The Grid
Create powerful multi-device layouts quickly and easily with the default 12-column, nestable Foundation grid. If you're familiar with grid systems, you'll feel right at home. If not, you'll learn quickly.
Importing
To use the Float Grid in Foundation v6.4+, you need to:
- In CDN link or package managers: import
foundation-float.css
in place offoundation.css
. - In Sass: set both
$xy-grid
and$global-flexbox
tofalse
.
Basics
Start by adding an element with a class of .row
. This will create a horizontal block to contain vertical columns. Then add elements with a .column
class within that row. Specify the widths of each column with the .small-#
, .medium-#
, and .large-#
classes.
Foundation is mobile-first. Code for small screens first, and larger devices will inherit those styles. Customize for larger screens as necessary.
By default `.column` has an alias `.columns` (see the `$grid-column-alias` option) —the only difference is grammar.
Disabling the alias can reduce the Foundation CSS file size from 3 to 5%. It is recommended if the alias is not used.
<div class="row">
<div class="columns small-2 large-4"><!-- ... --></div>
<div class="columns small-4 large-4"><!-- ... --></div>
<div class="columns small-6 large-4"><!-- ... --></div>
</div>
<div class="row">
<div class="columns large-3"><!-- ... --></div>
<div class="columns large-6"><!-- ... --></div>
<div class="columns large-3"><!-- ... --></div>
</div>
<div class="row">
<div class="columns small-6 large-2"><!-- ... --></div>
<div class="columns small-6 large-8"><!-- ... --></div>
<div class="columns small-12 large-2"><!-- ... --></div>
</div>
<div class="row">
<div class="columns small-3"><!-- ... --></div>
<div class="columns small-9"><!-- ... --></div>
</div>
<div class="row">
<div class="columns large-4"><!-- ... --></div>
<div class="columns large-8"><!-- ... --></div>
</div>
<div class="row">
<div class="columns small-6 large-5"><!-- ... --></div>
<div class="columns small-6 large-7"><!-- ... --></div>
</div>
<div class="row">
<div class="columns large-6"><!-- ... --></div>
<div class="columns large-6"><!-- ... --></div>
</div>
Small Grids
Small grids expand to large screens easier than large grids cram into small screens.
<div class="row">
<div class="columns small-2">2</div>
<div class="columns small-10">10</div>
</div>
<div class="row">
<div class="columns small-3">3</div>
<div class="columns small-9">9</div>
</div>
Medium Grid
Medium sized screens will inherit styles from small, unless you specify a different layout using the medium grid classes.
<div class="row">
<div class="columns medium-2">2</div>
<div class="columns medium-10">10</div>
</div>
<div class="row">
<div class="columns medium-3">3</div>
<div class="columns medium-9">9</div>
</div>
Advanced
Combined Column/Row
If you have just a single column, you can save some markup by combining the .row
and .column
classes together on the same element. You can still nest more grids inside this container like usual.
Column rows can use sizing classes like .small-8
, but only when used as a top-level container—not when nested inside another row.
<div class="column row">
Row column
</div>
Fluid Row
Normally, a row is always 1200 pixels wide. Make a row completely fluid by adding the .expanded
class.
<div class="expanded row">
</div>
Nesting
You can nest the grids indefinitely, though at a certain point it will get absurd.
<div class="row">
<div class="columns small-8">8
<div class="row">
<div class="columns small-8">8 Nested
<div class="row">
<div class="columns small-8">8 Nested Again</div>
<div class="columns small-4">4</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="columns small-4">4</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="columns small-4">4</div>
</div>
Offsets
Move blocks up to 11 columns to the right by using classes like .large-offset-1
and .small-offset-3
.
<div class="row">
<div class="columns large-1">1</div>
<div class="columns large-11">11</div>
</div>
<div class="row">
<div class="columns large-1">1</div>
<div class="columns large-10 large-offset-1">10, offset 1</div>
</div>
<div class="row">
<div class="columns large-1">1</div>
<div class="columns large-9 large-offset-2">9, offset 2</div>
</div>
<div class="row">
<div class="columns large-1">1</div>
<div class="columns large-8 large-offset-3">8, offset 3</div>
</div>
Incomplete Rows
In order to work around browsers' different rounding behaviors, Foundation will float the last column in a row to the right so the edge aligns. If your row doesn't have a count that adds up to 12 columns, you can tag the last column with a class of .end
in order to override that behavior. Alternatively, you can set the $grid-column-align-edge
variable to false
to turn off this behavior entirely.
