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1. Drupal theming using the
960.gs grid system
Originally presented at DrupalCamps Copenhagen,
Helsinki, and Stockholm 2009
May, 2009 | Todd Ross Nienkerk

2. Personal introduction

3. Todd Ross Nienkerk
‣ Co-founder of Four Kitchens, a Drupal
design and development firm in
Austin, Texas
‣ One of the implementers of the new
Drupal.org redesign
‣ Member of the Drupal documentation
team
Photo: Kristin Hillery

4. What is a grid system?

5. History of the grid
‣ The practice of using a grid to guide design and
page layout is nearly a century old
‣ In the 1910s and 1920s, ornamental design gave
way to Rationalism and New Objectivity
‣ This shift in design was part of a much larger
movement towards function over form
‣ Helvetica typeface and Bauhaus architecture
Source: Grids are Good by Khoi Vinh and Mark Boulton

6. Typographic grids
‣ After World War II, a number of graphic designers,
influenced by the modernist ideas of Die neue
Typographie (The New Typography), questioned
the relevance of the conventional page layout of
the time
‣ They devised a flexible system to help designers
achieve coherency in organizing the page
Source: Grid (page layout) on Wikipedia

7. ‣ The result was the modern typographic grid
associated with the International Typographic
Style
‣ Grid Systems in Graphic Design, the seminal work
on the subject, helped propagate the use of the
grid in Europe and, later, in North America
Source: Grid (page layout) on Wikipedia

8. Nearly a century ago
‣ Modernists looked to build a new aesthetic by...
‣ deriving beauty from the innate qualities of the
machine
‣ championing standardization
‣ Sound familiar?
Source: Grids are Good by Khoi Vinh and Mark Boulton

9. Today
‣ Web designers have turned to grid-based design
in order to...
‣ derive beauty from the innate qualities of the
browser
‣ champion standardization
‣ 16 years after the invention of the web, we are
finally embracing a century-old design philosophy
Source: Grids are Good by Khoi Vinh and Mark Boulton

10. Grid systems on the web
‣ On the web, grid systems usually take the form of
CSS frameworks
‣ A framework is a “reuseable abstraction of code
wrapped in a well-defined API”1
‣ A collection of tools and shortcuts designed to
minimize code and make your life easier
1 Source: Software framework on Wikipedia

11. Examples of frameworks
‣ Ruby on Rails is a well-known Ruby framework
‣ jQuery is a JavaScript framework
‣ Drupal itself can be considered a web application
framework
‣ Includes many APIs for working with databases,
fields, and web forms

12. CSS frameworks
‣ Apply the principles of software frameworks to
web design
‣ They provide standardized rules and shortcuts for:
‣ browser resets
‣ typography
‣ navigation
‣ print style
‣ and...

13. Layout
‣ When applied to web design, grid systems are CSS
frameworks that provides standardized rules and
shortcuts for building a website’s layout

14. Why use a grid system?

15. 1) Saves time
2) Saves money
3) Reduces frustration

16. Stop reinventing the
wheel
‣ Reduces the amount of CSS and markup you need
to duplicate each time you start a project
‣ No need to refer to old projects to figure out how
to implement layouts

17. Stop fixing and start
designing
‣ Shortens testing phases by providing built-in
support for noncompliant browsers
‣ Minimize Internet Explorer hacks in your layout
‣ A well-tested grid system will rarely be the source
of your problems

18. Stop deconstructing CSS
‣ Understanding someone else’s design is much
easier when a standard grid system is used

19. How do grid systems
work?

20. Columns
‣ Grid systems are built
using columns
‣ Columns are a grid
system’s smallest unit
of measurement
‣ Most grid systems
contain 12–16 columns
Example based on 960.gs (12-column)

21. Column width
‣ Page regions (header,
content, sidebars, etc.)
are defined by column
width
‣ As in: “The header is
eight columns wide”
Example based on 960.gs (12-column)

22. Gutters (margins)
‣ Margins or padding are
used to create gutters
between columns
‣ These gutters provide
margins between page
regions
Example based on 960.gs (12-column)

23. Lean and versatile CSS
‣ A grid system’s CSS should:
‣ Be lean and efficient
‣ Be versatile and reusable
‣ Ensure consistent behavior across all common
browsers — even IE6

24. Wrapping <div> elements
‣ In fixed-width grid systems, the entire layout is
wrapped inside a single <div> element
‣ <div> elements wrap the page regions and define
their widths according to the number of columns
they span
‣ These <div> elements may be nested to create
regions within regions

25. Floating <div> elements
‣ The wrapping <div> class: grid-12
elements are assigned
a column width using a class: class:
grid-4 grid-4
CSS class class:
grid-4
‣ Because these classes class: grid-8
also float the elements,
they simply fall into
class: grid-6 class: grid-6
place on the page
Example based on 960.gs (12-column)

