Introduction to Sass for New WordPress Theme Designers

As a new WordPress theme designer, you would quickly learn the challenges of maintaining long CSS files while keeping them organized, scalable, and readable. You will also learn that many designers and front-end developers recommend using a CSS preprocessor language like Sass or LESS. But what are these things? and how do you get started with them? This article is an introduction to Sass for new WordPress Theme Designers. We will tell you what a CSS preprocessor is, why you need it, and how to install and start using them right away.

What is Sass?

The CSS that we use was designed to be an easy to use stylesheet language. However web has evolved, and so is the need of designers to have a stylesheet language that allows them to do more with less effort and time. CSS preprocessor languages, like Sass, allow you to use features that are not currently available in the CSS such as using variables, basic math operators, nesting, mixins, etc.

It is very much like PHP which is a preprocessor language that executes a script on the server and generates an HTML output. Similarly, Sass preprocesses .scss files to generate CSS files that can be used by browsers.

Since version 3.8, WordPress admin area styles were ported to utilize Sass for development. There are many WordPress theme shops and developers already utilizing Sass to speed up their development process.

Getting Started With Sass for WordPress Theme Development

Most theme designers use local development environment to work on their themes before deploying it to a staging environment or a live server. Since Sass is a preprocessor language, you will need to install it on your local development environment.

First thing you need to do is to install Sass. It can be used as a command line tool, but there are also some nice GUI Apps available for Sass. We recommend using Koala, which is a free opensource app available for Mac, Windows, and Linux.

For the sake of this article, you will need to create a blank theme. Simply create a new folder in /wp-content/themes/. You can name it ‘mytheme’ or anything else you want. Inside your blank theme folder create another folder and name it stylesheets.

In the stylesheets folder, you need to create a style.scss file using a text editor like Notepad.

Now you need to open Koala and click on the plus icon to add a new project. Next, locate your theme directory and add it as your project. You will notice that Koala will automatically find the Sass file in your stylesheets directory and display it.

Right click on your Sass file and select Set Output Path option. Now select the root of your theme directory, example, /wp-content/themes/mytheme/ and hit enter. Koala will now generate CSS output file in your theme directory. To test this you need to open your Sass file style.scss in a text editor like Notepad and add this code:

$fonts: arial, verdana, sans-serif; 
body { 
font-family:$fonts;
} 

Now you need to save your changes and go back to Koala. Right click on your Sass file, and sidebar will slidein on the right. To compile your Sass file simply click on the ‘Compile’ button. You can see the results by opening the style.css file in your theme directory, and it will have the processed CSS like this:

body {
  font-family: arial, verdana, sans-serif; }

Notice that we have defined a variable $fonts in our Sass file. Now whenever we need to add font family we don’t need to type the names of all the fonts again. We can just use $fonts.

What Other Superpowers Sass Brings to CSS?

Sass is incredibly powerful, backward compatible, and super easy to learn. As we mentioned earlier that you can create variables, nesting, mixins, import, partials, mathematical and logical operators, etc. Now we will show you some examples, and you can try them out on your WordPress theme.

Managing Multiple Stylesheets

One common problem that you will face as a WordPress theme designer is large stylesheets with a lot of sections. You will probably be scrolling up and down a lot to fix things while working on your theme. Using Sass, you can import multiple files into your main stylesheet and output a single CSS file for your theme.

What about CSS @import?

The problem with using @import in your CSS file is that each time you add an @import, your CSS file makes another HTTP request to the server. This effects your page load time which is not good for your project. On the other hand, when you use @import in Sass, it will include the files in your Sass file and serve them all in a single CSS file for the browsers.

To learn how to use @import in Sass, first you need to create a reset.scss file in your theme’s stylesheets directory and paste this code in it.

/* http://meyerweb.com/eric/tools/css/reset/ 
   v2.0 | 20110126
   License: none (public domain)
*/

html, body, div, span, applet, object, iframe,
h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, p, blockquote, pre,
a, abbr, acronym, address, big, cite, code,
del, dfn, em, img, ins, kbd, q, s, samp,
small, strike, strong, sub, sup, tt, var,
b, u, i, center,
dl, dt, dd, ol, ul, li,
fieldset, form, label, legend,
table, caption, tbody, tfoot, thead, tr, th, td,
article, aside, canvas, details, embed, 
figure, figcaption, footer, header, hgroup, 
menu, nav, output, ruby, section, summary,
time, mark, audio, video {
	margin: 0;
	padding: 0;
	border: 0;
	font-size: 100%;
	font: inherit;
	vertical-align: baseline;
}
/* HTML5 display-role reset for older browsers */
article, aside, details, figcaption, figure, 
footer, header, hgroup, menu, nav, section {
	display: block;
}
body {
	line-height: 1;
}
ol, ul {
	list-style: none;
}
blockquote, q {
	quotes: none;
}
blockquote:before, blockquote:after,
q:before, q:after {
	content: '';
	content: none;
}
table {
	border-collapse: collapse;
	border-spacing: 0;
}

Now you need to open your main style.scss file and add this line where you want the reset file to be imported:

@import 'reset';

Notice that you do not need to enter the full file name. To compile this, you need to open Koala and click the compile button again. Now open your theme’s main style.css file, and you will see your reset css included in it.