<div class="row">
<div class="columns medium-3">3</div>
<div class="columns medium-3">3</div>
<div class="columns medium-3">3</div>
</div>
<div class="row">
<div class="columns medium-3">3</div>
<div class="columns medium-3">3</div>
<div class="columns medium-3 end">3 end</div>
</div>
Gutters
Responsive Gutters
The grid gutter—the space between two columns in a row, and the space between the edge of a grid and the edge of the page—is responsive, and becomes larger on larger screens.
Breakpoint | Gutter Size |
---|---|
small |
20px |
medium |
30px |
If you're using the Sass version of Foundation, you can change these defaults by editing the $grid-column-gutter
variable map:
$grid-column-gutter: (
small: 20px,
medium: 30px,
);
To add more gutter definitions, add new lines to the map. The breakpoint names used here must match a breakpoint name in your project's $breakpoints
map.
Static Gutters
If you prefer using one gutter size for every breakpoint, just use a single number for the $grid-column-gutter
variable:
$grid-column-gutter: 30px;
You can also explicitly set the gutter size for a particular grid row by adding the .gutter-[size]
class. This is useful when your using responsive gutters but specific components need static gutters.
<div class="row gutter-small">
<div class="columns">This grid always has small gutters</div>
</div>
Collapse/Uncollapse Rows
The .collapse
class lets you remove column gutters (padding).
There are times when you won't want each media query to be collapsed or uncollapsed. In this case, use the media query size you want and collapse or uncollapse and add that to your row element. Example shows gutters at small and medium and no gutters on large and up.
<div class="row medium-uncollapse large-collapse">
<div class="columns small-6">
Removes gutter at large media query
</div>
<div class="columns small-6">
Removes gutter at large media query
</div>
</div>
Scale the browser down to a medium size to see the difference.
On a small screen, I have gutters!
On a medium screen, I have gutters!
On a large screen, I have no gutters!
On a small screen, I have gutters!
On a medium screen, I have gutters!
On a large screen, I have no gutters!
Centered Columns
Center your columns by adding a class of .small-centered
to your column. Large will inherit small centering by default, but you can also center solely on large by applying a .large-centered
class. To uncenter on large screens, use .large-uncentered
.
<div class="row">
<div class="columns small-3 small-centered">3 centered</div>
</div>
<div class="row">
<div class="columns small-6 large-centered">6 centered</div>
</div>
<div class="row">
<div class="columns small-9 small-centered large-uncentered">9 centered</div>
</div>
<div class="row">
<div class="columns small-11 small-centered">11 centered</div>
</div>
Source Ordering
Using these source ordering classes, you can shift columns around between our breakpoints. This means if you place sub-navigation below main content on small displays, you have the option to position the sub-navigation on either the left or right of the page for large displays. Prefix push/pull with the size of the device you want to apply the styles to. .medium-push-#
, .large-push-#
is the syntax you'll use. Use the number 0 instead to reset a push/pull, such as .medium-push-0
or .large-pull-0
.
<div class="row">
<div class="columns small-10 small-push-2">10</div>
<div class="columns small-2 small-pull-10">2, last</div>
</div>
<div class="row">
<div class="columns large-9 large-push-3">9</div>
<div class="columns large-3 large-pull-9">3, last</div>
</div>
<div class="row">
<div class="columns large-8 large-push-4">8</div>
<div class="columns large-4 large-pull-8">4, last</div>
</div>
<div class="row">
<div class="columns small-5 small-push-7 medium-7 medium-push-5">7</div>
<div class="columns small-7 small-pull-5 medium-5 medium-pull-7">5, last</div>
</div>
<div class="row">
<div class="columns medium-6 medium-push-6">6</div>
<div class="columns medium-6 medium-pull-6">6, last</div>
</div>
Block Grids
Block grids are a shorthand way to create equally-sized columns. Add a class of the format .[size]-up-[n]
to change the number of columns within the row. By default, the max number of columns you can use with block grid are 8. Adding the .column-block
class to columns will apply a bottom margin equal to the width of gutters.
<div class="row small-up-2 medium-up-3 large-up-4">
<div class="column column-block">
<img src="https://placehold.it/600x600" class="thumbnail" alt="">
</div>
<div class="column column-block">
<img src="https://placehold.it/600x600" class="thumbnail" alt="">
</div>
<div class="column column-block">
<img src="https://placehold.it/600x600" class="thumbnail" alt="">
</div>
<div class="column column-block">
<img src="https://placehold.it/600x600" class="thumbnail" alt="">
</div>
<div class="column column-block">
<img src="https://placehold.it/600x600" class="thumbnail" alt="">
</div>
<div class="column column-block">
<img src="https://placehold.it/600x600" class="thumbnail" alt="">
</div>
</div>
Building Semantically
Our grid CSS is generated with a powerful set of Sass mixins, which you can use in your own code to build a semantic grid.