26. What can grid systems
look like?
Examples of grid-based layouts

27. Layout A: Content left, sidebar right
Example based on 960.gs (12-column)

28. Layout B: Content between sidebars
Example based on 960.gs (12-column)

29. Layout C: Content right with two left sidebars
Example based on 960.gs (12-column)

30. Layout D: Whatever
Example based on 960.gs (12-column)

31. Layout E: The Mondriaan
Painting by Piet Mondriaan (later Mondrian)

32. How 960.gs works

33. What is 960.gs?
‣ 960.gs — also known as the 960 Grid System —
was created by Nathan Smith in order to
“streamline web development workflow”
‣ It’s both a prototyping and development
framework
‣ “The premise of the system is ideally suited to
rapid prototyping, but it would work equally well
when integrated into a production environment.”
Source: 960.gs

34. What’s in it
‣ Download it for free at http://960.gs
‣ GPL and MIT licensed
‣ The 960.gs download includes:
‣ Printable sketch sheets for doodling
‣ Design templates for all most applications:
Photoshop, Illustrator, Inkscape, OmniGraffle, etc.
Source: 960.gs

35. Technical specs
‣ 960px wide with a 940px usable area
‣ Two versions: 12- and 16-column
‣ These can be implemented separately or
simultaneously
‣ Each column has a 10px margin on the left and
right, which creates a 20px gutter between
columns
Source: 960.gs

36. 12-column version
Columns are 60px wide Gutters are 20px wide
10px margin on the left and Available
right prevents collision with working area
browser chrome is 940px wide
Source: 960.gs

37. 16-column version
Columns are 40px wide
Everything else remains the same
Source: 960.gs

38. Using both versions
simultaneously
‣ You can use 12-column classes inside a 16-column
grid — and vice versa
‣ This is possible because 12 and 16 are both
multiples of 2 and 4
‣ 2 * 6 = 12 ‣ 4 * 3 = 12
‣ 2 * 8 = 16 ‣ 4 * 4 = 16

39. ‣ In other words, when you divide the layout into
halves and quarters, you can use 12- and 16-
column version simultaneously
‣ Watch what happens when you lay one grid on top
of the other:
Halves
Quarters

40. ‣ This flexibility allows designers to work with both
60px- and 40px-wide columns
‣ If 12 or 16 columns don’t suit you, 960 is also
divisible by 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 15, 20, 24, 30, 32, 40,
48, 60, 64, 80, 96, 120, 160, 192, 240, 320 and 480

41. CSS and markup
Note: 960.gs uses underscores in its CSS class names. To avoid confusion, the
examples that follow will use hyphens instead, as this is The Drupal Way.

42. Containers
‣ Grids must be wrapped
in a container <div>
.container-12,
.container-16 {
‣ Containers center the margin-left: auto;
content and define margin-right: auto;
which version of the width: 960px;
}
grid will be
implemented

43. Grids
‣ Grids are held inside .grid-1,
.grid-2,
containers and are .grid-3,
floated left so they fall ...
into place .grid-16 {
display: inline;
automatically float: left;
position: relative;
‣ They also provide 10px margin-left: 10px;
margins on the left and margin-right: 10px;
}
right

44. Grid widths
‣ The width of each grid
is determined by the .container-12 .grid-1 {
container that wraps it width: 60px;
}
‣ For example, a one-
.container-16 .grid-1 {
column grid is either width: 40px;
60px or 40px }
depending on whether
it’s a 12- or 16-column
layout

45. ‣ Note that grid width does not increase by 60px or
40px each time
‣ Each increase must account for the 20px gutter
between grids
.container-12 .grid-1 { .container-16 .grid-1 {
width: 60px; width: 40px;
} }
.container-12 .grid-2 { .container-16 .grid-2 {
width: 140px; width: 100px;
} }
.container-12 .grid-3 { .container-16 .grid-3 {
width: 300px; width: 160px;
} }

46. Putting containers and
grids together
.container-12
.grid-3 .grid-6 .grid-3

47. Prefixes and suffixes
‣ If you want to leave
space between .container-12 .prefix-1 {
columns, use a prefix padding-left: 80px;
or suffix class }
.container-12 .suffix-1 {
‣ Prefix classes add padding-right: 80px;
padding to the left of a }
column
‣ Suffix classes add
padding to the right