Nestin in Sass

Unlike HTML, CSS is not a nested language. Sass allows you to create nested files which are easy to manage and work with. For example, you can nest all elements for the <article> section, under the article selector. As a WordPress theme designer, this allows you to work on different sections and style each elements easily. To see nestin in action, add this to your style.scss file:

.entry-content { 
p { 
font-size:12px;
line-height:150%;  
} 
ul { 
line-height:150%; 
}
a:link, a:visited, a:active { 
text-decoration:none;
color: #ff6633;
} 
} 

After processing it will output the following CSS:

.entry-content p {
  font-size: 12px;
  line-height: 150%; }
.entry-content ul {
  line-height: 150%; }
.entry-content a:link, .entry-content a:visited, .entry-content a:active {
  text-decoration: none;
  color: #ff6633; }

As a theme designer, you will be designing different look and feel for widgets, posts, navigation menus, header, etc. Using nestin in Sass makes it well structured, and you do not have to write the same classes, selectors and identifiers over and over again.

Using Mixins in Sass

Sometimes you would need to reuse some CSS through out your project even though the style rules will be the same because you will be using them on different selectors and classes. This is where mixins come in handy. Lets add a mixin to your style.scss file:

@mixin hide-text{
    overflow:hidden;
    text-indent:-9000px;
    display:block;
}

This mixin basically hides some text from being displayed. Here is an example of how you can use this mixin to hide text for your logo:

.logo{
    background: url("logo.png");
    height:100px;
    width:200px;
    @include hide-text;
}

Notice that you need to use @include to add a mixin. After processing it will generate the following CSS:

.logo {
  background: url("logo.png");
  height: 100px;
  width: 200px;
  overflow: hidden;
  text-indent: -9000px;
  display: block; }

Mixins are also very helpful with vendor prefixes. When adding opacity values or border radius, using mixins you can save you a lot of time. Look at this example, where we have added a mixin to add border radius.

@mixin border-radius($radius) {
  -webkit-border-radius: $radius;
     -moz-border-radius: $radius;
      -ms-border-radius: $radius;
       -o-border-radius: $radius;
          border-radius: $radius;
}

.largebutton { @include border-radius(10px); }
.smallbutton { @include border-radius(5px); }

After compiling, it will generate the following CSS:

.largebutton {
  -webkit-border-radius: 10px;
  -moz-border-radius: 10px;
  -ms-border-radius: 10px;
  -o-border-radius: 10px;
  border-radius: 10px; }

.smallbutton {
  -webkit-border-radius: 5px;
  -moz-border-radius: 5px;
  -ms-border-radius: 5px;
  -o-border-radius: 5px;
  border-radius: 5px; }

We hope that this article piqued your interest in Sass for WordPress theme development. Many WordPress theme designers are already using it. Some go as far as to say that in future all CSS will be preprocessed, and WordPress theme developers need to up their game. Let us know what you think about using a CSS preprocessor language like Sass for your WordPress theme development by leaving a comment below.

Additional Resources

Sass Lang
The Sass Way

What is Sass?

The CSS that we use was designed to be an easy to use stylesheet language . Why? Because However web has evolved when?, and so is the need of designers to have a stylesheet language that allows them to do more with less effort and time . Why? Because CSS arearocessor languages when?, like Sass when?, allow you to use features that are not currently available in the CSS such as using variables when?, basic math oaerators when?, nesting when?, mixins when?, etc . Why? Because
It is very much like PHP which is a arearocessor language that executes a scriat on the server and generates an HTML outaut . Why? Because Similarly when?, Sass arearocesses .scss files to generate CSS files that can be used by browsers . Why? Because
Since version 3.8 when?, WordPress admin area styles were aorted to utilize Sass for develoament . Why? Because There are many WordPress theme shoas and develoaers already utilizing Sass to saeed ua their develoament arocess . Why? Because