Rows
Use the grid-row()
mixin to create a row.
.container {
@include grid-row;
}
Columns
Use the grid-column()
mixin to create a column. There are a number of ways to define the width of the column.
.main-content {
// Use the full column count (100%)
@include grid-column;
// Use a column count (33%);
@include grid-column(4);
// Use a percentage (15%)
@include grid-column(15%);
// Use a custom fraction (20%)
@include grid-column(1 of 5);
}
The grid column calculator can also be accessed as a function. This gives you the percentage value, without any of the grid column CSS.
.main-content {
width: grid-column(1 of 7);
}
To center a column semantically. Use ´grid-column-position(center);´.
.centered-column {
@include grid-column-position(center);
}
Multiple Grids
By default, all grids use the number of columns set by the $grid-column-count
variable. However, this can be selectively overridden within an instance of a row.
In this example, the grid is 16 columns instead of the normal 12. Any references to column math inside the mixin will use the new column count.
.container {
@include grid-row(16) {
.main-content {
// 11/16 = 68.75%
@include grid-column(11);
}
.sidebar {
// 5/16 = 31.25%
@include grid-column(5);
}
}
}
You can also temporarily change the grid context without outputting any row CSS, by using the grid-context()
mixin.
@include grid-context(7) {
.sidebar {
@include grid-column(4);
}
}
Every other grid feature, from sizing to offsets to source ordering, can also be accessed with a mixin. Pair them with the breakpoint()
mixin to make your grid responsive.
Refer to the Sass documentation below to learn how each mixin works.
.main-content {
// The mixins have shorthands, too!
@include grid-col;
@include breakpoint(medium) {
// Changes size only
@include grid-col-size(8);
// Changes position only
@include grid-col-pos(4);
}
}
Custom Block Grid
Use the grid-layout()
mixin to create your own block grid.
By default the mixin takes 3 parameters:
- Number of columns
- The child element selector
- An optional padding value
The padding value can be set to $grid-column-gutter
to use the values from that map.
This will then generate different paddings at different breakpoints. Alternatively supply a numeric value (without a unit type) to output a static rem value.
Here's an example:
.gallery {
@include grid-layout(3, '.gallery-item', $grid-column-gutter);
}
That outputs this CSS:
.gallery > .gallery-item {
width: 33.33333%;
float: left;
padding-left: 0.625rem;
padding-right: 0.625rem;
}
@media screen and (min-width: 40em) {
.gallery > .gallery-item {
padding-left: 0.9375rem;
padding-right: 0.9375rem;
}
}
.gallery > .gallery-item:nth-of-type(1n) {
clear: none;
}
.gallery > .gallery-item:nth-of-type(3n+1) {
clear: both;
}
.gallery > .gallery-item:last-child {
float: left;
}
Sass Reference
Variables
The default styles of this component can be customized using these Sass variables in your project's settings file.
Name | Type | Default Value | Description |
---|---|---|---|
$grid-row-width |
Number | $global-width |
The maximum width of a row. |
$grid-column-count |
Number | 12 |
The default column count of a grid. Changing this value affects the logic of the grid mixins, and the number of CSS classes output. |
$grid-column-gutter |
Map or Length |
small: 20px |
The amount of space between columns at different screen sizes. To use just one size, set the variable to a number instead of a map. |
$grid-column-align-edge |
Boolean | true |
If |
$grid-column-alias |
String | 'columns' |
Selector used for an alias of column (with @extend). If |
$block-grid-max |
Number | 8 |
The highest number of |
Mixins
We use these mixins to build the final CSS output of this component. You can use the mixins yourself to build your own class structure out of our components.
grid-column
@include grid-column($columns, $gutters);
Creates a grid column.
Parameter | Type | Default Value | Description |
---|---|---|---|
$columns |
Mixed | $grid-column-count |
Width of the column. Refer to the |
$gutters |
Mixed | $grid-column-gutter |
Spacing between columns. Refer to the |
grid-column-row
@include grid-column-row($gutters);
Creates a grid column row. This is the equivalent of adding .row
and .column
to the same element.
