An Introduction to Bootstrap

We regularly use Bootstrap as part of the projects that we work on together with our clients. We like the ease of use and the powerful library that allows us to quickly incorporate mobile and responsive features into the websites that we are working on. Getting started with Bootstrap is easy. Here is a starter Bootstrap template:

HTML


<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
  <head>
    <!-- Required meta tags -->
    <meta charset="utf-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1, shrink-to-fit=no">
    <!-- Bootstrap CSS -->
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/4.0.0/css/bootstrap.min.css" integrity="sha384-Gn5384xqQ1aoWXA+058RXPxPg6fy4IWvTNh0E263XmFcJlSAwiGgFAW/dAiS6JXm" crossorigin="anonymous">
    <title>Hello, world!</title>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h1>Hello, world!</h1>
    <!-- Optional JavaScript -->
    <script src="https://code.jquery.com/jquery-3.2.1.slim.min.js" integrity="sha384-KJ3o2DKtIkvYIK3UENzmM7KCkRr/rE9/Qpg6aAZGJwFDMVNA/GpGFF93hXpG5KkN" crossorigin="anonymous"></script>
<script src="https://maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/4.0.0/js/bootstrap.min.js" integrity="sha384-JZR6Spejh4U02d8jOt6vLEHfe/JQGiRRSQQxSfFWpi1MquVdAyjUar5+76PVCmYl" crossorigin="anonymous"></script>
  </body>
</html>

Adding mobile and responsive content to this template can be done by using Bootstrap's Grid System. Here is a single column layout:

HTML


<div class="container">
  <div class="row">
    <div class="col">
      <h1>Title</h1>
      <p>Content goes here</p>
    </div>
  </div>
</div>

And here is a 3-column layout:

HTML


<div class="container">
  <div class="row">
    <div class="col">
      Column 1
    </div>
    <div class="col">
      Column 2
    </div>
    <div class="col">
      Column 3
    </div>
  </div>
</div>

We almost always use the navbar component to create a nice navigation header that works great on desktop and displays on mobile as a "hamburger" menu:

HTML


<nav class="navbar navbar-expand-lg navbar-light bg-light">
  <a class="navbar-brand" href="#">Daya Web</a>
  <button class="navbar-toggler" type="button" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#navbarSupportedContent" aria-controls="navbarSupportedContent" aria-expanded="false" aria-label="Toggle navigation">
    <span class="navbar-toggler-icon"></span>
  </button>
  <div class="collapse navbar-collapse" id="navbarSupportedContent">
    <ul class="navbar-nav mr-auto">
      <li class="nav-item active">
        <a class="nav-link" href="#">Home <span class="sr-only">(current)</span></a>
      </li>
      <li class="nav-item">
        <a class="nav-link" href="#">About</a>
      </li>
      <li class="nav-item">
        <a class="nav-link" href="#">Testimonials</a>
      </li>
      <li class="nav-item">
        <a class="nav-link" href="#">Contact</a>
      </li>
    </ul>
  </div>
</nav>

These are just a few of the common ways that we use Bootstrap, but there are many ways to incorporate it into your website. To learn more, visit Bootstrap.