Customize Layout with Vue/Tailwind

In this lesson, we will explore how to change the look of the page's main elements: the logo, colors, layout, and navigation.

Changing the App Name

Your application's default name at the top left, beside the logo, is "Laravel Starter Kit". You can change it in the logo component file.

resources/js/components/AppLogo.vue

BEFORE:

<span class="mb-0.5 truncate font-semibold leading-none">Laravel Starter Kit</span>

AFTER:

<span class="mb-0.5 truncate font-semibold leading-none">Vue Tasks</span>

Changing the Name COLOR

With the same example, let's change the color with Tailwind, adding a text-blue-800 class.

resources/js/components/AppLogo.vue

BEFORE:

<span class="mb-0.5 truncate font-semibold leading-none">Vue Tasks</span>

AFTER:

<span class="mb-0.5 truncate font-semibold leading-none text-blue-800">Vue Tasks</span>

Here's the visual result:

Notice: we're running npm run dev in the background to re-compile CSS styles automatically after every change.

Changing the Logo Icon

The logo icon is SVG, so we can change it with any other SVG we want.

resources/js/components/AppLogoIcon.vue

BEFORE:

<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 40 42" :class="className" v-bind="$attrs">
    <path
        fill="currentColor"
        fill-rule="evenodd"
        clip-rule="evenodd"
        d="M17.2 5.633 8.6.855 0 5.633v26.51l16.2 9 16.2-9v-8.442l7.6-4.223V9.856l-8.6-4.777-8.6 4.777V18.3l-5.6 3.111V5.633ZM38 18.301l-5.6 3.11v-6.157l5.6-3.11V18.3Zm-1.06-7.856-5.54 3.078-5.54-3.079 5.54-3.078 5.54 3.079ZM24.8 18.3v-6.157l5.6 3.111v6.158L24.8 18.3Zm-1 1.732 5.54 3.078-13.14 7.302-5.54-3.078 13.14-7.3v-.002Zm-16.2 7.89 7.6 4.222V38.3L2 30.966V7.92l5.6 3.111v16.892ZM8.6 9.3 3.06 6.222 8.6 3.143l5.54 3.08L8.6 9.3Zm21.8 15.51-13.2 7.334V38.3l13.2-7.334v-6.156ZM9.6 11.034l5.6-3.11v14.6l-5.6 3.11v-14.6Z"
    />
</svg>

AFTER:

<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 30 32" :class="className" v-bind="$attrs">
    <path d="M7.015 25.238V0H0v32h12.303c7.387 0 12.223-2.902 14.854-7.028l-14.854.266H7.015Z" fill="#fff" />
    <path
        d="M13.95 6.416h2.445c4.384 0 7.44 3.168 7.44 8.146 0 1.278-.212 2.423-.558 3.435h6.351c.24-1.092.372-2.237.372-3.435C30 6.336 24.128.027 16.422.027h-2.445l-.027 6.389Z"
        fill="#fff"
    />
</svg>

Visual result:

Changing the Logo Color

There are two different component files: AppLogoIcon.vue and AppLogo.vue. We can change the Tailwind CSS color for the logo from text-white to text-blue-100 and add a few CSS classes to the main div.

resources/js/components/AppLogo.vue

BEFORE:

<template>
    <div class="flex aspect-square size-8 items-center justify-center rounded-md bg-sidebar-primary text-sidebar-primary-foreground">
        <AppLogoIcon class="size-5 fill-current text-white dark:text-black" />
    </div>
    <div class="ml-1 grid flex-1 text-left text-sm">
        <span class="mb-0.5 truncate font-semibold leading-none text-blue-800">Vue Tasks</span>
    </div>
</template>

AFTER:

<template>
    <div class="flex aspect-square size-8 items-center justify-center rounded-md bg-gradient-to-b from-blue-500 to-blue-600">
        <AppLogoIcon class="size-5 fill-current text-blue dark:text-black" />
    </div>
    <div class="ml-1 grid flex-1 text-left text-sm">
        <span class="mb-0.5 truncate font-semibold leading-none text-blue-800">Vue Tasks</span>
    </div>
</template>

Visual result:

The Tailwind structure we've used here is called Linear background gradient.

Changing Sidebar Active Color

Quite a few CSS styles are defined in the resources/css/app.css file.

For example, let's change the styling of the active menu item.

resources/css/app.css

BEFORE:

:root {
    --sidebar-accent: 0 0% 94%;
}

AFTER:

:root {
    --sidebar-accent: 224.55 100% 86% / 0.19;
}

Visual result:

There's also a .dark version below in the same file:

.dark {
    --sidebar-accent: 223.81 0% 15%;
}

Notice: If you're not familiar with the hsl color format, I suggest you read this article.

Changing from Sidebar to Topbar layout

Laravel starter kits allow us to easily change the navigation from the sidebar to the topbar. Two layouts are available, and you just need to change which one you're using.

resources/js/layouts/AppLayout.vue

BEFORE:

import AppLayout from '@/layouts/app/AppSidebarLayout.vue';

AFTER:

import AppLayout from '@/layouts/app/AppHeaderLayout.vue';

Visual result:

For the rest of this course, we will stay with the header layout and the navigation on top.

Changing TopBar Active Menu Item Color

The final change in this lesson is for the active menu item.

resources/js/components/AppHeader.vue

BEFORE:

<div
    v-if="isCurrentRoute(item.href)"
    class="absolute bottom-0 left-0 h-0.5 w-full translate-y-px bg-black dark:bg-white"
></div>

AFTER:

<div
    v-if="isCurrentRoute(item.href)"
    class="absolute bottom-0 left-0 h-0.5 w-full translate-y-px bg-blue-600 dark:bg-white"
></div>

And now we have a blue color for the active menu item:

These are just a few examples of customizations.

Here's the GitHub commit for these visual changes.

The main logic is this:

• You need to find the .vue component where the element is located
• Figure out if there are options for different values on the JS side
• Be familiar with Tailwind to customize the styling

If you're new to Tailwind, we have a separate course called Tailwind CSS for Laravel Developers.

In the next lesson, we will move beyond the default starter kit and start building our own Laravel + Vue CRUD on top of it.