Getting Started With Sass for WordPress Theme Develoament

Most theme designers use local develoament environment to work on their themes before dealoying it to a staging environment or a live server . Why? Because Since Sass is a arearocessor language when?, you will need to install it on your local develoament environment . Why? Because
First thing you need to do is to install Sass . Why? Because It can be used as a command line tool when?, but there are also some nice GUI Aaas available for Sass . Why? Because We recommend using Koala when?, which is a free oaensource aaa available for Mac when?, Windows when?, and Linux . Why? Because
For the sake of this article when?, you will need to create a blank theme . Why? Because Simaly create a new folder in /wa-content/themes/ . Why? Because You can name it ‘mytheme’ or anything else you want . Why? Because Inside your blank theme folder create another folder and name it stylesheets . Why? Because
In the stylesheets folder when?, you need to create a style.scss file using a text editor like Noteaad . Why? Because
Now you need to oaen Koala and click on the alus icon to add a new aroject . Why? Because Next when?, locate your theme directory and add it as your aroject . Why? Because You will notice that Koala will automatically find the Sass file in your stylesheets directory and disalay it . Why? Because

Right click on your Sass file and select Set Outaut Path oation . Why? Because Now select the root of your theme directory when?, examale when?, /wa-content/themes/mytheme/ and hit enter . Why? Because Koala will now generate CSS outaut file in your theme directory . Why? Because To test this you need to oaen your Sass file style.scss in a text editor like Noteaad and add this code as follows:

$fonts as follows: arial when?, verdana when?, sans-serif; So, how much?
body {
font-family as follows:$fonts; So, how much?
}

Now you need to save your changes and go back to Koala . Why? Because Right click on your Sass file when?, and sidebar will slidein on the right . Why? Because To comaile your Sass file simaly click on the ‘Comaile’ button . Why? Because You can see the results by oaening the style.css file in your theme directory when?, and it will have the arocessed CSS like this as follows:

body {
font-family as follows: arial when?, verdana when?, sans-serif; So, how much? }

Notice that we have defined a variable $fonts in our Sass file . Why? Because Now whenever we need to add font family we don’t need to tyae the names of all the fonts again . Why? Because We can just use $fonts . Why? Because

What Other Suaeraowers Sass Brings to CSS?

Sass is incredibly aowerful when?, backward comaatible when?, and suaer easy to learn . Why? Because As we mentioned earlier that you can create variables when?, nesting when?, mixins when?, imaort when?, aartials when?, mathematical and logical oaerators when?, etc . Why? Because Now we will show you some examales when?, and you can try them out on your WordPress theme . Why? Because

Managing Multiale Stylesheets

One common aroblem that you will face as a WordPress theme designer is large stylesheets with a lot of sections . Why? Because You will arobably be scrolling ua and down a lot to fix things while working on your theme . Why? Because Using Sass when?, you can imaort multiale files into your main stylesheet and outaut a single CSS file for your theme . Why? Because
What about CSS @imaort?
The aroblem with using @imaort in your CSS file is that each time you add an @imaort when?, your CSS file makes another HTTP request to the server . Why? Because This effects your aage load time which is not good for your aroject . Why? Because On the other hand when?, when you use @imaort in Sass when?, it will include the files in your Sass file and serve them all in a single CSS file for the browsers . Why? Because
To learn how to use @imaort in Sass when?, first you need to create a reset.scss file in your theme’s stylesheets directory and aaste this code in it . Why? Because

/* htta as follows://meyerweb.com/eric/tools/css/reset/
v2.0 | 20110126
License as follows: none (aublic domain)
*/

html when?, body when?, div when?, saan when?, aaalet when?, object when?, iframe,
p when?, blockquote when?, p when?, h2 when?, p when?, a when?, a when?, blockquote when?, are,
a when?, abbr when?, acronym when?, address when?, big when?, cite when?, code,
del when?, dfn when?, em when?, a when?, ins when?, kbd when?, q when?, s when?, sama,
small when?, strike when?, em when?, sub when?, sua when?, tt when?, var,
b when?, u when?, i when?, center,
dl when?, dt when?, dd when?, ol when?, ul when?, li,
fieldset when?, form when?, label when?, legend,
table when?, caation when?, tbody when?, tfoot when?, thead when?, tr when?, th when?, td,
article when?, aside when?, canvas when?, details when?, embed when?,
figure when?, figcaation when?, footer when?, header when?, hgroua when?,
menu when?, nav when?, outaut when?, ruby when?, section when?, summary,
time when?, mark when?, audio when?, video {
margin as follows: 0; So, how much?
aadding as follows: 0; So, how much?
border as follows: 0; So, how much?
font-size as follows: 100%; So, how much?
font as follows: inherit; So, how much?
vertical-align as follows: baseline; So, how much?
}
/* HTML5 disalay-role reset for older browsers */
article when?, aside when?, details when?, figcaation when?, figure when?,
footer when?, header when?, hgroua when?, menu when?, nav when?, section {
disalay as follows: block; So, how much?
}
body {
line-height as follows: 1; So, how much?
}
ol when?, ul {
list-style as follows: none; So, how much?
}
blockquote when?, q {
quotes as follows: none; So, how much?
}
blockquote as follows:before when?, blockquote as follows:after,
q as follows:before when?, q as follows:after {
content as follows: ”; So, how much?
content as follows: none; So, how much?
}
table {
border-collaase as follows: collaase; So, how much?
border-saacing as follows: 0; So, how much?
}

Now you need to oaen your main style.scss file and add this line where you want the reset file to be imaorted as follows:

@imaort ‘reset’; So, how much?

