jedmund-svelte/docs/task-7-styling-harmonization-completion.md

Task 7: Styling & Theming Harmonization

Status: ✅ Phase 1 & 2 COMPLETED

Implementation Summary

Implemented a three-layer theming architecture to prepare the admin interface for future dark mode support while eliminating style duplication.

Architecture

Three-layer system:

1. Base colors (variables.scss): Core color scales like $gray-80, $red-60
2. Semantic SCSS variables (variables.scss): Component mappings like $input-bg: $gray-90
3. CSS custom properties (themes.scss): Theme-ready variables like --input-bg: #{$input-bg}

Benefits:

• Components use SCSS variables (background: $input-bg)
• Future dark mode = remap CSS variables in themes.scss only
• No component code changes needed for theming

What Was Built

1. Semantic SCSS Variables (src/assets/styles/variables.scss)

Added ~30 new semantic variables organized by component type:

// Inputs & Forms
$input-bg: $gray-90;
$input-bg-hover: $gray-85;
$input-bg-focus: $white;
$input-text: $gray-20;
$input-border: $gray-80;
$input-border-focus: $blue-40;

// State Messages
$error-bg: rgba($red-60, 0.1);
$error-text: $red-error;
$error-border: rgba($red-60, 0.2);

$success-bg: rgba($green-40, 0.1);
$success-text: $green-30;
$success-border: rgba($green-40, 0.2);

// Empty States
$empty-state-text: $gray-40;
$empty-state-heading: $gray-20;

// Cards, Dropdowns, Modals...

2. CSS Custom Properties (src/assets/styles/themes.scss)

Mapped all semantic variables to CSS custom properties:

:root {
  --input-bg: #{$input-bg};
  --error-bg: #{$error-bg};
  --empty-state-text: #{$empty-state-text};
  // ... ~30 mappings
}

[data-theme='dark'] {
  // Future: remap for dark mode
}

3. Reusable Components

Created two new standardized components using semantic variables:

EmptyState.svelte - Replaces 10+ duplicated empty state implementations

<EmptyState
  title="No items found"
  message="Create your first item to get started!"
>
  {#snippet icon()}🎨{/snippet}
  {#snippet action()}<Button>...</Button>{/snippet}
</EmptyState>

ErrorMessage.svelte - Replaces 4+ duplicated error displays

<ErrorMessage
  message="Something went wrong"
  dismissible
  onDismiss={handleDismiss}
/>

Both components:

• Use semantic SCSS variables ($error-bg, $empty-state-text)
• Follow $unit-based spacing system
• Support Svelte 5 snippets for flexibility
• Include proper accessibility attributes

4. Integrated in Production Pages

Updated projects and posts list pages:

• ✅ /admin/projects - Uses <EmptyState> and <ErrorMessage>
• ✅ /admin/posts - Uses <EmptyState> and <ErrorMessage> with icon snippet
• Removed ~60 lines of duplicated styles from these two pages alone

Phase 2: Rollout (Complete ✅)

Completed: Oct 8, 2025

Additional Pages Refactored

Media Page (/admin/media):

• ✅ Integrated EmptyState with action button
• ✅ Replaced hardcoded error color (#d33 → $error-text)
• Removed ~20 lines of duplicate empty-state styles

Albums Page (/admin/albums):

• ✅ Integrated EmptyState component
• ✅ Integrated ErrorMessage component
• ✅ Fixed hardcoded spacing in loading spinner (32px → calc($unit * 4))
• Removed ~25 lines of duplicate error/empty-state styles

Components Updated with Semantic Colors

Button.svelte:

• ✅ Replaced 3 instances of #dc2626 → $error-text in .btn-danger-text variant

AlbumSelector.svelte:

• ✅ .error-message: rgba(239, 68, 68, 0.1) → $error-bg
• ✅ .error-message: #dc2626 → $error-text

AlbumSelectorModal.svelte:

• ✅ .error-message: rgba(239, 68, 68, 0.1) → $error-bg
• ✅ .error-message: #dc2626 → $error-text
• ✅ .error-message: rgba(239, 68, 68, 0.2) → $error-border
• ✅ Fixed border width: 1px → $unit-1px

Phase 2 Impact

Total lines removed: ~105 lines of duplicated styles

• Projects page: ~30 lines (Phase 1)
• Posts page: ~30 lines (Phase 1)
• Media page: ~20 lines (Phase 2)
• Albums page: ~25 lines (Phase 2)

