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What does grid-template-areas do?

grid-template-areas sets a template of named areas in CSS Grid, so that elements are placed in the grid not by coordinates, but by names.

Example:

css
.container { display: grid; grid-template-columns: 200px 1fr; grid-template-rows: 100px 1fr 80px; grid-template-areas: "header header" "sidebar main" "footer footer"; }

Now the element can be placed like this:

css
.header { grid-area: header; } .sidebar { grid-area: sidebar; } .main { grid-area: main; } .footer { grid-area: footer; }

Rules and features

  • rows are described in quotes
  • the number of names in each row must match the number of columns
  • dots . denote empty cells
  • the same area must be rectangular (not L-shaped)

Summary: grid-template-areas lets you define the layout with words, rather than row and column numbers, making the grid more visual and readable.

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What does grid-template-areas do?: CSS Interview Question