If you are a theme developer, using Sass or Syntactically Awesome Stylesheets is a time saving way to write your code and it is easy to learn once you are familiar with CSS. In this session, you will learn how to harness the power of variables, nesting, and mixins to take advantage of everything that SASS has to offer to write awesome code. In order to get the most from this session, you must have a good understanding of HTML and CSS.

1. Intro to Sass for
WordPress Theme Developers
WordCamp Salt Lake City 2015
by
Suzette Franck

2. Who I Am
HTML and CSS teacher for Girl Develop It, Los Angeles
Born in Hollywood, resides in So. California
20 Years Coding & Web Development
Developed over 300 WordPress sites
Spoken at 25 WordCamps
Reg. Contributor: WPwatercooler.com

3. My Goal
Teach you at least one thing you
can put into practice right away

4. by Dan Cederholm
Sass For Web Designers

5. What is Sass?
Syntactically Awesome Style Sheets
“Sass” not SASS & not S.A.S.S.

6. sass-lang.com
Sass on the Web

7. Sass Basics
Sass is a CSS pre-processor, outputs .CSS from .SCSS file
Sass is a Ruby “Gem” or Application
Gems need to be installed once on your computer
World of pre-made additions (mixins) and other resources
Two flavors: .SCSS (Sassy CSS) & .SASS
.SCSS most closely resembles .CSS in syntax

8. “Getting Started with Sass and Compass”
thesassway.com/beginner/
getting-started-with-sass-and-compass
by Adam Stacoviak

9. Sassmeister.com
Try Sass Yourself!

10. Why is Sass better?
Backwards Compatible with all versions CSS
Fills holes in CSS: variables to represent values
Calculates values: colors, lengths
Bubbles up: Media Queries can be written within their
element
Supports Advanced Logic/if..then, while, else, etc.
Adopted by WordPress Core team & GPL Compatible*
* Reference: http://wptavern.com/wordpress-core-adopts-sass-css-preprocessor

11. How is Sass
More Efficient?
When writing code: DRY Don’t Repeat Yourself!
Reduces HTTP requests with multiple stylesheets
@import
Helps you write more advanced code faster
Cleaner, easier to read once you are familiar
Using variables, make site-wide changes in fewer places
Different output styles can be chosen depending on
goals

12. Different Output Styles
Nested (default)
Expanded (closest to hand-crafted CSS)
Compact (saves space)
Compressed (saves most space, minified)
Output style can be specified in your config.rb

13. Different Output Styles
Expanded, Nested, Compact, Compressed
Preference can be specified in your config.rb

14. Example config.rb

15. Rename your .css file with
an .scss extension to get started
Are Sass Files Hard to Create?

16. Compiling Your Sass
Issue the “compass watch” command in your project directory
through Terminal or Command Prompt
When you save changes, the .CSS is automatically compiled
Adjust the values in your config.rb file as necessary to get
desired output

17. Will it affect my workflow?
After initial setup,
development is easier than before

18. Where Can I Get Sassified
WordPress Starter Themes?
All the cool kids are making starter themes from
Underscores, Sass & different responsive grid systems,
Here’s a few that I like, but feel free to explore!

19. “Underscores” WordPress Theme
by Automattic
http://underscores.me/

20. “Heisenberg” WordPress Theme
by Zeek Interactive
https://github.com/
ZeekInteractive/heisenberg

21. “Some Like it Neat” WordPress Theme
by DigiSavvy
https://github.com/digisavvy/
some-like-it-neat

22. “WD_S” WordPress Theme
by WebDevStudios
https://github.com/
webdevstudios/wd_s

23. “Roll Your Own” by You!
Simplest most obvious solution is best
Share your hard work on Github

24. Alrighty…
Ready for some .SCSS
Sassy CSS Code?

25. Alrighty…
Ready for some .SCSS
Sassy CSS Code?

26. Comments in Sass

27. _partials.scss
Partials are files that exist only as a fragment to be used in
another file
Partials are not complete by themselves, but they help you
modularize your code
Partials can be included in elaborate folder structures
Begins with an _ and end with .scss
Drop your partial folder on Sublime to open the folder - time
saver!

28. Working with Partials in Sublime

29. @import
Modularize your CSS into separate pages or partials
Re-use your favorite mixins on all of your projects
Compiled into one .css file at end
Fewer HTTP requests - performance!
Import others’ mixins and use them

30. @import

31. Nesting All The Things
Repeated selectors are nested inside curly
braces
& is a placeholder for the parent selector
Namespaces can also be nested, ie font,
background
Compiled CSS will always be more verbose

32. Nesting Selectors

33. Nesting Namespaces

34. $variables
Finally! Variables for CSS!
Declare in your .SCSS file like $name: value;
Call by $name in your CSS
Ability to change variables in one place and use
everywhere
Useful for defining colors in color palette, font
stacks, grid systems
Don’t forget 140 color names in CSS3! (Google it)

35. $variables

36. @mixin
Finally! Macros for CSS!
Re-usable blocks of styles
Define with @mixin declaration
Call with @include
Useful for CSS3 Vendor Prefixes
Powerful with arguments
Many pre-made mixins you can use in community
Compass, Bourbon, GitHub, Your Own Library

37. @mixin

38. @mixin with Arguments

39. darken, lighten, adjust-hue, saturate, desaturate,
invert, compliment, etc.
Full list at:
http://sass-lang.com/documentation/Sass/Script/
Functions.html
Hexidecimal # is calculated & output in final CSS
Sass Color Functions

40. http://sassme.arc90.com/
Sass Color Functions

41. http://jackiebalzer.com/color
Sass Color Functions

42. Sass Color Functions

43. mashable.com/2013/06/11/
sass-compass-tools
Other Resources

44. So…
Who is going to
experiment with Sass?

45. Thank you to SiteGround!
Highly Recommended Web
Hosting for WordPress

46. Q & A
Any Questions?

47. Thank you for being here!
Suzette Franck
Twitter: @suzette_franck
linkedin & speakerdeck & slideshare