---
# System prepended metadata

title: Tailwind css and configuration

---

**What is Tailwind CSS**
Tailwind CSS is a utility-first CSS framework designed to simplify web development by providing a set of pre-designed utility classes. Instead of creating classes around components, Tailwind focuses on individual style elements, allowing developers to style each element by mixing and matching utility classes directly in their HTML. This approach enables the creation of custom designs without writing custom CSS, promoting consistency, scalability, and efficiency.

Tailwind vs Vanilla CSS
 Tailwind CSS is a utility-first framework that provides a set of pre-built classes to style HTML elements, making the styling process faster and more consistent.
 In contrast, vanilla CSS involves writing custom styles directly in CSS files, giving developers full control and customization over the styling of their web pages.
 
 Tailwind's utility classes allow for rapid development and ensure consistency across a project, but they can result in longer HTML class attributes and may require more time to learn.
 Vanilla CSS, on the other hand, requires more manual coding but offers complete control and can be more efficient for small projects.

 Tailwind CSS promotes a greater level of creativity by allowing developers to create custom designs without relying on built-in UI components.
 However, it requires developers to remember and use numerous utility classes, which can be challenging.
 Vanilla CSS, while offering full control and customization, can become cumbersome for larger projects due to the amount of code that needs to be written.

In summary, Tailwind CSS is better suited for projects that require rapid development and consistent styling, while vanilla CSS is ideal for projects that demand complete control and customization.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN Bootstrap vs Tailwind CSS
Bootstrap vs Tailwind CSS
Tailwind CSS and Bootstrap are both popular CSS frameworks, but they serve different purposes and have distinct approaches to web development.

Bootstrap is a comprehensive framework that includes a wide range of pre-built components and styles, making it ideal for rapid prototyping and creating consistent, responsive designs. It offers a set of ready-made themes and templates, which can be easily customized to fit specific needs. This framework is particularly useful for projects that require a standardized look and feel across various platforms, including mobile, tablets, laptops, and desktops. Bootstrap has been around since 2011 and has a large community of developers, which means extensive documentation, tools, and resources are available. It is best suited for projects that need common layouts and quick development cycles.

On the other hand, Tailwind CSS is a utility-first framework that provides a set of low-level utility classes for building custom user interfaces. It allows developers to create unique and flexible designs by combining these utility classes, which can be customized extensively through a configuration file. Tailwind CSS is more focused on providing the building blocks for creating custom designs, giving developers greater control over the final output. This framework is ideal for projects that require exclusive customization and where the design needs to stand out from generic templates. Tailwind CSS is relatively newer, having been developed in 2017, and is still growing in popularity and community support.

In terms of file size, Bootstrap requires larger files due to its extensive collection of components and styles, while Tailwind CSS only needs the base stylesheet file, making it lighter and potentially leading to faster load times.

When it comes to learning curves, Bootstrap is generally easier for beginners to grasp because of its pre-made components and simpler customization options. Tailwind CSS, however, requires more time to learn but offers greater flexibility and control over the design. Tailwind CSS is more suited for developers who want to dive deep into the details and create unique designs, whereas Bootstrap is better for those who need a quick, consistent look and feel for their projects.

In summary, the choice between Tailwind CSS and Bootstrap depends on the specific needs of the project, such as the level of customization required, the importance of rapid development, and the desired final appearance of the website.

**HOW DOES TAILWIND CSS WORK**
Tailwind CSS works by scanning all of your HTML files, JavaScript components, and any other templates for class names, generating the corresponding styles, and then writing them to a static CSS file. It's designed to be fast, flexible, and reliable, with zero-runtime.

When you use Tailwind CSS, you are choosing classes from a pre-defined design system, which means you don't need to write custom CSS to style your application. Instead, you apply pre-existing utility classes directly in your HTML to control layout, color, spacing, typography, and more.

Tailwind CSS uses a utility-first approach, meaning it doesn't offer fully styled components like buttons or navbars, unlike other frameworks such as Bootstrap. Instead, it provides utility classes that allow you to create your own reusable components, giving you more flexibility and control over the design of your application.

Additionally, Tailwind CSS automatically removes all unused CSS when building for production, ensuring your final CSS bundle is as small as possible. Most Tailwind projects ship with less than 10kB of CSS to the client.

To get started with Tailwind CSS, you can install it via npm and configure your template paths in the tailwind.config.js file. Then, add the @tailwind directives for each of Tailwind’s layers to your main CSS file and run the CLI tool to scan your template files for classes and build your CSS.

