Kevin Geary announced that there are some upcoming major changes to Automatic CSS, and users of the framework should start planning now. The most significant change is that version 4 represents a major shift in their approach and will drop support for a few builders, including GenerateBlocks, Breakdance, and Cwicly. It will not be backward compatible with version 3, but version 3 will continue to get support updates for five year, but it will add no new features.
The Major Changes
You might be asking yourself why he would do this, and the basic answer is “Etch.” If you are unfamiliar with Etch, it is a next-generation builder for WordPress that is 100% a class-first system that can rely heavily on ACSS. Since most of the ACSS sales are due to Bricks Builder, it only makes sense that he will continue to support that product at least for now. Also supported to some extent will be WordPress core (aka Gutenberg). The single most significant change is that version 4 is not backward compatible, and at least as of now, there is no intent to create an upgrade to version 4 capability.
A new color system
One of the features coming to version 4 is a new color system based on OKLCH which will provide a huge improvement to the color system. Along with this change, ACSS will be dropping transparencies from the utility class system and shifting to an amazing color-mix feature demonstrated in its video.
Not only does this provide almost unlimited flexibility, it also reduces the bloat with the CSS. I wouldn’t be surprised if this approach is taken with other CSS entries, where an auto-calculation is possible (e.g., something like radius–sm generates [calc(var(–radius/2))]. Using this approach lightens the CSS and gives you the ability to create only the utility classes you need.
A big unknown
One question that remains unanswered is whether ACSS 3 and ACSS 4 can be installed on the same multisite network. In my day job, we have nearly 50 separate sites using ACSS 3. Since there will be no upgrade capability, and ACSS doesn’t really support the multisite paradigm, and since version 4 is essentially a new product, we are hopeful.
Although this may cause considerable frustration due to the breaking changes, I am looking forward to these new improvements.
I do recommend buying ACSS as it is the best framework I have found for WordPress (I have tried the AT Framework, Core Framework, USWDS, and building my own) and new features are added often and version 4 will likely introduce things we haven’t even considered. Please consider using my affiliate link if you do – Buy Automatic CSS.
