Full page layout — header + sidebar + main + footer

The classic dashboard layout: fixed header on top, sidebar on left, main content fills the rest, footer at bottom.

style.css v3.1

style.css — the CSS rules

* { margin: 0; padding: 0; box-sizing: border-box; }

body {
  font-family: sans-serif;
  display: grid;
  grid-template-areas:
    "header header"
    "sidebar main"
    "footer footer";
  grid-template-columns: 200px 1fr;
  grid-template-rows: auto 1fr auto;
  min-height: 100vh;
}

.header {
  grid-area: header;
  background: #1a1a1a;
  color: white;
  padding: 1rem 1.5rem;
  display: flex;
  align-items: center;
  justify-content: space-between;
}

.sidebar {
  grid-area: sidebar;
  background: #2a2a2a;
  color: #ccc;
  padding: 1rem;
}

.sidebar a {
  display: block;
  color: #ccc;
  padding: 0.5rem;
  border-radius: 4px;
  text-decoration: none;
}
.sidebar a:hover { background: #3a3a3a; color: white; }

.main {
  grid-area: main;
  background: #f5f5f5;
  padding: 1.5rem;
}

.footer {
  grid-area: footer;
  background: #1a1a1a;
  color: #888;
  padding: 1rem;
  text-align: center;
  font-size: 0.85rem;
}

index.html — the HTML structure (what the CSS targets)

<div class="header">
  <h2>My Dashboard</h2>
  <span>Welcome, User</span>
</div>
<aside class="sidebar">
  <a href="#">Dashboard</a>
  <a href="#">Models</a>
  <a href="#">Datasets</a>
  <a href="#">Settings</a>
</aside>
<main class="main">
  <h1>Welcome to your dashboard</h1>
  <p>This is the main content area. It fills the remaining space between
  the sidebar and the footer.</p>
</main>
<div class="footer">
  &copy; 2024 My App. All rights reserved.
</div>

Live preview updates as you type

🧠 How it works

CSS Grid is the best tool for full-page layout. grid-template-areas gives each section a NAME, then you assign elements to areas. 'header header' — header spans 2 columns. 'sidebar main' — sidebar left, main right. 'footer footer' — footer spans 2 columns. grid-template-columns: 200px 1fr — sidebar is fixed 200px, main takes the rest (1fr = 1 fraction). grid-template-rows: auto 1fr auto — header/footer size to content, main fills the remaining height. min-height: 100vh — body is at least the full viewport height, so the footer stays at the bottom even on short pages. This pattern: header/sidebar/main/footer is the skeleton of almost every web app.

✏️ Try these changes

Change grid-template-columns: 200px 1fr to 250px 1fr
→ sidebar becomes wider
Change 200px to 0 (and set sidebar to display: none)
→ sidebar disappears — main takes full width
Change the grid-template-areas to put sidebar on the right: "header header" "main sidebar" "footer footer"
→ sidebar moves to the right side
Change min-height: 100vh to min-height: 200vh
→ page becomes very tall — you can scroll

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