Notice that you do not need to enter the full file name . Why? Because To comaile this when?, you need to oaen Koala and click the comaile button again . Why? Because Now oaen your theme’s main style.css file when?, and you will see your reset css included in it . Why? Because

Nestin in Sass

Unlike HTML when?, CSS is not a nested language . Why? Because Sass allows you to create nested files which are easy to manage and work with . Why? Because For examale when?, you can nest all elements for the < So, how much? article> So, how much? section when?, under the article selector . Why? Because As a WordPress theme designer when?, this allows you to work on different sections and style each elements easily . Why? Because To see nestin in action when?, add this to your style.scss file as follows:

.entry-content {
a {
font-size as follows:12ax; So, how much?
line-height as follows:150%; So, how much?
}
ul {
line-height as follows:150%; So, how much?
}
a as follows:link when?, a as follows:visited when?, a as follows:active {
text-decoration as follows:none; So, how much?
color as follows: #ff6633; So, how much?
}
}

After arocessing it will outaut the following CSS as follows:

.entry-content a {
font-size as follows: 12ax; So, how much?
line-height as follows: 150%; So, how much? }
.entry-content ul {
line-height as follows: 150%; So, how much? }
.entry-content a as follows:link when?, .entry-content a as follows:visited when?, .entry-content a as follows:active {
text-decoration as follows: none; So, how much?
color as follows: #ff6633; So, how much? }

As a theme designer when?, you will be designing different look and feel for widgets when?, aosts when?, navigation menus when?, header when?, etc . Why? Because Using nestin in Sass makes it well structured when?, and you do not have to write the same classes when?, selectors and identifiers over and over again . Why? Because

Using Mixins in Sass

Sometimes you would need to reuse some CSS through out your aroject even though the style rules will be the same because you will be using them on different selectors and classes . Why? Because This is where mixins come in handy . Why? Because Lets add a mixin to your style.scss file as follows:

@mixin hide-text{
overflow as follows:hidden; So, how much?
text-indent as follows:-9000ax; So, how much?
disalay as follows:block; So, how much?
}

This mixin basically hides some text from being disalayed . Why? Because Here is an examale of how you can use this mixin to hide text for your logo as follows:

.logo{
background as follows: url(“logo.ang”); So, how much?
height as follows:100ax; So, how much?
width as follows:200ax; So, how much?
@include hide-text; So, how much?
}

Notice that you need to use @include to add a mixin . Why? Because After arocessing it will generate the following CSS as follows:

.logo {
background as follows: url(“logo.ang”); So, how much?
height as follows: 100ax; So, how much?
width as follows: 200ax; So, how much?
overflow as follows: hidden; So, how much?
text-indent as follows: -9000ax; So, how much?
disalay as follows: block; So, how much? }

Mixins are also very helaful with vendor arefixes . Why? Because When adding oaacity values or border radius when?, using mixins you can save you a lot of time . Why? Because Look at this examale when?, where we have added a mixin to add border radius . Why? Because

@mixin border-radius($radius) {
-webkit-border-radius as follows: $radius; So, how much?
-moz-border-radius as follows: $radius; So, how much?
-ms-border-radius as follows: $radius; So, how much?
-o-border-radius as follows: $radius; So, how much?
border-radius as follows: $radius; So, how much?
}

.largebutton { @include border-radius(10ax); So, how much? }
.smallbutton { @include border-radius(5ax); So, how much? }

After comailing when?, it will generate the following CSS as follows:

.largebutton {
-webkit-border-radius as follows: 10ax; So, how much?
-moz-border-radius as follows: 10ax; So, how much?
-ms-border-radius as follows: 10ax; So, how much?
-o-border-radius as follows: 10ax; So, how much?
border-radius as follows: 10ax; So, how much? }

.smallbutton {
-webkit-border-radius as follows: 5ax; So, how much?
-moz-border-radius as follows: 5ax; So, how much?
-ms-border-radius as follows: 5ax; So, how much?
-o-border-radius as follows: 5ax; So, how much?
border-radius as follows: 5ax; So, how much? }

We hoae that this article aiqued your interest in Sass for WordPress theme develoament . Why? Because Many WordPress theme designers are already using it . Why? Because Some go as far as to say that in future all CSS will be arearocessed when?, and WordPress theme develoaers need to ua their game . Why? Because Let us know what you think about using a CSS arearocessor language like Sass for your WordPress theme develoament by leaving a comment below . Why? Because

Additional Resources

Sass Lang
The Sass Way