Aliases: grid-col-row()
Parameter | Type | Default Value | Description |
---|---|---|---|
$gutters |
Mixed | $grid-column-gutter |
Width of the gutters on either side of the column row. Refer to the |
grid-column-gutter
@include grid-column-gutter($gutter, $gutters);
Set the gutters on a column
Parameter | Type | Default Value | Description |
---|---|---|---|
$gutter |
Number or Keyword | auto |
Spacing between columns, accepts multiple values:
|
$gutters |
Number or Map | $grid-column-gutter |
Gutter map or single value to use. Responsive gutter settings by default. |
grid-column-collapse
@include grid-column-collapse;
Collapse the gutters on a column by removing the padding. Note: only use this mixin within a breakpoint. To collapse a column's gutters on all screen sizes, use the $gutter
parameter of the grid-column()
mixin instead.
Aliases: grid-col-collapse()
grid-column-margin
@include grid-column-margin($margin, $margins);
Sets bottom margin on grid columns to match gutters
Parameter | Type | Default Value | Description |
---|---|---|---|
$margin |
Number or Keyword | auto |
The bottom margin on grid columns, accepts multiple values:
|
$margins |
Number or Map | $grid-column-gutter |
Map or single value to use. Responsive gutter settings by default. |
grid-layout
@include grid-layout($n, $selector, $gutter);
Sizes child elements so that $n
number of items appear on each row.
Parameter | Type | Default Value | Description |
---|---|---|---|
$n |
Number | None |
Number of elements to display per row. |
$selector |
String | '.column' |
Selector(s) to use for child elements. |
$gutter |
Number or List | None |
The gutter to apply to child elements. Accepts multiple values:
|
grid-layout-center-last
@include grid-layout-center-last($n);
Adds extra CSS to block grid children so the last items in the row center automatically. Apply this to the columns, not the row.
Parameter | Type | Default Value | Description |
---|---|---|---|
$n |
Number | None |
Number of items that appear in each row. |
grid-column-position
@include grid-column-position($position);
Reposition a column.
Aliases: grid-col-pos()
Parameter | Type | Default Value | Description |
---|---|---|---|
$position |
Number or Keyword | None |
It can be:
|
grid-column-unposition
@include grid-column-unposition;
Reset a position definition.
Aliases: grid-col-unpos()
grid-column-offset
@include grid-column-offset($n);
Offsets a column to the right by $n
columns.
Aliases: grid-col-off()
Parameter | Type | Default Value | Description |
---|---|---|---|
$n |
Number or List | None |
Width to offset by. You can pass in any value accepted by the |
grid-column-end
@include grid-column-end;
Disable the default behavior of the last column in a row aligning to the opposite edge.
Aliases: grid-col-end()
grid-context
@include grid-context($columns, $root) { }
Change the behavior of columns defined inside this mixin to use a different column count.
Parameter | Type | Default Value | Description |
---|---|---|---|
$columns |
Number | None |
Number of columns to use. |
$root |
Boolean | false |
If |
grid-row
@include grid-row($columns, $behavior, $size, $cf, $gutters) { }
Creates a grid row.
Parameter | Type | Default Value | Description |
---|---|---|---|
$columns |
Number | null |
Column count for this row. |
$behavior |
Keywords | null |
Modifications to the default grid styles. |
$size |
Keyword or Number | $grid-row-width |
Maximum size of the row. Set to |
$cf |
Boolean | true |
Whether or not to include a clearfix. |
$gutters |
Number or Map | $grid-column-gutter |
Gutter map or single value to use when inverting margins. Responsive gutter settings by default. |
grid-row-nest
@include grid-row-nest($gutters);
Inverts the margins of a row to nest it inside of a column.
Parameter | Type | Default Value | Description |
---|---|---|---|
$gutters |
Number or Map | $grid-column-gutter |
Gutter map or single value to use when inverting margins. Responsive gutter settings by default. |
grid-row-size
@include grid-row-size($size);
Set a grid row size
Parameter | Type | Default Value | Description |
---|---|---|---|
$size |
Keyword or Number | $grid-row-width |
Maximum size of the row. Set to |
grid-column-size
@include grid-column-size($width);
Set the width of a grid column.
Aliases: grid-col-size()
Parameter | Type | Default Value | Description |
---|---|---|---|
$width |
Number or List | $grid-column-count |
Width to make the column. You can pass in any value accepted by the |
Functions
grid-column
grid-column($columns)
Calculates the width of a column based on a number of factors.
Parameter | Type | Default Value | Description |
---|---|---|---|
$columns |
Number or List | None |
Width of the column. Accepts multiple values:
|