Styling the Ecommerce UI Template

Default theme structure

You can find all themes in styles/themes (including the default theme).

The default theme is structured as follows:

Files:

• _globals.css: imports all the required theme files: local CSS files, Tailwind base, components and utilities, Autocomplete classic theme.
• base.css: defines all the base rules such as colors (using CSS variables), headings, selection.
• utilities.css: defines all the custom Tailwind utilities such as text, layout, transition.

Folders:

• ./components: contains the utilities used for the template component’s CSS classes.
• ./widgets: contains the utilities used for the React InstantSearch widget’s CSS classes.

Customize the default theme

If you don’t want to create your own theme, you can customize the default theme by changing things such as colors (to match your brand) and text sizes.

Colors

Customize default theme colors in the base.css file:

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/* ---------- Brand */
--color-brand-nebula: #5468ff;
--color-brand-black: #23263b;

/* ---------- Neutral */
--color-neutral-lightest: #f4f4f5;
--color-neutral-light: #d3d4d8;
--color-neutral-dark: #91929d;
--color-neutral-darkest: #4f5162;

/* ---------- Uranus */
--color-uranus-base: #89d9d3;

/* ---------- Venus */
--color-venus-base: #aa086c;

/* ---------- Nebula */
--color-nebula-lightest: #e8eaff;
--color-nebula-light: #7884de;
--color-nebula-dark: #3f52e8;
--color-nebula-darkest: #1e2b8e;

To create a new color, add a new entry in the colors object of the tailwind.config.js file, then define the new CSS variable you used in the base.css file.

Text

Customize the default theme text (such as body and headings) in the utilities.css file:

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/* ---------- Body */
.body-regular {
  @apply font-sans text-sm;
}

.body-bold {
  @apply body-regular font-bold;
}

/* [...] */

Media queries

Customize the default theme media queries in the screens.js file:

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const screens = {
  tablet: '768px',
  laptop: '1440px',
  'can-hover': { raw: '(any-hover: hover)' },
  'cannot-hover': { raw: '(any-hover: none)' }
}

These media queries are used by Tailwind for the responsive utilities and by a custom hook useTailwindScreens that allows TypeScript code to detect the device type (mobile or desktop).

Create your own theme

Make your own theme, based on the default theme structure, by:

1. Creating a new folder in the styles/themes folder
2. Update the global import in the styles/_index.css file to import your theme:

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@import "./themes/my-own-theme/_globals.css";

Why Tailwind is used

Tailwind is a utility-first CSS framework packed with classes like flex, pt-4, text-center, and rotate-90 that can build any design without leaving the markup.

Tailwind was chosen to build the Ecommerce UI template because:

• Tailwind configuration lives in one place and can be easily modified.
• Custom utilities can be created and composed together.
• CSS classes (used in React InstantSearch widgets) can be targeted using the @apply directive.
• Tailwind’s utilities simplify the building of fully responsive interfaces.
• Mobile-first approach.

Where Tailwind is used

• Tailwind utilities are used in components and pages of the Ecommerce UI template. For example, in the footer file.
• Tailwind configuration, such as the configuration for the default font family or transition duration, in the tailwind.config.js file
• Tailwind base rules and custom utilities in the default theme folder.