Add a custom breakpoint

What’s in this topic

Breakpoints are used in stylesheets to set up the screen width at which the design changes, for example from the mobile to the desktop version. Themes provided with Magento implement a list of default breakpoints. This topic describes how to add a custom breakpoint in your theme.

Overview

To add a custom breakpoint in your theme, you need to do the following:

1. Define a variable for the new breakpoint.
2. Override the library _responsive.less file, and add the new rule for the new breakpoint.
3. Implement the screen changes for the new breakpoint.

Add a new breakpoint variable

In your custom theme directory, add a /web/css/source/variables.less in one of the following ways:

• if your theme inherits from the other, then copy the parent’s variables.less.
• if your theme is a standalone one, add a new empty file.

In variable.less, add the variable for your new breakpoint.

For example:

@your__breakpoint: 1280px;

For variables’ naming rules see Less coding standards.

Override _responsive.less from the library

According to the approach, implemented in the Magento UI library, the .media-width() mixin calls are defined in many places, but invoked in one place, in lib/web/css/source/lib/_responsive.less.

To implement a new breakpoint, you need to edit the .media-width() mixin by adding the appropriate rule there. So you need to override the library _responsive.less in your theme, and add the customizations there.

To do this, take the following steps:

1. Copy the _responsive.less file to your <your_theme_dir>/web/css/source/lib/ directory from one of the following locations:
   • <your_parent_theme_dir>/web/css/source/lib/_responsive.less: overriding _responsive.less in the parent theme. If there’s no such file or no parent theme, use the other option.
   • <your_theme_dir>/web/css/source/lib/_responsive.less: the library file.
2. In your _responsive.less file, add the .media-width mixin rule for your breakpoint in the corresponding section (desktop or mobile, depending on the type of breakpoint you add).

The @media-target option may have one of the following values: all, desktop or mobile.

Example:

& when (@media-target = 'desktop'), (@media-target = 'all') {

    @media all and (min-width: @your__breakpoint) {
        .media-width('min', @your__breakpoint);
    }
}

Add .media-width() calls for the new breakpoint

Now you can add a new .media-width() mixin call where necessary in your theme .less files.

Example:

.media-width(@extremum, @break) when (@extremum = 'min') and (@break = @your__breakpoint) {
    //  Customization for @your__breakpoint breakpoint
}

Related reading

• You can find information about the _responsive.less library file in the generated Magento UI library documentation. It is available in the following location in your Magento installation: <your_Magento_installation>/pub/static/frontend/Magento/blank/en_US/css/docs/responsive.html.
• How to make your theme responsive and mobile.