Common Bulma Issues and Solutions

1. Layout and Grid Alignment Issues

Elements are misaligned or do not follow expected grid behavior.

Root Causes:

  • Incorrect column nesting.
  • Missing is-mobile or is-multiline for flex-based grids.
  • Conflicts with other CSS styles overriding Bulma classes.

Solution:

Ensure proper column nesting within a Bulma grid:

<div class="columns">  <div class="column is-half">Left Column</div>  <div class="column is-half">Right Column</div></div>

For mobile responsiveness, add is-mobile to the columns class:

<div class="columns is-mobile">  <div class="column">Item 1</div>  <div class="column">Item 2</div></div>

Use !important carefully if overriding styles to avoid breaking Bulma defaults:

.my-custom-class {  margin-left: 20px !important;}

2. Responsiveness Issues

Bulma elements do not adapt properly to different screen sizes.

Root Causes:

  • Incorrect breakpoint usage in class names.
  • Hardcoded widths instead of Bulma's responsive columns.
  • Missing viewport meta tag.

Solution:

Use Bulma’s built-in responsive classes:

<div class="column is-12-mobile is-6-tablet is-4-desktop">

Ensure the viewport meta tag is included:

<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">

Avoid fixed widths in inline styles:

<div class="column" style="width: 500px;">

3. Customization and SASS Compilation Issues

Customizing Bulma variables in SCSS does not work as expected.

Root Causes:

  • Missing @import "bulma/bulma"; after variable changes.
  • Incorrect override sequence.
  • Using a compiled CSS file instead of raw SCSS.

Solution:

Override Bulma variables before importing:

$primary: #ff6600;@import "bulma/bulma";

Ensure you are using the SCSS version of Bulma:

npm install bulma

Compile SCSS properly:

sass styles.scss styles.css

4. Conflicts with Other CSS Frameworks

Bulma styles are overridden when used with Bootstrap or other frameworks.

Root Causes:

  • Class name conflicts (e.g., container, columns).
  • Higher specificity in competing CSS rules.
  • Different flexbox model implementations.

Solution:

Use !important for Bulma-specific styles:

.button {  background-color: #00d1b2 !important;}

Namespace Bulma-specific styles:

.bulma .container {  max-width: 1000px;}

Load Bulma after other frameworks to maintain priority:

<link rel="stylesheet" href="/bootstrap.css"><link rel="stylesheet" href="/bulma.css">

5. Performance Optimization

Bulma-based pages load slowly or cause layout shifts.

Root Causes:

  • Unused Bulma components increasing file size.
  • Blocking CSS rendering issues.
  • Large icon or image assets slowing performance.

Solution:

Import only necessary Bulma components:

@import "bulma/sass/utilities/_all";@import "bulma/sass/grid/columns";

Use asynchronous CSS loading:

<link rel="stylesheet" href="/bulma.css" media="print" onload="this.onload=null;this.media='all';">

Optimize images for faster page loads:

img {  max-width: 100%;  height: auto;}

Best Practices for Bulma Development

  • Use the correct grid structure to maintain alignment.
  • Ensure mobile responsiveness with proper breakpoints.
  • Customize variables in SCSS before importing Bulma.
  • Resolve conflicts when using Bulma with other CSS frameworks.
  • Optimize performance by loading only necessary components.

Conclusion

By troubleshooting layout misalignment, responsiveness problems, customization challenges, conflicts with other frameworks, and performance optimizations, developers can fully utilize Bulma for a modern and responsive UI. Implementing best practices ensures a seamless front-end development experience.

FAQs

1. Why are my Bulma columns misaligned?

Ensure correct nesting of column elements within a columns wrapper and use is-multiline for wrapping columns.

2. How do I make Bulma responsive?

Use responsive class modifiers like is-12-mobile and ensure the viewport meta tag is included.

3. Why aren’t my custom SCSS variables affecting Bulma?

Define variables before importing Bulma and compile SCSS properly to reflect changes.

4. How do I prevent conflicts between Bulma and Bootstrap?

Use unique class names, import Bulma after Bootstrap, and add custom namespaces to Bulma styles.

5. How can I improve performance when using Bulma?

Import only necessary components, load CSS asynchronously, and optimize images for better page speed.