Twitter Bootstrap Layout tutorial

Last update on August 19 2022 21:50:44 (UTC/GMT +8 hours)

Introduction

In this tutorial, you will learn how to use Twitter Bootstrap toolkit to create Fixed as well as fluid Layouts. The tutorial is based on Twitter Bootstrap Version 2.0, which is the latest version of Twitter Bootstrap as of this writing.

In version 2.0 Twitter Bootstrap has added a responsive feature for phone, tablet portrait, table landscape and small desktops, and large wide screen desktops.
You may make a layout responsive by adding bootstrap-responsive.css file (located under docs\assets\css) into the page.

Twitter Bootstrap Fixed Layout

If you want it create a web page or app layout based on fixed number of pixels, go for this.

Usage

<body>
  <div class="container">
    ...
  </div>
</body>

Explanation

From line number 261 to 273 of bootstrap.css (located under docs\assets\css of main twitter bootstrap folder) styles for creating the main container to create a fixed layout is available. The purpose of the Fixed Layout is to create a 940 pixel (default) wide layout for a web page or app.

Example of Fixed Layout with Twitter Bootstrap

The following code creates a Fixed Layout of a webpage. Besides default styles, for customization, a new css example-fixed-layout.css is created and placed in the same folder where bootstrap.css resides.

CSS code

body {
padding-top: 60px;
padding-bottom: 40px;
}
.nav li {
padding-top: 5px;
}
.leaderboard {
padding: 60px;
margin-bottom: 30px;
background-image: url('/twitter-bootstrap/images/gridbg.gif');
background-repeat:repeat;
-webkit-border-radius: 6px;
-moz-border-radius: 6px;
border-radius: 6px;
}
.leaderboard h1 {
font-size: 40px;
margin-bottom: 5px;
line-height: 1;
letter-spacing: -1px;
color:#FF6600;
}
.leaderboard p {
font-size: 18px;
font-weight: 200;
line-height: 27px;
}

