Happy holidays folks!

It's almost Christmas and the Tailwind Labs team is still pumping out v4 betas! We're on beta 8 now and the stable release is right in the horizon 🚀

Also, folks, this will be the last issue of the year. We'll take a break and come back on the 11th.

Let's dive in!

🌟 News

We hit a big milestone folks! Tailwind CSS reached 1 BILLION downloads last week 🤩

For comparison, Bootstrap has 1,168,536,795 downloads and it took them 13 years (vs 7 for tailwind) 🤯

We also got more sneak peeks for the new official site and Adam may be thinking of doing a drastic reorganizing of the docs to make it more like a API reference a la MDN.

🤩 Sponsor

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📚 Learning

Beautiful focus outlines

If you’ve ever ignored focus outlines on your site thinking they’re “just for accessibility,” this article will completely change your mind. You’ll learn why focus outlines are so important (keyboard users, anyone?), how browser defaults often fall short, and when custom outlines can make a huge impact. Plus, the article dives into practical tips like using :focus-visible, setting offsets, and even experimenting with animations—all without overwhelming your design.

View Transitions API: Single Page Apps Without a Framework

This piece introduces the View Transitions API, which lets you create fluid animations when moving between pages—or even within the same page. You’ll learn how view transitions improve perceived performance, how to enable them with just a few lines of CSS, and how to tweak animations to fit your design. It even dives into customizing transitions with JavaScript for advanced use cases like back/forward navigation.

Upgrading Rails applications to Tailwind 4

If you’re running a Rails app and thinking of upgrading to TailwindCSS 4, this guide is for you. It breaks down the upgrade process step by step, from updating your Gemfile with the latest gems to running the necessary Tailwind upgrade script.

💅 Showcase

Reflex

Reflex is a platform designed for web developers to deploy, manage, and scale Reflex applications with minimal effort. It offers features such as one-command deployment, integration with CI/CD pipelines, multi-region scalability, and tools for monitoring performance through alerts and metrics.

🎁 Resource

Gimli

Gimli is another browser extension explicitly designed for Tailwind CSS developers. It lets you preview changes directly on hover and adjust utility values using shortcuts like Cmd/Ctrl + Click or drag gestures to slide between options. The interface is minimal and organized similarly to the official Tailwind docs, keeping everything easy to navigate. It has features like variant overrides, auto-detection for relevant sections (e.g., Grid or Flex), and intelligent class name autocomplete, which makes it a handy tool for tailwind directly within your browser.

👌 Cool Stuff

Some of these are affiliate links, so I get compensated in some way if you buy through them at no cost to you.

"Level up with Tailwind CSS" by Shruti dives into real-world Tailwind examples and offers tips even seasoned users will find valuable. Plus, there's an accompanying video course with fresh content every week. If you're serious about improving your Tailwind CSS skills, this book is for you!

Unicorn Club – A free newsletter with top tools, tips, & resources to fuse design + code and build better products.

The WP Weekly – A concise newsletter bringing WordPress pros the latest tools, launches, and insights in just 10 minutes every week.

Dave Kang's Octopus Life – Insights on balancing creative freedom & financial sustainability, from a portfolio career expert.

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