When you want to make sortable lists more user-friendly and visually appealing, applying the right CSS techniques is essential. Enhancing the look and feel of your list during drag-and-drop interactions helps users understand what is happening as they move items around. One of the most effective ways to do this is by highlighting the item currently being dragged and clearly indicating potential drop targets. This feedback can be achieved by toggling specific CSS classes on the dragged item and the placeholder, allowing you to control their appearance dynamically.

To implement these visual cues, you can define CSS classes such as active, which highlights the item being dragged, and placeholder, which marks the spot where the dragged item will be inserted. By updating these classes during drag-and-drop events, you give users clear, immediate feedback about their actions. You can also use a drag-over class to style items or containers when a draggable item is hovering over them, further improving clarity.