**TAILWIND CSS CONFIGURATION**
https://v3.tailwindcss.com/docs/installation

**Terminal**
* run the following terminal;
* 
* npm install -D tailwindcss@3
* 
* npx tailwindcss init


**tailwind.config.js**
copy the code below and paste in the tailwind.config.js. Add the paths to all of your template files in your tailwind.config.js file.;

 /** @type {import('tailwindcss').Config} */
 export default {
  content: ["./dist/*.{html,js}"],
  theme: {
    extend: {},
  },
  plugins: [],
}
 
 **src/style.css**
 creat a folder "src" and a file "style.css" copy and paste the code below on the file. Add the @tailwind directives for each of Tailwind’s layers to your main CSS file;
 
 @tailwind base;
@tailwind components;
@tailwind utilities;

**Terminal**
Start the Tailwind CLI build process
Run the CLI tool to scan your template files for classes and build your CSS;

npx tailwindcss -i ./src/style.css -o ./dist/style.css --watch



**Start using Tailwind in your HTML**
Add your compiled CSS file to the <head> and start using Tailwind’s utility classes to style your content;
    
<!doctype html>
<html>
<head>
  <meta charset="UTF-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="/dist/style.css">
</head>
<body>
  <h1 class="text-3xl font-bold underline">
    Hello world!
  </h1>
</body>
</html>
                                          
                                          
IF ANY ISSUE or TO UPGRADE; 
run the code below; 
* sudo npm install -g n
* 
* sudo n lts
* 
* mkdir tailwind-project
*  
* cd tailwind-project
* 
* npm init -y
* 
* npm install -D tailwindcss postcss autoprefixer
* 
* npx tailwindcss init -p
    
After configuration, to do npm run dev, make the following are in place at **package.json**

{
  "name": "tailsss",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "main": "index.js",
  "scripts": {
    "test": "echo \"Error: no test specified\" && exit 1",
    "dev": "tailwind -i src/style.css -o dist/style.css --watch"
  },
  "author": "",
  "license": "ISC",
  "description": "",
  "devDependencies": {
    "autoprefixer": "^10.4.20",
    "postcss": "^8.5.2",
    "tailwindcss": "^4.0.6"
  }
}
    
IF WINDOWS, DO THE FOLLOWING;
It looks like your system doesn't recognize the `npm` command, which usually indicates that Node.js (and npm, which comes with it) is not installed or not properly set up in your system's PATH. Here are some steps to troubleshoot and resolve this issue:

### 1. **Check Node.js Installation**
   - Ensure Node.js is installed on your system. You can download it from the [official Node.js website](https://nodejs.org/).
   - During installation, make sure to select the option to add Node.js to your PATH.

### 2. **Verify Installation**
   - After installation, open a new command prompt and type:
     ```bash
     node -v
     ```
   - If Node.js is installed correctly, this command should return the version of Node.js.

### 3. **Check npm**
   - After verifying Node.js, check npm by running:
     ```bash
     npm -v
     ```

### 4. **Set Up Environment Variables (if necessary)**
   - If `npm` is still not recognized, you may need to manually add Node.js to your PATH:
     1. Right-click on "This PC" or "My Computer" and select "Properties".
     2. Click on "Advanced system settings".
     3. Click on "Environment Variables".
     4. Under "System variables", find and select the `Path` variable, then click "Edit".
     5. Add the path to where Node.js is installed (e.g., `C:\Program Files\nodejs\`).
     6. Click OK to close all dialog boxes.

### 5. **Restart Command Prompt**
   - After making changes, close and reopen the command prompt before trying the commands again.

### 6. **Reinstall Node.js**
   - If all else fails, uninstall Node.js and reinstall it, ensuring you check the option to add it to your PATH during installation.

After following these steps, you should be able to use `npm` without any issues.
    
fINALLY DO THE THIS;
    
The error message indicates that PowerShell's execution policy is preventing scripts from running, which can affect the usage of npm. To resolve this issue, you can change the execution policy. Here’s how to do it:

### Change PowerShell Execution Policy

1. **Open PowerShell as Administrator**:
   - Right-click on the Start button and select "Windows PowerShell (Admin)" or "Windows Terminal (Admin)".

2. **Check Current Execution Policy**:
   - Type the following command and press Enter:
     ```powershell
     Get-ExecutionPolicy
     ```

3. **Set Execution Policy**:
   - To allow scripts to run, you can set the execution policy to `RemoteSigned` (which allows local scripts to run but requires downloaded scripts to be signed). Run:
     ```powershell
     Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned
     ```
   - You may be prompted to confirm the change. Type `Y` and press Enter.

4. **Verify the Change**:
   - Check the execution policy again to ensure it has been updated:
     ```powershell
     Get-ExecutionPolicy
     ```

5. **Try Running npm Again**:
   - Close the current PowerShell window and open a new one.
   - Run the `npm` command again:
     ```powershell
     npm -v
     ```

### Additional Notes

- If you only need to run npm temporarily, you can bypass the execution policy for that session by running:
  ```powershell
  powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass
  ```
  
- If you're using a different shell (like Command Prompt), the execution policy won't affect it. You can also try running npm commands there.

After following these steps, you should be able to use npm without encountering the execution policy error.

For more documentation; visit;
https://flowbite.com/tools/tailwind-cheat-sheet/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDP1VShZp9E
https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/how-to-install-node-js-on-ubuntu/
https://poe.com/chat/pftn18ee7ey1s07b9w