48. Adding a prefix and suffix
.container-12
.grid-4
.grid-3 .prefix-1 .grid-3
.suffix-1

49. Multiple rows
.container-12
.grid-12
.grid-4
.grid-3 .prefix-1 .grid-3
.suffix-1

50. Multiple rows: markup
<div class="container-12">
The container <div>
defines the layout <!-- row 1 -->
<div class="grid-12">
version in use
This grid occupies the full width
</div>
<!-- row 2 -->
<div class="grid-3">
One wide
No need to put
</div>
each row in its own <div class="grid-4 prefix-1 suffix-1">
wrapping <div> Four wide with a prefix and suffix of one each
</div>
<div class="grid-3">
One wide
</div>
</div> <!-- /container -->

51. Stack content vertically
with nested grids
.grid-6
.container-12
.grid-6
.grid-3 .grid-3
.grid-6

52. ‣ Here’s the catch: Because each grid includes a
10px left and right margin, nesting grids can break
your layout
.grid-6
.container-12
.grid-6
.grid-3
.grid-6
.grid-3

53. Alpha and omega fix
broken nesting
‣ When nesting grids, use the alpha and omega
classes to remove the margins
‣ alpha removes the left margin. It’s the first nested
grid.
‣ omega removes the right margin. It’s the last
nested grid.

54. .grid-6
.container-12
.grid-3 .grid-3
.alpha .omega
.grid-3 .grid-3
.grid-6
.alpha .omega
.alpha removed .omega removed
the left margin the right margin

55. Additional resources
‣ 960 Gridder and bookmarklet
‣ Variable grid system generator
‣ Other grid systems based on 960.gs
‣ Fluid 960.gs
‣ Typogridphy: Typographical and grid layout CSS
framework
‣ and...

56. The NineSixty theme
Drupal’s implementation of 960.gs is even better
than the original
http://drupal.org/project/ninesixty

57. About NineSixty
‣ NineSixty is the Drupal port of 960.gs
‣ Developed by Joon Park, aka dvessel on
Drupal.org
‣ Intended to be used as a base theme
‣ Currently a candidate for Drupal 7 core
‣ Follow the debate on groups.drupal.org
Source: Drupal.org

58. NineSixty’s improvements
‣ Content-first layout using “push” and “pull” classes
‣ Dynamic grid widths based on context
‣ Debugging tools and grid visualization
‣ Right-to-left (RTL) language support

59. Content-first layout
‣ A design convention in which the content is output
as close to the top of the markup as possible
‣ Content should be output before all sidebars
‣ Some designers believe it should be output
before a site’s main navigation
‣ This can be very difficult to achieve on a site with
one or more left columns

60. Push and pull classes
‣ Content-first layout can be achieved in NineSixty
by “pushing” the content grid to the right while
“pulling” a sidebar to the left
‣ These classes use the same naming convention
as .grid-X, .prefix-X, and .suffix-X, where X is the
grid’s width:
‣ .push-X and .pull-X

61. ‣ Push and pull values should match the grid value
of the opposite grid
<div class="container-12">
<div id="content" class="grid-6 push-3">
Match numbers to
Content
swap locations
</div>
<div id="sidebar-left" class="grid-3 pull-6">
Sidebar: Left
</div>
<div id="sidebar-right" class="grid-3">
Sidebar: Right
</div>
</div>
Source: NineSixty’s README.txt

62. Before adding push and pull
.container-12
.grid-6 .grid-3 .grid-3
<div class="container-12">
<div id="content" class="grid-6">
Content
</div>
<div id="sidebar-left" class="grid-3">
Sidebar: Left
</div>
<div id="sidebar-right" class="grid-3">
Sidebar: Right
</div>
</div>

63. After adding push and pull
.container-12
.grid-3 .grid-6
.grid-3
.pull-6 .push-3
<div class="container-12">
<div id="content" class="grid-6 push-3">
Content
</div>
<div id="sidebar-left" class="grid-3 pull-6">
Sidebar: Left
</div>
<div id="sidebar-right" class="grid-3">
Sidebar: Right
</div>
</div>

64. Dynamic grid widths
‣ In some cases, you may want grids to resize
themselves when a region isn’t populated
‣ For example, a 3-6-3 layout should become 3-9 if
the right column is empty
‣ Dynamic width assignment is handled using the
ns() function
‣ Defined in template.php

65. Structure of ns()
These “pairs”
Default subtract from the
value default value
ns('class-X', $region, Y, $region, Z, ...)
‣ X, Y, and Z are all width values
‣ class can be grid, prefix, suffix, push, or pull
‣ $region can be any theme region
‣ Use as many pairs as you like

66. Implementing ns()
From page.tpl.php:
<div id="main" class="column <?php print ns('grid-16', $left,
4, $right, 3) . ' ' . ns('push-4', !$left, 4); ?>">
<?php print $content; ?>
</div>
<?php if ($left): ?>
<div id="sidebar-left" class="column sidebar region grid-4 <?
php print ns('pull-12', $right, 3); ?>">
<?php print $left; ?>
</div>
<?php endif; ?>
<?php if ($right): ?>
<div id="sidebar-right" class="column sidebar region grid-3">
<?php print $right; ?>
</div>
<?php endif; ?>
Source: NineSixty’s page.tpl.php

