Top 7 HTML5 & CSS3 Responsive Frameworks for Web Designer 2018

In web designing, if HTML is the skeleton, then CSS is the outer body. Modern day web development revolves around responsive frameworks. These frameworks are easy to use and customize and that is why they are so popular. Let’s have a look at the top 7 of such frameworks in 2018.

Bootstrap

This is arguably the most popular and widely used framework. Bootstrap is an open source front-end framework. It has a 12 column responsive grid system meaning that it adapts to the user’s device size or resolution. With growing mobile phone usage, a responsive website is a necessity and Bootstrap scores in this department. It is also compatible with all the major browsers like Chrome,Safari, and Firefox. It has a consistent user interface (UI) which is good-looking too. It has an extensive list of components needed for any website like drop-down menus and navigation bars. This helps a developer in speedy development and saving time. It can be tailored and customized according to the user’s project needs. Developers well-versed in CSS preprocessing can use the LESS files but for others, plain CSS files are also available. It has a number of javascript plugins for various functionalities. Frequent updates are released improving the user experience. Its popularity has resulted in a vast support community which can be used by a developer to encountering a problem.

Foundation

This is another popular open source, front-end framework. It is based on a responsive and flexible 940x grid system. It also enables a developer to either design his/her site mobile first or the other way round. It is modular in nature. It comprises a series of Sass stylesheets which implement its various components. Development is quick and easy in this framework as any developer can select components as per the project requirements while discarding the useless ones. Apart from regular HTML elements, it also has many UI components. JavaScript components are stored in the jQuery library and plugins using jquery can always be used to make the UI experience richer. It is also compatible with all the major browsers. Foundation also comes with support in the form of learning courses and help from ZURB- the developers of the Foundation.

Semantic UI

Some users may find this free open source project a bit more complex than other frameworks on this list. To give you an idea while Bootstrap comes with one basic theme, Semantic UI comes with more than 20 themes in its basic package. Then there are the CSS, JavaScript, and font files. Sounds cumbersome to install, doesn’t it, but once you develop a project using it and see the incredible work it can do, you will surely turn into a fan. Semantic literally means relating to language and this is the theory behind this framework’s development. It uses natural language words for class names for styling, thus making the code easier to read. It helps a beginner to get a hang of it. It has a very well-organized UI with each component ensconced in its own file. It has hundreds of components for different functionalities. A user can choose one that he/she needs thus saving time and energy. It also supports third-party apps like WordPress making it easy for any custom WordPress designer to use it. It comes with good documentation and a website aimed at helping users.

Bulma

It is a lightweight CSS framework based completely on Flexbox. Flexbox is the new layout model in CSS3 aimed at giving more control to developers looking for developing responsive sites. It has a simple grid system. Bulma is also a mobile-first framework and is ideal for developing responsive applications. It is also modular in nature with a Sass framework which helps in keeping your bundle optimized to only the required classes. Bulma has various component solutions. It has a fantastic layout section with multiple customisation options, some unique to it. This also comes with good documentation and an active user community which can be tapped for solutions to problems.

UIkit

This a relatively unknown quantity in the world of responsive frameworks, but it can give the user same functionality without compromising on the quality. This front-end framework is highly modular in nature. This makes adding components easy without compromising on the overall style quotient of the project. It stands out among its peers for various reasons, the primary being that contains both LESS and Sass CSS preprocessors. This makes it easy to use for developers with the knowledge of either or both of the preprocessors, also the lightweight nature makes it easy to install and run. It is also used in many WordPress themes, making it a natural choice for any WordPress designer. UIkit works well with all major browsers.

Materialize

This is another front-end responsive framework based on Google’s Material Design language. It is open source and basically, it is a user experience (UX) framework. Google’s material design concept involves usage of space, light, and motion in the design. It implies that every element in the design barring width and height has depth. Materialize comes with CSS and SCSS files and JavaScript. A developer has to simply import the CSS files onto the development platform instead of writing the CSS code making it suitable for amateurs too. Like Bootstrap, it also has a 12-column grid layout, but the number of UI components are less than in Bootstrap (checkout angular 5 with bootstrap 4 here). It makes up for this shortcoming by offering some unique components like Parallax and Toasts. It is compatible with all major browsers including Internet Explorer 10+.

Pure

The last name on this list of top responsive frameworks is Pure. Developed by Yahoo, the itsbiggest USP is its lightweight. Other front-end frameworks like Bootstrap and Foundation include a lot of code. Besides, during customization a lot of code is added making the project heavy, so to speak. Pure addresses this by making only those CSS modules available that are essential to any web development project. A responsive grid layout and a minimalist look that can be easily customised makes it a good choice for simple projects.

Endnote

Responsive frameworks are a boon for developers. They have definitely made life easy for them. Hope this list makes it even easier.

Author bio:

Brandon Graves is a WordPress website expert and right now work for the convert website to wordpress services in the USA. To know more about him, please follow on the Facebook.