Adding flair to PHP page with Sassy (SCSS)

Question

This is what I've done so far:

$block-height: 180px;

@mixin block {
    float: left;
    margin-bottom: 20px !important;
    margin-right: 20px !important;
    overflow: hidden;
}

#content h2 {
    height: 30px;
}

#top-bar {
    overflow: hidden;
}

.block-1 {
    @include block;
    width: 340px;
    height: 390px;
    h2 {
        color: #555;
        font-size: 28px;
        font-weight: 400;
        line-height: 120%;
    }
}

.block-2 {
    @include block;
    width: 340px;
    height: $block-height;
}

.block-3 {
    @include block;
    width: 160px;
    height: $block-height;
}

HTML:

<div id="content">
    <?php // Create and run custom loop
        $custom_posts = new WP_Query();
        $custom_posts->query('post_type=page_content&locations=Front Page&page_sections=Profile');
        while ($custom_posts->have_posts()) : $custom_posts->the_post();
    ?>
        <div class="block-1">
            <?php the_post_thumbnail('large'); ?>
        </div>
    <?php endwhile; ?>

    <?php // Start the main loop
        if ( have_posts() ) while ( have_posts() ) : the_post();
    ?>
        <div class="block-2 padding-top">
            <?php the_content(); ?>
        </div><!-- .entry-content -->

    <?php endwhile; // end of the loop. ?>


    <?php // Create and run custom loop
        $custom_posts = new WP_Query();
        $custom_posts->query('post_type=page_content&locations=Front Page&page_sections=Themep');
        while ($custom_posts->have_posts()) : $custom_posts->the_post();
    ?>
        <div class="block-2 border-top">
            <h2><a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>" title="<?php printf( esc_attr__( 'Permalink to %s', 'twentyten' ), the_title_attribute( 'echo=0' ) ); ?>" rel="bookmark"><?php the_title(); ?></a></h2>
    <?php endwhile; ?>

        <?php // Create and run custom loop
            $custom_posts = new WP_Query();
        $custom_posts->query('post_type=page_content&locations=Front Page&page_sections=ThemeCL');
            while ($custom_posts->have_posts()) : $custom_posts->the_post();
        ?>
            <div class="float-left">
                <a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>" title="<?php printf( esc_attr__( 'Permalink to %s', 'twentyten' ), the_title_attribute( 'echo=0' ) ); ?>" rel="bookmark"><?php the_post_thumbnail(); ?></a>
                <p><?php the_excerpt(); ?></p>
            </div>
        <?php endwhile; ?>

        <?php // Create and run custom loop
            $custom_posts = new WP_Query();
        $custom_posts->query('post_type=page_content&locations=Front Page&page_sections=Theme Child Right');
            while ($custom_posts->have_posts()) : $custom_posts->the_post();
        ?>
            <div class="float-right">
                    <a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>" title="<?php printf( esc_attr__( 'Permalink to %s', 'twentyten' ), the_title_attribute( 'echo=0' ) ); ?>" rel="bookmark"><?php the_post_thumbnail(); ?></a>
                    <p><?php the_excerpt(); ?></p>
                </div>
            </div>
    <?php endwhile; ?>

    <?php // Create and run custom loop
        $custom_posts = new WP_Query();
        $custom_posts->query('post_type=page_content&locations=Front Page&page_sections=FromBlog');
        while ($custom_posts->have_posts()) : $custom_posts->the_post();
    ?>
        <div class="block-3 border-top">
            <h2><a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>" title="<?php printf( esc_attr__( 'Permalink to %s', 'twentyten' ), the_title_attribute( 'echo=0' ) ); ?>" rel="bookmark"><?php the_title(); ?></a></h2>
            <a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>" title="<?php printf( esc_attr__( 'Permalink to %s', 'twentyten' ), the_title_attribute( 'echo=0' ) ); ?>" rel="bookmark"><?php the_post_thumbnail(); ?></a>
            <p><?php the_excerpt(); ?></p>
            <p><?php echo get_post_meta($post->ID, "Other_Work", true); ?></p>
        </div>
    <?php endwhile; ?>

    <?php // Create and run custom loop
        $custom_posts = new WP_Query();
        $custom_posts->query('post_type=page_content&locations=Front Page&page_sections=Featured');
        while ($custom_posts->have_posts()) : $custom_posts->the_post();
    ?>
        <div class="block-2 border-top">
            <h2><a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>" title="<?php printf( esc_attr__( 'Permalink to %s', 'twentyten' ), the_title_attribute( 'echo=0' ) ); ?>" rel="bookmark"><?php the_title(); ?></a></h2>
            <a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>" title="<?php printf( esc_attr__( 'Permalink to %s', 'twentyten' ), the_title_attribute( 'echo=0' ) ); ?>" rel="bookmark"><?php the_post_thumbnail('large'); ?></a>
            <p><?php the_excerpt(); ?></p>
        </div>
    <?php endwhile; ?>

    <?php // Create and run custom loop
        $custom_posts = new WP_Query();
        $custom_posts->query('post_type=page_content&page_sections=Last');
        while ($custom_posts->have_posts()) : $custom_posts->the_post();
    ?>
        <div class="block-3 border-top">
            <h2><a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>" title="<?php printf( esc_attr__( 'Permalink to %s', 'twentyten' ), the_title_attribute( 'echo=0' ) ); ?>" rel="bookmark"><?php the_title(); ?></a></h2>
            <a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>" title="<?php printf( esc_attr__( 'Permalink to %s', 'twentyten' ), the_title_attribute( 'echo=0' ) ); ?>" rel="bookmark"><?php the_post_thumbnail(); ?></a>
            <p><?php the_excerpt(); ?></p>
            <p><?php the_meta(); ?></p>
        </div>
    <?php endwhile; ?>

    <?php // Create and run custom loop
        $custom_posts = new WP_Query();
        $custom_posts->query('post_type=page_content&page_sections=Lastest');
        while ($custom_posts->have_posts()) : $custom_posts->the_post();
    ?>
    <div class="block-7 border-top">
        <h2><a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>" title="<?php printf( esc_attr__( 'Permalink to %s', 'twentyten' ), the_title_attribute( 'echo=0' ) ); ?>" rel="bookmark"><?php the_title(); ?></a></h2>
        <a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>" title="<?php printf( esc_attr__( 'Permalink to %s', 'twentyten' ), the_title_attribute( 'echo=0' ) ); ?>" rel="bookmark"><?php the_post_thumbnail(); ?></a>
        <p><?php the_excerpt(); ?></p>
    </div>
    <?php endwhile; ?>
</div><!-- #content -->

Do you have any other tips for good practice?

Answer 1

It looks a bit like block-1's height is calculated from @block-height, in which case I would do that calculation rather than putting in a literal value. This way if you change @block-height, block-1 will adjust with it.

Beyond Sass and efficiency, I would also advise you to think again about the class names block-1, block-2 and block-3. If there will only be one of each of these on a page then use IDs rather than classes and name them after the content (eg. site-nav-block or article-block). If there will be more than one then give it a class name and name it after the content type (eg. nav-item or article-summary).

This will be much less confusing for a third party like myself to read, and indeed for you as your page gets bigger and requires more styling.