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Add a "Why?" section to the website and readme?

Open rsyring opened this issue 11 months ago • 2 comments

I'm a fullstack web dev who is mostly involved in the backend. I stumble across front end topics mostly through Hacker News, which is how I found this project. I think it's interesting, but not sure how to evaluate it in the context of current front end css options like Bootstrap, Pico CSS, Tailwind, etc.

Maybe you could add a "Why Open Props?" section towards the top of the readme and website that explains how the project fits into the larger CSS ecosystem and why you might select it over other projects. That is, what are the trade-offs?

Thanks for considering.

rsyring avatar Mar 02 '25 16:03 rsyring

hi!

there's this section already, it hopes to share why.

many new folks looking at this library are like "ok, so what does it do" and the answer is nothing 😅 , at least not out of the box. You can use Open Props with Tailwind, where tailwind would bring the style strategy while Open Props brings the values. You can augment the values of Tailwind or whatever, or add to them, like with Open Props easings or colors. you can use the css variables or the JS variables, some of them, or all of them.

it's close to things like underscore or lodash, which are just functions for free. these are design values for free, so you dont have to choose but can lean on expert choices. there's also tricks, super powers, and other things baked into this innocent looking little CSS var()'s. this library wants to collect anything that can be put into a custom property, and make it accessible via an easy name.

hope that's helpful!

what hacker news post did you come in from? should i check it out?

argyleink avatar Mar 03 '25 19:03 argyleink

Hi, jumping in to mention, just discovered this project in a HN thread discussing about tailwind and daisyUI: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44646869#44653571

There's no deep discussions about open props in the thread per se, but I share the same sentiment as OP, as I visit the project page to understand how it works.

It took a little more serious reading, rather than skimming while on subway, to really get what's the project about 😅

altbdoor avatar Jul 23 '25 01:07 altbdoor