What is @tailwindcss/forms?
The @tailwindcss/forms plugin is a Tailwind CSS plugin that provides a basic reset for form styles that makes form elements easy to override with utilities. It helps in creating consistent and customizable forms with Tailwind CSS utility classes.
What are @tailwindcss/forms's main functionalities?
Form Inputs Styling
This feature allows you to style form inputs such as text fields, making them more consistent and visually appealing across different browsers.
<input class='block w-full px-4 py-2 mt-2 text-gray-700 bg-white border border-gray-300 rounded-md focus:border-blue-500 focus:ring focus:ring-blue-200 focus:ring-opacity-50' type='text' placeholder='Full name'>
Checkbox and Radio Buttons Styling
With this feature, you can apply Tailwind CSS styles to checkboxes and radio buttons to make them match the overall design of your site.
<input type='checkbox' class='w-4 h-4 text-blue-600 bg-gray-100 rounded border-gray-300 focus:ring-blue-500'>
Select Dropdown Styling
This feature allows you to style select dropdowns with Tailwind CSS, providing a more consistent and customizable appearance.
<select class='block w-full px-4 py-2 mt-2 text-gray-700 bg-white border border-gray-300 rounded-md focus:border-blue-500 focus:ring focus:ring-blue-200 focus:ring-opacity-50'><option>Option 1</option><option>Option 2</option></select>
File Input Styling
This feature enables you to style file inputs with Tailwind CSS, making them blend in with the rest of your form elements.
<input type='file' class='block w-full text-sm text-gray-500 file:mr-4 file:py-2 file:px-4 file:rounded-full file:border-0 file:text-sm file:font-semibold file:bg-violet-50 file:text-violet-700 hover:file:bg-violet-100'>
Other packages similar to @tailwindcss/forms
bootstrap
Bootstrap is a popular front-end framework that includes its own form styles. It provides a wide range of styled form elements out of the box, but it is not as customizable at the utility level as Tailwind CSS with @tailwindcss/forms.
formik
Formik is a library that helps with form state management in React applications. While it doesn't provide styling out of the box, it is often used in conjunction with styling libraries like Tailwind CSS to create forms.
react-hook-form
React Hook Form is a library for managing forms in React. Similar to Formik, it focuses on form state management and validation rather than styling, but can be used with Tailwind CSS for styling purposes.
@tailwindcss/forms
A plugin that provides basic default form styles that are easy to override with utilities. Hopefully the successor to @tailwindcss/custom-forms
.
Installation
Install the plugin from npm:
npm install @tailwindcss/forms
yarn add @tailwindcss/forms
Then add the plugin to your tailwind.config.js
file:
module.exports = {
theme: {
},
plugins: [
require('@tailwindcss/forms'),
],
}
Usage
All of the basic form elements you use will now have some sensible default styles that are easy to override with utilities. Works basically like the @tailwindcss/custom-forms
plugin in terms of how you modify things using utility classes. More details eventually.