Layout Mockup Builder

Drag blocks from the palette onto the canvas to design a page layout. Reorder and remove blocks, then export an HTML + CSS skeleton.

Blocks

šŸ“ Header
šŸ§­ Nav Bar
šŸ¦ø Hero
ā—§ Sidebar + Main
ā—Ø Main + Sidebar
šŸ“„ Main Content
āŠž Card Grid
ā¬› Footer
Click a block from the palette to add it to your layout
Click a block in the palette to add it to your layout.

How to Use the Layout Mockup Builder

  1. Click a block in the left palette to add it to the canvas. Blocks appear in the order you add them.
  2. Reorder blocks using the ā†‘ā†“ arrow buttons on each block card, or drag and drop them within the canvas.
  3. Remove a block by clicking the āœ• button on any block card.
  4. Preview the layout by switching to the Preview tab ā€” a color-coded wireframe shows how the blocks will look.
  5. Export HTML+CSS by switching to the Export tab and clicking Copy HTML or Download.

The Importance of Wireframing Before Building

Wireframing is the step between conceptual planning and visual design. A good wireframe answers structural questions before any code is written: Where does navigation go? How wide is the sidebar relative to the main content area? Should the hero span full width? Does the footer need multiple columns? By resolving these questions with low-fidelity blocks, teams avoid expensive rework in visual design and development phases.

Common Page Layout Patterns

Most web pages combine a small set of layout patterns. The Holy Grail layout (header + left sidebar + main + right sidebar + footer) was historically difficult to implement with floats but is trivially achieved with CSS Grid or Flexbox today. The magazine layout uses a full-width hero section, a main-content + sidebar split, and a multi-column card grid. The single-column layout (header ā†’ hero ā†’ content ā†’ footer with no sidebar) is popular for marketing pages and blog posts where reading focus is paramount.

Semantic HTML Structure

The exported code uses HTML5 semantic elements: <header>, <nav>, <main>, <aside>, <footer>. These elements are not just stylistic ā€” they provide meaning to screen readers, search engines, and developer tools. <main> should appear exactly once per page. <aside> contains content related to, but not required for, understanding the main content. <nav> should wrap primary navigation blocks. Using these correctly improves accessibility and SEO from the ground up.

CSS Grid vs Flexbox for Layout

For two-dimensional page layouts (rows and columns simultaneously), CSS Grid is the better choice. For one-dimensional layouts (either a row OR a column), Flexbox is simpler. The Holy Grail layout is a perfect Grid use case: define the parent with display: grid; grid-template-areas: "header header" "sidebar main" "footer footer" and assign each child to its named area. Flexbox excels at the navigation bar (horizontal row of links), the card inside a grid cell, and the button group (horizontal cluster of controls). See our CSS Grid Generator and Flexbox Playground for visual editors of those systems.

Frequently Asked Questions

A wireframe is a low-fidelity visual guide that represents the skeletal structure of a web page. It shows the placement of structural regions (header, navigation, content, sidebar, footer) without colors or final content. Wireframes communicate layout intent before detailed design begins.
You can add: Header, Navigation Bar, Hero Section, Sidebar + Main, Main + Sidebar, Main Content only, Card Grid (3-column), and Footer. Each block generates a corresponding semantic HTML element and CSS rule in the exported code.
Click and drag any block in the canvas to reorder it. Use the ā†‘ and ā†“ arrow buttons on each block card for accessible reordering. The HTML export reflects the current order of blocks.
The export produces a complete HTML5 document with semantic tags (header, nav, main, aside, footer) and an embedded CSS block using Flexbox and Grid. The layout is mobile-responsive with sensible defaults you can extend.
Yes. The exported HTML structure uses semantic elements compatible with any CSS framework. You can replace the embedded CSS with Tailwind classes, Bootstrap grid classes, or any other system while keeping the same HTML hierarchy.