Developing with the Style System

Learn how to implement individual styles and re-use Core Components using Experience Manager’s Style System. This tutorial covers developing for the Style System to extend Core Components with brand-specific CSS and advanced policy configurations of the Template Editor.

Prerequisites

Review the required tooling and instructions for setting up a local development environment.

It is also recommended to review the Client-side Libraries and Front-end Workflow tutorial to understand the fundamentals of client-side libraries and the various front-end tools built into the AEM project.

Starter Project

NOTE

If you successfully completed the previous chapter you can re-use the project and skip the steps for checking out the starter project.

Check out the base-line code the tutorial builds on:

  1. Check out the tutorial/style-system-start branch from GitHub

    $ cd aem-guides-wknd
$ git checkout tutorial/style-system-start

  2. Deploy code base to a local AEM instance using your Maven skills:

    $ mvn clean install -PautoInstallSinglePackage
    NOTE

    If using AEM 6.5 or 6.4, append the classic profile to any Maven commands.

    $ mvn clean install -PautoInstallSinglePackage -Pclassic

You can always view the finished code on GitHub or check the code out locally by switching to the branch tutorial/style-system-solution.

Objective

  1. Understand how to use the Style System to apply brand-specific CSS to AEM Core Components.
  2. Learn about BEM notation and how it can be used to carefully scope styles.
  3. Apply advanced policy configurations with Editable Templates.

What you will build

In this chapter we will use the Style System feature to create variations of the Title and Text components used on the Article page.

Styles available for Title

Underline style available to use for Title Component

Background

The Style System allows developers and template editors to create multiple visual variations of a component. Authors can then in turn decide which style to use when composing a page. We will leverage the Style System throughout the rest of the tutorial to achieve several unique styles, while leveraging Core Components in a low code approach.

The general idea with the Style System is that authors can choose various styles of how a component should look. The “styles” are backed by additional CSS classes that are injected into the outer div of a component. In the client libraries CSS rules are added based on these style classes so that the component changes appearance.

You can find detailed documentation for Style System here. There is also a great technical video for understanding the Style System.

Underline Style - Title

The Title Component has been proxied into the project under /apps/wknd/components/title as part of the ui.apps module. The default styles of Heading elements (H1, H2, H3…) have already been implemented in the ui.frontend module.

The WKND Article designs contain a unique style for the Title component with an underline. Instead of creating two components or modifying the component dialog, the Style System can be used to allow authors the option to add an underline style.

Underline Style - Title Component

Inspect Title markup

As a front-end developer the first step to styling a Core Component is to understand the markup generated by the component.

  1. Open a new browser and view the Title component on the AEM Core Component Library site: https://www.aemcomponents.dev/content/core-components-examples/library/page-authoring/title.html

  2. Below is the markup for the Title component:

    <div class="cmp-title">
    <h1 class="cmp-title__text">Lorem Ipsum</h1>
</div>

    The BEM notation of the Title Component:

    BLOCK cmp-title
    ELEMENT cmp-title__text

  3. The Style system adds a CSS class to the outer div surrounding the component. Therefore the markup we will be targeting will resemble something like the following:

    <div class="STYLE-SYSTEM-CLASS-HERE"> <!-- Custom CSS class - implementation gets to define this -->
    <div class="cmp-title">
        <h1 class="cmp-title__text">Lorem Ipsum</h1>
    </div>
</div>

Implement the Underline Style - ui.frontend

Next, implement the Underline style using the ui.frontend module of our project. We will use the webpack development server that is bundled with the ui.frontend module to preview the styles before deploying to a local instance of AEM.

  1. Start the webpack dev server by running the following command from within the ui.frontend module:

    $ cd ~/code/aem-guides-wknd/ui.frontend/
$ npm start

> aem-maven-archetype@1.0.0 start code/aem-guides-wknd/ui.frontend
> webpack-dev-server --open --config ./webpack.dev.js

    This should open a browser at http://localhost:8080.

