BluePlate: The BlueAtlas Application Template
The concept of a CSS framework is not a new one. There are currently many frameworks in existance that provide a great starting point for a site/template build. In the past, we've used the following CSS frameworks:
Here at BlueAtlas, we've standardized on the YUI framework for instances when a more feature rich framework is appropriate. At other times, we choose to use a much lighter framework (you might not even call it a framework) and build most of the template grid structure by hand.
BluePlate
BluePlate represents a great starting point for a lot of our projects. It extends the concept of a framework to include standard directory structure, file names, documentation, etc. For example, we have standardized on the use of the jQuery javascript library. We've also standardized on a basic directory structure and naming convention. The advantage to using BluePlate internally is mainly the consistency it brings to the applications and websites we are building.
Some other unique traits of BluePlate include:
- Our YUI-full starting point contains a layout and style guide.
- We include a default print stylesheet (borrrowed from BluePrint).
- We include module pattern wrappers for our main application and utils javascript files.
Moving Forward
Our next step will be to extend our lite framework to include support for HTML5. We will not be providing full support, however we will be inserting ids and classes that are consistant with terminology found in the HTML5 spec.
Conclusion
For us, the decision to use a full or lite framework is based on the problem we are trying to solve. In either case, by standardizing internally on our frameworks (and site structure, file names, etc), we are improving our efficiency and easing product maintenance.
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