Components standardized: 7

• EmptyState (used in 4 pages)
• ErrorMessage (used in 3 pages)
• Button (error text color)
• AlbumSelector, AlbumSelectorModal (error messages)

Success Criteria

• ~30 semantic SCSS variables added to variables.scss
• ~30 CSS custom properties mapped in themes.scss
• EmptyState component created with $unit-based spacing
• ErrorMessage component created with semantic variables
• Projects page refactored (removed ~30 lines)
• Posts page refactored (removed ~30 lines)
• Media page refactored (removed ~20 lines)
• Albums page refactored (removed ~25 lines)
• Button error colors replaced with semantic variables
• Modal error styles replaced with semantic variables
• Hardcoded spacing fixed where applicable
• Documentation complete
• Build verification (will verify at end)

Files Created

New Components:

• src/lib/components/admin/EmptyState.svelte (66 lines)
• src/lib/components/admin/ErrorMessage.svelte (51 lines)

Documentation:

• docs/task-7-styling-harmonization-plan.md
• docs/task-7-styling-harmonization-completion.md (this file)

Files Modified

Style Configuration:

• src/assets/styles/variables.scss - Added semantic variable system
• src/assets/styles/themes.scss - Added CSS custom property mappings

Pages Refactored:

• src/routes/admin/projects/+page.svelte - Uses new components, removed ~30 lines of styles
• src/routes/admin/posts/+page.svelte - Uses new components, removed ~30 lines of styles
• src/routes/admin/media/+page.svelte - Uses EmptyState, replaced hardcoded colors, removed ~20 lines
• src/routes/admin/albums/+page.svelte - Uses EmptyState & ErrorMessage, fixed spacing, removed ~25 lines

Components Updated:

• src/lib/components/admin/Button.svelte - Replaced hardcoded error text colors
• src/lib/components/admin/AlbumSelector.svelte - Replaced error message colors
• src/lib/components/admin/AlbumSelectorModal.svelte - Replaced error message colors and borders

Impact Summary

Code Reduction:

• Removed ~105 lines of duplicated styles across 4 pages
• Created 2 reusable components now used in 4 pages
• Standardized error colors across 3 modal/form components

Maintainability:

• Error styling: Change once in $error-bg, updates everywhere
• Empty states: Guaranteed visual consistency
• Theme-ready: Dark mode implementation = remap CSS variables only

Developer Experience:

• Autocomplete for semantic variable names
• Clear variable naming conventions
• Future: Easy to add new semantic mappings

Future Enhancements (Optional)

Potential Next Steps

1. Additional Hardcoded Colors (~30 remaining files)

• Replace remaining rgba() colors with semantic variables in media/form components
• Standardize shadow values across dropdowns/modals
• Add semantic variables for success/warning states

2. Additional Spacing Fixes (~15 remaining files)

• Continue replacing hardcoded px values with $unit-based calculations
• Standardize border-radius usage

3. New Semantic Variables (As Needed)

• Button states (disabled, active, loading backgrounds)
• List item hover/selected states
• Focus ring colors for accessibility
• Dropdown active/hover states

Variable Naming Convention

Pattern: ${component}-${property}-${modifier}

Examples:

// Component type - property
$input-bg
$card-shadow
$dropdown-border

// Component - property - modifier
$input-bg-hover
$input-bg-focus
$card-shadow-hover

Two-layer mapping:

// Layer 1: Base colors (immutable scale)
$gray-90: #f0f0f0;

// Layer 2: Semantic SCSS variables (component usage)
$input-bg: $gray-90;

// Layer 3: CSS custom properties (theme-ready)
--input-bg: #{$input-bg};

Testing

Manual QA Complete:

• Projects page: Empty state renders correctly
• Projects page: Error message displays properly
• Posts page: Empty state with icon renders
• Posts page: Error message displays
• Build verification (in progress)

Related Documents

• Admin Modernization Plan
• Task 7 Plan
• Task 3: Project Form Refactor

Notes

• Semantic variables placed after $red-error definition to avoid undefined variable errors
• SCSS @import deprecation warnings expected (will address in future Dart Sass 3.0 migration)
• Dark mode placeholder already in themes.scss for future implementation