Video: WordPress theme development with Tailwind CSS and Vite
TailPress version 5 is out, and it's finally bringing you support for Vite — which means faster compiling and hot module reloading (even in the editor).
About TailPress
In 2020, I released a WordPress boilerplate theme to make theme development with Tailwind CSS easier. I called it TailPress. Back then, and until very recently (yesterday), the boilerplate used Laravel Mix for compiling.
TailPress v5 and Vite
Yesterday, with the release of TailPress version 5, by popular demand, I added support for Vite. This brings super-fast compiling, hot module reloading (HMR) — and I even put extra effort into making this all work within the block editor (also known as Gutenberg).
If you like to continue using Laravel Mix, check out this guide.
Improved installer
In addition to that, the TailPress installer was updated to be a bit more user-friendly — taking a question-based approach.
New build / release tooling
The new version of TailPress includes a release.yml file, which makes it super easy to let a GitHub action build your theme and ZIP it up. It will install and optimize the Composer dependencies, compile your assets, and remove files that are not needed in production — resulting in a production-ready ZIP file which is added as a release asset.
If you're not a GitHub action user, with the new TailPress CLI, you can even build a ZIP file by running the following command:
./vendor/bin/tailpress-cli release <destination-path> <zipfile-name>
New website and documentation
Because TailPress is now a bit more feature-rich, I decided it was time to create documentation and give the website a fresh coat of paint. Check it out at tailpress.io.
In closing
This is by far the biggest update TailPress has had since its initial launch. I think the project is modernized, and I even have some fresh ideas to continue development on it.
If you like TailPress, consider starring the repo on GitHub (or maybe even contributing). Also, let me know your ideas and thoughts on X or at the Discussion board.