Some general knowledge about our awesome framework
Ink is an interface kit for quick development of web interfaces, simple to use and expand on.
It uses a combination of HTML, CSS and JavaScript to offer modern solutions for building layouts, display common interface elements and implement interactive features that are content-centric and user friendly for both your audience and your designers & developers.
You have several options to use Ink:
Ink presents a unique vision of what a front end framework should be. More than a ready made solution (although it can be that), we went for a building block approach. By offering generic components that you can use in different contexts to obtain consistent results, Ink is both flexible and powerful while remaining easy to use.
Our grid system is different from any other currently out there as it offers you true flexibility to build your layouts. Because it's all percentage-based, the grid is truly fluid and you don't have to count columns and rely on memorizing offsets and spans. Just naturally divide up your space in 10 to 100% blocks, divided into the most common steps, such as halves, quarters, fifths, etc.
As to styling, we offer generic styling classes which can be applied to many elements in different contexts to obtain a consistent result.
Say you want a zebra-stripe table but also a zebra-stripe list.
With Ink, you use the same class .ink-zebra and the CSS takes care of applying correct layout and styling according to what type of markup element you used it on.
This makes Ink very easy to learn and reuse over time, making your life easier.
And with a quick configurator, you can change the properties of any styling class so that the default .ink-warning class is no longer red with white text, but becomes yellow with red text, for example.
You can then consistently use .ink-warning to get a red paragraph on a yellow background, or a yellow button with red text or even a yellow table row with red text in the table cells.
We are SAPO. You might mistake us for a small startup, because that's our spirit. We are in fact Portugal's largest internet enterprise with businesses ranging from content and advertising to services and app development, all based on a solid, 17-year old web brand and integrated into a multinational telecommunications company, Portugal Telecom.
We want to keep up with the times, while keeping Ink flexible and easy to use. We'll be revising and updating the framework using a major-version scheme in order to keep previous versions solid and not force updates to anyone who doesn't want them.
We'll also be expanding Ink to be a lot more than just a framework or a collection of Javascript components and code snippets. We'll be adding design patterns and publishing a huge knowledge base of best practices in design, coding, usability, accessibility and more, making Ink your one-stop reference for web front-end development and design.