Feature Pack 7 or later

Creating responsive widgets

You can create responsive widget content so that they are optimized for web browsers on desktop, tablet, and mobile devices.

Before you begin

Ensure that you are familiar with the process of creating and registering custom widgets. Once you have created and registered your custom widget, the guidelines in this topic help make your widget responsive.

Procedure

The following are a list of responsive style guidelines:
  • Do not fix the width of the widget or preset its margin. That is, the root HTML element of the widget should have the following CSS styles:
    
    display: block;
    width: auto;
    margin: 0;
    
    This allows the layout container or slot to determine the width and spacing between widgets.

    Contrary to width, assign the widget a fixed height or minimum height, or let its content determine its height (height: auto. An automatic height is recommended if the widget is intended to be fluid.

  • Ensure that the widget's internal user interface elements are fluid using CSS. Common techniques are:
    • Use a CSS grid system to arrange the user interface elements into rows and columns. For example, the CSS grid system used by the default layouts and containers allow you to arrange user interface elements in a 12 column grid.
    • Use display: inline-block or float: left to flow the user interface elements left-to-right, top-to-bottom.
      Note: If using float: left, ensure that you clear the float at the end. For example:
      
      .myContainer:after {
      content: "";
      display: block;
      clear: both;
      }
      

      However, ensure that you use float: right instead for RTL languages.

    • Use overflow: scroll in combination with min-width if you want to display user interface elements that require a minimum amount of horizontal space. For example, tables. Scrollable divs typically work well on most current tablet and mobile web browsers, however some older versions of devices or web browsers might not display them correctly.
  • Avoid using absolute positioning in a fluid container unless you want to anchor the user interface element to a specific corner or side of the container.
  • When using text blocks:
    • Avoid fixing the heights of text blocks in a fluid container, since text might re-flow or rewrap when the container width changes. If you want the text block to have a minimum height, use min-height.
    • Avoid using line-height to specify the height of a single-line text block, as it will not display correctly if the text wraps. Use padding instead if you want to pad the text block.
    • Consider using display: table-cell if you want to vertically-center text that might wrap.
  • If possible, optimize the widget's user interface elements further for different viewport or slot widths. Common techniques are:
    • If you are using a responsive CSS grid system, use it to define responsive behavior such as column stacking on smaller screens.
    • Use CSS media queries to optimize widget styling for different breakpoints. To align with the default styling, optimize for the following page ranges:
      Aurora starter store page range breakpoints
      Device Range breakpoint Page range
      Desktop RWD-C 1281 CSS pixels and above
      Tablet RWD-B 601 - 1280 CSS pixels
      Mobile RWD-A 600 CSS pixels and below
    • Use JavaScript to split widget content into multiple pages, depending on the amount of space available. Remember that shoppers using touch screen devices expect pagination to work by swiping. If possible, implement support for touch events and MS pointer events.
  • CSS media queries are sensitive to screen (viewport) widths but not slot widths. Therefore, consider using JavaScript to optimize the widget to respond to the slot size. See the Content Recommendation widget for more information.
  • Test the widget on different layouts and containers to ensure that it works across different screen and slot widths.