Version 2 of the Less Framework has been release this week.
The Less Framework is an open-source (Creative Commons attribution license) CSS framework designed to free designers and developers from the standard “960 pixels” that is often used to fix the width of web pages. With the Less Framework, you are provided with a simple canvas on which to build your designs (less is more, after all) which is also designed to work on mobile devices, small computers such as netbooks, as well as your traditional large desktop displays.
"Less Framework started out as a simple personal tool to speed up my web design process," said Joni Korpi, the Framework's creator talking to DeveloperFusion. "Eventually I realised other people could also find it useful, or at least draw some inspiration for their own tools from it, so I released it to the public."
The framework provides you with a default 5-column layout designed with iPads, netbooks, and small desktops in mind. Then, when the browser window exceeds 1280 pixels in width, an 8-column layout is made available to take advantage of the extra space. Finally, when the browser width is compressed down to 320px or below (think mobile phones, Android, iPhone and iPod Touch) it provides a 2-column layout suitable for those screens. With these simple beginnings it is extremely easy to quickly build a page that fits the first screen size then adapt it with CSS in the so-called “@media queries” for the larger and smaller sizes.
The Less Framework is compatible with all modern standards-supporting web browsers (and Internet Explorer 8 and below compatibility is guaranteed if you want to use HTML 5 tags with the HTML5 Shim Javascript) and you can find out more on the Less Framework site.
Meanwhile, its future is looking good. "I’d say I’ve poured into it everything I’ve learned about HTML/CSS and simplicity in the last three years," says Joni. "I’m going to try to stay on top of upcoming smartphone and tablet models, and figure out the best ways to support them."
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