4 ms·
> - Elements end up with messy, non-semantic class name strings like "m-4 mt-0 p-3 rounded bg-blue". This makes it much harder for non-technical teams to use ou
by vosper 7y ago
> - Elements end up with messy, non-semantic class name strings like "m-4 mt-0 p-3 rounded bg-blue". This makes it much harder for non-technical teams to use out-of-the-box SaaS solutions for things like interaction tracking and A/B testing. (These apps often use element class names under the hood, so if you use Tailwind and change a CTA from rounded to very-rounded, the marketing guy will discover two weeks later that all his click-through metrics are wrong.)
IMO the problem here is tools trying to use CSS for something it’s not designed for. They advertise themselves as not requiring technical knowledge to use, but they’re selling a lie. Unless the marketing guy understands the structure of the site and the CSS there’s no way for him to be sure he’s tracking the thing he thinks he’s tracking - unless you’re instrumenting the CSS to help him out, and are committed to not doing anything that would break one of his selectors (or change its meaning, or reuse it for something else - and are you sure you know all the selectors he’s using, and that the automatic selectors the tool is creating are actually doing what he intends?).
Data attributes are probably the solution here, then CSS can be reserved for its intended use: controlling styles. But then the tooling needs a way to target those attributes automatically, otherwise you’ve “broken” the “no technical knowledge required” sell of the software they already licensed (without asking you for input...)