Day 3: Playing with LEGOs - SXA Components and the Grid

Alright, Day 3 and I'm finally in the Experience Editor, playing with SXA! It feels like building with LEGO, but for websites.

What I'm Learning Today:

• The SXA Toolbox: A Treasure Trove! Wow, there's a whole library of pre-built components I can just drag and drop onto the page. Text, Image, Navigation, Forms, it's all there! This will definitely speed things up. You can find an overview of SXA components on the Sitecore Documentation page: https://doc.sitecore.com/
• The 12-Column Grid: Layout Power! SXA uses a responsive 12-column grid system. It's all about dividing the page into these columns and placing components within them to create different layouts that adapt to various screen sizes. The "Layout" tab in the Experience Editor is where you control this. Learn more about the SXA Grid System on the Sitecore Documentation page: https://doc.sitecore.com/
• Rendering Variants: Component Flexibility. This is a cool concept. Instead of writing code to display a component differently in various situations, rendering variants let you define different HTML structures and data mappings right in the Sitecore UI. Check out the "Rendering Variants" section on the Sitecore Documentation page: https://doc.sitecore.com/
• Partial Designs: Reusable Sections. These are like pre-built chunks of layouts and components (like a header or footer) that you can reuse across multiple pages. Huge time-saver! More info on "Partial Designs" can be found on the Sitecore Documentation page: https://doc.sitecore.com/

My Day 3 Takeaways:

• The SXA Toolbox is packed with useful, ready-to-go components.
• Understanding the grid system is crucial for creating flexible and responsive layouts without writing extensive custom CSS.
• Rendering variants provide a powerful way to customize component presentation without requiring code changes for every minor adjustment.
• Partial designs are going to be my best friend for creating consistent site structures.

Next Steps: Tomorrow, I'm digging into the data side of things – how content is structured using data templates and how it all comes together.

Follow along: https://learning.sitecore.com/learn/learning_plan/view/26/sitecore-experience-accelerator-sxa-collection.