholders: none, normal;

// Then imports:
@import "compass";
@import "compass-placeholders";

// And start extending:
a {
  @extend %hover-link;
}

Compass Placeholders

Example: hover-link

Traditional way via Compass

Optimized way via Compass Placeholders

Compass CSS3 Placeholders

Compass Typography Placeholders

Compass Utilities Placeholders

Non Compass-related Placeholders

Resets

Display

Typography

User interface

Float

Lists

Vertical Align

Using Customized Placeholders

Setup

Copyright