    NOTE

    If images appear broken, ensure that the starter project has been deployed to a local instance of AEM (running on port 4502) and the browser used has also logged into the local AEM instance.

    Webpack development server

  2. In the IDE open the file index.html located at: ui.frontend/src/main/webpack/static/index.html. This is the static markup used by the webpack development server.

  3. In index.html find an instance of the Title Component to add the underline style to by searching the document for cmp-title. Choose the Title component with the text “Vans off the Wall Skatepark” (line 218). Add the class cmp-title--underline to the surrounding div:

    - <div class="title aem-GridColumn--phone--12 aem-GridColumn aem-GridColumn--default--8">
+ <div class="cmp-title--underline title aem-GridColumn--phone--12 aem-GridColumn aem-GridColumn--default--8">
     <div data-cmp-data-layer="{&#34;title-8bea562fa0&#34;:{&#34;@type&#34;:&#34;wknd/components/title&#34;,&#34;repo:modifyDate&#34;:&#34;2021-01-22T18:54:20Z&#34;,&#34;dc:title&#34;:&#34;Vans Off the Wall&#34;}}" id="title-8bea562fa0" class="cmp-title">
         <h2 class="cmp-title__text">Vans Off the Wall</h2>
     </div>
 </div>

  4. Return to the browser and verify that the extra class is reflected in the markup.

  5. Return to the ui.frontend module and update the file title.scss located at: ui.frontend/src/main/webpack/components/_title.scss:

    /* Add Title Underline Style */
.cmp-title--underline {
    .cmp-title__text {
        &:after {
        display: block;
            width: 84px;
            padding-top: 8px;
            content: '';
            border-bottom: 2px solid $brand-primary;
        }
    }
}
    NOTE

    It is considered a best practice to always tightly scope styles to the target component. This ensures that extra styles don’t affect other areas of the page.

    All Core Components adhere to BEM notation. It is a best practice to target the outer CSS class when creating a default style for a component. Another best practice is to target class names specified by the Core Component BEM notation rather than HTML elements.

  6. Return to the browser once more and you should see the Underline style added:

    Underline style visible in webpack dev server

  7. Stop the webpack development server.

Add a Title Policy

Next we need to add a new policy for Title components to allow content authors to choose the Underline style to apply to specific components. This is done using the Template Editor within AEM.

  1. Deploy the code base to a local AEM instance using your Maven skills:

    $ cd ~/code/aem-guides-wknd
$ mvn clean install -PautoInstallSinglePackage

  2. Navigate to the Article Page template located at: http://localhost:4502/editor.html/conf/wknd/settings/wcm/templates/article-page/structure.html

  3. In Structure mode, in the main Layout Container, select the Policy icon next to the Title component listed under Allowed Components:

    Title Policy Configure

  4. Create a new policy for the Title component with the following values:

    Policy Title *: WKND Title

    Properties > Styles Tab > Add a new style

    Underline : cmp-title--underline

    Style policy configuration for title

    Click Done to save the changes to the Title policy.

    NOTE

    The value cmp-title--underline matches the CSS class we targeted earlier when developing in the ui.frontend module.

Apply the Underline Style

Finally, as an author, we can choose to apply the underline style to certain Title Components.

  1. Navigate to the La Skateparks article in the AEM Sites editor at: http://localhost:4502/editor.html/content/wknd/us/en/magazine/guide-la-skateparks.html

  2. In Edit mode, choose a Title component. Click the paintbrush icon and select the Underline style:

    Apply the Underline Style

    As an author you should be able to toggle on/off the style.

  3. Click the Page Information icon > View as Published to inspect the page outside of AEM’s editor.

    View as Published

    Use your browser developer tools to verify the markup around the Title component has the CSS class cmp-title--underline applied to the outer div.

Quote block Style - Text

Next, repeat similar steps to apply a unique style to the Text Component. The Text component has been proxied into the project under /apps/wknd/components/text as part of the ui.apps module. The default styles of paragraph elements have already been implemented in the ui.frontend.

