Why Peerless Modules Ship with Zero Margins

Open any long-lived website and inspect the spacing: odds are it is a pile of margin overrides fighting each other. That fight starts with one design decision — so we made the opposite one.

Spacing is a layout decision

Every Peerless module renders with no outer margins or padding of its own. That sounds like a small implementation detail; it is actually the reason layouts stay predictable as your site grows.

When modules carry their own spacing, two modules stacked together produce arbitrary gaps, and editors fight the theme with negative margins. When spacing belongs to sections and columns, the page editor controls rhythm in one place.

What this means for editors

Set vertical spacing on the section, not the module. Duplicate a section and the rhythm stays. Move a module between columns and it never drags stray whitespace along with it.

The one rule to remember

If you are reaching for spacing controls on a module, stop and set it on the section instead. Your future self, duplicating that section onto a new page, will thank you.

Curious how the theme keeps its CSS this disciplined? Read about the ITCSS layers that structure every stylesheet in Peerless.