Customizing Astro apps with Tailwind CSS is a game-changer for developers. This powerful combination allows for rapid development and a consistent design system.
Tailwind CSS is a utility-first CSS framework that provides a set of pre-defined classes for styling elements. With Astro, you can leverage Tailwind's classes to create a unique and consistent look for your app.
By using Tailwind's classes, you can avoid writing custom CSS code and focus on building your app's functionality. This approach also makes it easier to maintain a consistent design across your app's pages.
The Astro and Tailwind combination is particularly useful for building fast, responsive, and accessible apps.
Building the App
To create a simple Astro application, you'll need to make an API call to the Consumet API and fetch a list of top-airing anime. This will involve styling and displaying the results using Tailwind CSS.
Astro's Astro.props object is a container that stores any values passed as attributes to a component, which will come in handy when passing data to your application.
Tailwind CSS is a utility-first CSS framework, popular for its flexibility and ease of use, and will make styling your application a breeze.
You can use multiple Tailwind configurations in one project, which is exactly what we'll do here to make Tailwind work with the Starlight Astro template.
Layout and Design
Layouts in Astro are reusable page structures that reduce code duplication. We can create layouts using the Layout component, like in the `layouts/Layout.astro` file, where we set the body to 100vw with the class name `w-screen`.
The Layout component can contain our app logo and search input, setting them side by side with the `flex` class.
Astro layouts can be used to create common layouts shared by multiple pages, like the `BaseLayout.astro` file. This layout defines the structure for the website's pages with HTML markup and basic styling using Tailwind CSS.
In the `BaseLayout.astro` file, we can import components, write JavaScript/Typescript code, and define props for the layout. The `slot` tag allows us to render children elements passed inside the layout when consuming it.
We can also use layouts to create specific components, like the Hero component, which adds styles to the Hero section. In the `Hero.astro` file, we added a background color and specified font size and padding for the Hero section.
Creating a Layout
Creating a Layout is crucial for a website's landing page, and it's done using the Layout component. It will contain our app logo and search input.
The class name w-screen sets the body of our layout to 100vw, and we added flex to set our logo and input field side by side.
To create a common layout for multiple pages, we can use Astro's concept of Layouts. They are reusable page structures that reduce code duplication.
A Layout component can be created by adding a specific code to the layouts/Layout.astro file, like we did for our navigation section. This code defines the structure and styling of the layout.
A common layout can be created by defining the HTML content with the desired structure for the website's pages, as we did in the BaseLayout.astro file. This layout includes a header, main content, and a footer.
The slot tag is used in the BaseLayout.astro file to render children elements passed inside the layout when consuming it.
The global.css file contains the Tailwind CSS base styles, which are included in the Head component. The Head component is used to include metadata, scripts, and styles for the pages, making the global.css file available for every page.
Hero Component
The Hero component is a crucial part of any layout and design.
We can build our Hero component by creating a file called Hero.astro in the components folder.
Adding a background color to our Hero section is done by using class names like bg-gradient-to-tr, from-gray-700, via-gray-900, and to-black.
A large font size for our h1 tag is specified by using the text-4xl class, which increases the font size to 36px.
We can also change the text color to white by using the text-white class.
Padding top and bottom of 64px is added to the text by using the py-16 class.
Padding left and right of 200px is added to the div by using the px-[200px] class.
This kind of styling helps create a visually appealing Hero section that grabs the user's attention.
Components
To enable interactive components in Astro, you need to include Flowbite's JavaScript file, which can be done by adding a script tag in the Layout.astro file or importing the Flowbite module inside the component.
Flowbite's JavaScript file is essential for interactive components to work. You can add it to the Layout.astro file as a CDN file or import it inside the component.
In Astro, you can write JavaScript and TypeScript code within the --- block, which allows you to pass data throughout your Astro component using Astro.props. This is a powerful feature that enables you to build complex components and layouts.
To build a simple Card component, create a file called Card.astro in the components folder and add the code provided in the example. This component will house the cover image, title, and URL of the anime, and the data rendering will be fetched from the index page.
The Card component can be styled using Tailwind CSS classes, which provide a ton of different options for customization. You can use classes like object-cover and object-center to make the cover image take the full width and height, and position it at the center.
Tailwind CSS also offers a backdrop-blur class that makes the background at least partially transparent and blurring, adding a nice effect to your application.
Sources
Featured Images: pexels.com