The WKND Article designs contain a unique style for the Text component with a quote block:

Quote Block Style - Text Component

Inspect Text Component Markup

Once again we will inspect the Text component’s markup.

  1. Review the markup for the Text component at: https://www.aemcomponents.dev/content/core-components-examples/library/page-authoring/text.html

  2. Below is the markup for the Text component:

    <div class="text">
    <div class="cmp-text" data-cmp-data-layer="{&quot;text-2d9d50c5a7&quot;:{&quot;@type&quot;:&quot;core/wcm/components/text/v2/text&quot;,&quot;repo:modifyDate&quot;:&quot;2019-01-22T11:56:17Z&quot;,&quot;xdm:text&quot;:&quot;<p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Eu mi bibendum neque egestas congue quisque egestas. Varius morbi enim nunc faucibus a pellentesque. Scelerisque eleifend donec pretium vulputate sapien nec sagittis.</p>\n&quot;}}" id="text-2d9d50c5a7">
        <p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Eu mi bibendum neque egestas congue quisque egestas. Varius morbi enim nunc faucibus a pellentesque. Scelerisque eleifend donec pretium vulputate sapien nec sagittis.</p>
    </div>
</div>

    The BEM notation of the Text Compponent:

    BLOCK cmp-text
    ELEMENT

  3. The Style system adds a CSS class to the outer div surrounding the component. Therefore the markup we will be targeting will resemble something like the following:

    <div class="text STYLE-SYSTEM-CLASS-HERE"> <!-- Custom CSS class - implementation gets to define this -->
    <div class="cmp-text" data-cmp-data-layer="{&quot;text-2d9d50c5a7&quot;:{&quot;@type&quot;:&quot;core/wcm/components/text/v2/text&quot;,&quot;repo:modifyDate&quot;:&quot;2019-01-22T11:56:17Z&quot;,&quot;xdm:text&quot;:&quot;<p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Eu mi bibendum neque egestas congue quisque egestas. Varius morbi enim nunc faucibus a pellentesque. Scelerisque eleifend donec pretium vulputate sapien nec sagittis.</p>\n&quot;}}" id="text-2d9d50c5a7">
        <p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Eu mi bibendum neque egestas congue quisque egestas. Varius morbi enim nunc faucibus a pellentesque. Scelerisque eleifend donec pretium vulputate sapien nec sagittis.</p>
    </div>
</div>

Implement the Quote Block Style - ui.frontend

Next we will implement the Quote Block style using the ui.frontend module of our project.

  1. Start the webpack dev server by running the following command from within the ui.frontend module:

    $ cd ~/code/aem-guides-wknd/ui.frontend/
$ npm start

  2. In the IDE, open the file index.html located at: ui.frontend/src/main/webpack/static/index.html.

  3. In index.html find an instance of the Text Component by searching for the text “Jacob Wester” (line 210). Add the class cmp-text--quote to the surrounding div:

    - <div class="text aem-GridColumn--phone--12 aem-GridColumn aem-GridColumn--default--8">
+ <div class="cmp-text--quote text aem-GridColumn--phone--12 aem-GridColumn aem-GridColumn--default--8">
     <div data-cmp-data-layer="{&#34;text-a15f39a83a&#34;:{&#34;@type&#34;:&#34;wknd/components/text&#34;,&#34;repo:modifyDate&#34;:&#34;2021-01-22T00:23:27Z&#34;,&#34;xdm:text&#34;:&#34;&lt;blockquote>&amp;quot;There is no better place to shred then Los Angeles.”&lt;/blockquote>\r\n&lt;p>- Jacob Wester, Pro Skater&lt;/p>\r\n&#34;}}" id="text-a15f39a83a" class="cmp-text">
         <blockquote>&quot;There is no better place to shred then Los Angeles.”</blockquote>
         <p>- Jacob Wester, Pro Skater</p>
     </div>
 </div>

