Replacing a CSS framework with 55 lines
This site was built in 2015 with Skeleton, a CSS boilerplate that was itself already minimal — 419 lines, compared to Bootstrap's thousands. A decade later, Skeleton is unmaintained and the web has better primitives.
Before removing it, I audited what the site actually used.
Out of 419 lines, four things were referenced in any HTML file:
the float-based 12-column grid, the font-size: 62.5%
trick that makes 1rem equal 10px, the Raleway font stack with
font-weight 300 on headings, and one utility class —
.u-max-full-width on images. Everything else —
buttons, forms, tables, code blocks, fieldsets — was dead weight
loaded on every page.
The replacement is css/base.css: 55 lines that
provide exactly those four things, with one upgrade. Skeleton's
grid was built with float: left and clearfix hacks,
the standard technique from 2014. The new grid uses
display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap instead. Fewer lines,
no clearfixes, columns stack naturally on mobile without
additional selectors.
The typography is identical to Skeleton's: same rem scale, same font-weight 300, same letter-spacing values. The goal was not to change how anything looks — just to own what produces that look.