The Media Object is a pattern we see all over the web. Named by Nicole Sullivan it refers to a two-column box with an image on one side and descriptive text on the other, e.g. a facebook post or tweet.
Requirements
Media Object pattern needs some or all of the following characteristics:
- Stacked on Mobile, two columns on Desktop.
- The image can be on the left or right.
- The image might be small or large.
- Media Objects can be nested.
- The Media Object should clear the contents no matter which side is tallest.
The recipe
Choices made
I have chosen to use Grid Layout for the media object as it allows me to control the layout in two dimensions when I need to. This means that when we have a footer, with short content above, the footer can be pushed down to the bottom of the media object.
Another reason to use Grid Layout is in order that I can use fit-content()
for the track sizing of the image. By using fit-content
with a maximum size of 200 pixels, when we have a small image such as the icon, the track only gets as large as the size of that image — the max-content
size. If the image is larger, the track stops growing at 200 pixels and as the image has a max-width
of 100% applied, it scales down so that it continues to fit inside the column.
By using grid-template-areas
to achieve the layout, I can see the pattern in the CSS. I define my grid once we have a max-width of 500 pixels, so on smaller devices the media object stacks.
An option for the pattern is to flip it to switch the image to the other side — this is done by adding the media-flip
class, which defines a flipped grid template causing the layout to be mirrored.
When we nest one media object inside another we need to place it into the second track in the regular layout, and the first track when flipped.
Fallbacks
There are a number of possible fallbacks for this pattern, depending on the browsers you wish to support. A good catch-all would be to float the image left, and to add a clearfix to the box to ensure that it contained the floats.
Once floated elements become grid items the float no longer applies so you donβt need to do anything special to clear the float.
What you will need to do is remove any margins applied to the item, and any widths which we donβt need in a grid context (we have the gap
property to control it in grids, and the track takes control of the sizing).
Relevant resources on MDN
- CSS Grid Layout
- Progressive Enhancement and Grid Layout
- Using Grid Template Areas
- fit-content
- Grid-template-areas
Browser compatibility
The various layout methods have different browser support. See the charts below for details on basic support for the properties used.
The compatibility table in this page is generated from structured data. If you'd like to contribute to the data, please check out https://github.com/mdn/browser-compat-data and send us a pull request.
grid-template-areas
Desktop | Mobile | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
grid-template-areas | Chrome
Full support
57
| Edge Full support 16 | Firefox
Full support
52
| IE No support No | Opera
Full support
44
| Safari Full support 10.1 | WebView Android Full support 57 | Chrome Android
Full support
57
| Firefox Android
Full support
52
| Opera Android
Full support
43
| Safari iOS Full support 10.3 | Samsung Internet Android Full support 6.0 |
Legend
- Full support
- Full support
- No support
- No support
- User must explicitly enable this feature.
- User must explicitly enable this feature.
float
Desktop | Mobile | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
float | Chrome Full support 1 | Edge Full support 12 | Firefox Full support 1 | IE Full support 4 | Opera Full support 7 | Safari Full support 1 | WebView Android Full support 1 | Chrome Android Full support 18 | Firefox Android Full support 4 | Opera Android Full support 10.1 | Safari iOS Full support 1 | Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.0 |
Flow-relative values inline-start and inline-end | Chrome No support No | Edge No support No | Firefox Full support 55 | IE No support No | Opera No support No | Safari No support No | WebView Android No support No | Chrome Android No support No | Firefox Android Full support 55 | Opera Android No support No | Safari iOS No support No | Samsung Internet Android No support No |
Legend
- Full support
- Full support
- No support
- No support