67. From #main:
<?php print ns('grid-16', $left, 4, $right, 3)
. ' ' . ns('push-4', !$left, 4); ?>
If left sidebar is If right sidebar is
Default present, subtract 4 present, subtract 3
width from default width. from default width.
ns('grid-16', $left, 4, $right, 3)
If left sidebar is not present, subtract
Default 4 from the push value. This will result
push value in no push, as 4-4 = 0
ns('push-4', !$left, 4)
Source: NineSixty’s page.tpl.php

68. From #sidebar-left:
<?php php print ns('pull-12', $right, 3); ?>
If right sidebar is
Default present, subtract 3
pull value from default pull value
ns('pull-12', $right, 3)
Source: NineSixty’s page.tpl.php

69. NineSixty in action
‣ Visit http://ninesixty.fkdemos.com to see how
NineSixty...
‣ uses push and pull classes to generate content-
first layout
‣ dynamically assigns grid widths based on
context
‣ can be used to create different layouts

70. Implementing a grid-
based layout
Using NineSixty to build your site

71. When not to use a grid
‣ Implementing a grid will probably be impossible if
your site’s layout...
‣ uses irregular column sizes
‣ has irregular margins or gutters
‣ has a width that isn’t divisible by a sane number

72. ‣ Implementing a grid will be difficult — but not
impossible — if your site’s layout...
‣ has gutter widths of odd numbers
‣ is fluid
‣ wasn’t designed on a grid

73. Getting started
‣ Do not change the NineSixty theme on your site!
‣ Hacking NineSixty is like hacking core: It will
make upgrading your site very difficult
‣ Instead, subtheme NineSixty or create a totally
new theme based on NineSixty

74. Subtheme
‣ This method is best if your site is (or can be)
960px wide and can utilize 12 or 16 columns
‣ Subtheming instructions and resources on
Drupal.org:
‣ Subtheming quick and dirty
‣ Sub-themes, their structure and inheritance

75. Build a new theme
‣ You should build a new theme when your site’s
layout...
‣ isn’t 960px wide
‣ doesn’t use 12 or 16 columns
‣ It’s more efficient to use a new theme than to
override virtually all of NineSixty’s CSS

76. Do the math
‣ Be prepared to crunch numbers
‣ Building a new theme can be very confusing
‣ Spreadsheets can help you visualize column,
margins, and gutters
Image source: Client project

77. The grid equation
(Canvas - ((Total units - 1) x Gutter)) ÷ Total units = Unit
‣ Examples (remember that the true “canvas” size of
960.gs is actually 940px):
‣ (940 - ((12 - 1) x 20)) ÷ 12 = 60
‣ (940 - ((16 - 1) x 20)) ÷ 16 = 40
Source: Grids are Good by Khoi Vinh and Mark Boulton

78. Case study
Four Kitchens’ company
website

79. ‣ Subtheme of NineSixty
‣ 12-column version
Source: fourkitchens.com

80. Source: fourkitchens.com/blog

81. Header promos Right column
grid-4 grid-3
Content column
grid-8 Gutter
grid-1
Source: fourkitchens.com/blog

82. Source: fourkitchens.com

83. Content column Gutter Right column
grid-8 grid-1 grid-3
Footer
columns
grid-3
Sub-footer Gutter Sub-footer
content column grid-1 right column
grid-8 grid-3
Source: fourkitchens.com

84. Appendix

85. Learn more about grids
‣ The Grid System
‣ “The ultimate resource in grid systems”
‣ The Grid System’s Flickr pool
‣ My bookmarks tagged “gridsystems”

86. Downloads
‣ 960 grid system: 960.gs
‣ NineSixty theme for Drupal: drupal.org/project/
ninesixty
‣ This and other presentations are available for
download at fourkitchens.com/presentations

87. Contact me
‣ Email: todd@fourkitchens.com
‣ also works for Google Chat and AIM
‣ Skype: toddatfk
‣ Twitter: twitter.com/toddross

88. Credits
‣ “History of the grid” slides were ‣ This presentation was created and
borrowed heavily from Khoi Vinh delivered by Todd Ross Nienkerk,
and Mark Boulton’s presentation co-founder of Four Kitchens
Grids are Good and from
Wikipedia
‣ Piet Mondriaan painting was found
somewhere online. Copyright
holder is unknown
‣ The items listed above are exempt
from this presentation’s Creative
Commons license

89. All content in this presentation, except where noted otherwise, is Creative Commons Attribution-
ShareAlike 3.0 licensed and copyright 2009 Four Kitchen Studios, LLC.