  4. Update the file text.scss located at: ui.frontend/src/main/webpack/components/_text.scss:

    /* WKND Text Quote style */
.cmp-text--quote {
    .cmp-text {
        background-color: $brand-third;
        margin: 1em 0em;
        padding: 1em;

        blockquote {
            border: none;
            font-size: $font-size-large;
            font-family: $font-family-serif;
            padding: 14px 14px;
            margin: 0;
            margin-bottom: 0.5em;

            &:after {
                border-bottom: 2px solid $brand-primary; /*yellow border */
                content: '';
                display: block;
                position: relative;
                top: 0.25em;
                width: 80px;
            }
        }
        p {
            font-family:  $font-family-serif;
        }
    }
}
    CAUTION

    In this case raw HTML elements are targeted by the styles. This is because the Text component provides a Rich Text Editor for content authors. Creating styles directly against RTE content should be done with care and it is even more important to tightly scope the styles.

  5. Return to the browser once more and you should see the Quote block style added:

    Quote block style visible in webpack dev server

  6. Stop the webpack development server.

Add a Text Policy

Next add a new policy for the Text components.

  1. Deploy code base to a local AEM instance using your Maven skills:

    $ cd ~/code/aem-guides-wknd
$ mvn clean install -PautoInstallSinglePackage

  2. Navigate to the Article Page Template located at: http://localhost:4502/editor.html/conf/wknd/settings/wcm/templates/article-page/structure.html).

  3. In Structure mode, in the main Layout Container, select the Policy icon next to the Text component listed under Allowed Components:

    Text Policy Configure

  4. Update the Text component policy with the following values:

    Policy Title *: Content Text

    Plugins > Paragraph Styles > Enable paragraph styles

    Styles Tab > Add a new style

    Quote Block : cmp-text--quote

    Text Component Policy

    Text Component Policy 2

    Click Done to save the changes to the Text policy.

Apply the Quote Block Style

  1. Navigate to the La Skateparks article in the AEM Sites editor at: http://localhost:4502/editor.html/content/wknd/us/en/magazine/guide-la-skateparks.html

  2. In Edit mode, choose a Text component. Edit the component to include a quote element:

    Text Component Configuraiton

  3. Select the text component and click the paintbrush icon and select the Quote Block style:

    Apply the Quote Block Style

    As an author you should be able to toggle on/off the style.

Fixed Width - Container (Bonus)

Container components have been used to create the basic structure of the Article Page Template and provide the drop zones for content authors to add content on a page. Containers can also leverage the Style System, providing content authors with even more options for designing layouts.

The Main Container of the Article Page template contains the two author-able containers and has a fixed width.

Main Container

Main Container in the Article Page Template.

The policy of the Main Container sets the default element as main:

Main Container policy

The CSS that makes the Main Container fixed is set in the ui.frontend module at ui.frontend/src/main/webpack/site/styles/container_main.scss :

main.container {
    padding: .5em 1em;
    max-width: $max-content-width;
    float: unset!important;
    margin: 0 auto!important;
    clear: both!important;
}

Instead of targeting the main HTML element, the Style System could be used to create a Fixed width style as part of the Container policy. The Style System could give users the option of toggling between Fixed width and Fluid width containers.

  1. Bonus Challenge - use lessons learned from the previous exercises and use the Style System to implement a Fixed width and Fluid width styles for the Container component.

Congratulations!

Congratulations, the Article Page is nearly completely styled and you gained hands-on experience using the AEM Style System.

Next Steps

Learn the steps end-to-end to create a custom AEM Component that displays content authored in a Dialog, and explores developing a Sling Model to encapsulate business logic that populates the component’s HTL.

View the finished code on GitHub or review and deploy the code locally at on the Git brach tutorial/style-system-solution.

  1. Clone the github.com/adobe/aem-wknd-guides repository.
  2. Check out the tutorial/style-system-solution branch.

Resources on adobe.com

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