HTML code

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<title>Example of Fixed Layout with Twitter Bootstrap version 2.0 from w3resource.com</title>
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0 ">
<meta name="description" content="Example of Fixed Layout with Twitter Bootstrap version 2.0 from w3resource.com">
<meta name="author" content="">
<!-- Le styles -->
<link href="twitter-bootstrap-v2/docs/assets/css/bootstrap.css" rel="stylesheet">
<link href="twitter-bootstrap-v2/docs/assets/css/example-fixed-layout.css" rel="stylesheet">
<!-- Le HTML5 shim, for IE6-8 support of HTML5 elements -->
<!--[if lt IE 9]>
<script src="//html5shim.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/html5.js"></script>
<![endif]-->
<!-- Le fav and touch icons -->
<link rel="shortcut icon" href="twitter-bootstrap-v2/docs/examples/images/favicon.ico">
<link rel="apple-touch-icon" href="twitter-bootstrap-v2/docs/examples/images/apple-touch-icon.png">
<link rel="apple-touch-icon" sizes="72x72" href="twitter-bootstrap-v2/docs/examples/images/apple-touch-icon-72x72.png">
<link rel="apple-touch-icon" sizes="114x114" href="twitter-bootstrap-v2/docs/examples/images/apple-touch-icon-114x114.png">
</head>
<body>
<div class="navbar navbar-fixed-top">
<div class="navbar-inner">
<div class="container">
<a class="btn btn-navbar" data-toggle="collapse" data-target=".nav-collapse">
<span class="icon-bar"></span>
<span class="icon-bar"></span>
<span class="icon-bar"></span>
</a>
<a class="brand" href="#"><img src="/images/w3r.png" width="111" height="30" alt="w3resource logo" /></a>
<div class="nav-collapse">
<ul class="nav">
<li class="active"><a href="#">Home</a></li>
<li><a href="#about">About</a></li>
<li><a href="#contact">Contact</a></li>
</ul>
</div><!--/.nav-collapse -->
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="container">
<!-- Main hero unit for a primary marketing message or call to action -->
<div class="leaderboard">
<h1>w3resource Web Store</h1>
<p>Try and purchase HTML5, JS, Ruby, PHP-MySQL based web apps to enhance your productivity at affordable price.</p>
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</div>
<!-- Example row of columns -->
<div class="row">
<div class="span4">
<h2>HTML5 and JS Apps</h2>
<p>Donec id elit non mi porta gravida at eget metus. Fusce dapibus, tellus ac cursus commodo, tortor mauris condimentum nibh,ut fermentum massa justo sit amet risus. Etiam porta sem malesuada magna mollis euismod. Donec sed odio dui. </p>
<p><a class="btn btn-success btn-large" href="#">View apps</a></p>
</div>
<div class="span4">
<h2>Ruby Apps</h2>
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<p><a class="btn btn-success btn-large" href="#">View apps</a></p>
</div>
<div class="span4">
<h2>PHP MySQL Apps</h2>
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<p><a class="btn btn-success btn-large" href="#">View apps</a></p>
</div>
</div>
<hr>
<footer>
<p>© Company 2012</p>
</footer>
</div> <!-- /container -->
<!-- Le javascript
================================================== -->
<!-- Placed at the end of the document so the pages load faster -->
<script src="twitter-bootstrap-v2/docs/assets/js/jquery.js"></script>
<script src="twitter-bootstrap-v2/docs/assets/js/bootstrap-transition.js"></script>
<script src="twitter-bootstrap-v2/docs/assets/js/bootstrap-alert.js"></script>
<script src="twitter-bootstrap-v2/docs/assets/js/bootstrap-modal.js"></script>
<script src="twitter-bootstrap-v2/docs/assets/js/bootstrap-dropdown.js"></script>
<script src="twitter-bootstrap-v2/docs/assets/js/bootstrap-scrollspy.js"></script>
<script src="twitter-bootstrap-v2/docs/assets/js/bootstrap-tab.js"></script>
<script src="twitter-bootstrap-v2/docs/assets/js/bootstrap-tooltip.js"></script>
<script src="twitter-bootstrap-v2/docs/assets/js/bootstrap-popover.js"></script>
<script src="twitter-bootstrap-v2/docs/assets/js/bootstrap-button.js"></script>
<script src="twitter-bootstrap-v2/docs/assets/js/bootstrap-collapse.js"></script>
<script src="twitter-bootstrap-v2/docs/assets/js/bootstrap-carousel.js"></script>
<script src="twitter-bootstrap-v2/docs/assets/js/bootstrap-typeahead.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

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View the above example in a different browser window.

Twitter Bootstrap Fluid Layout

Want to create a layout which is not fixed, instead of based on percentages to keep it flexible, you may go for this.

Usage

<div class="container-fluid">
  <div class="row-fluid">
   <div class="span2">
      
    </div>
    <div class="span10">
      
    </div>
  </div>
</div>

Explanation

From line number 274 to 285 of bootstrap.css (located under docs\assets\css of the main twitter bootstrap folder) styles for creating the main container to create a fluid layout is available. The purpose of the fluid Layout is to create a percentage based (e.g. width=20%) layout.

Example of Fluid Layout with Twitter Bootstrap

The following code creates a Fluid Layout of a webpage. Besides default styles, for customization, a new css example-fluid-layout.css is created and placed in the same folder where bootstrap.css resides.

CSS Code:

 body {
        padding-top: 60px;
        padding-bottom: 40px;
      }
	  .nav li {
	  padding-top: 5px;
	  }
	  
	  .sidebar-nav {
        padding: 9px 0;
      }
	  .leaderboard {
  padding: 60px;
  margin-bottom: 30px;
  background-image: url('/twitter-bootstrap/images/gridbg.gif');
  background-repeat:repeat;
  -webkit-border-radius: 6px;
  -moz-border-radius: 6px;
  border-radius: 6px;
}
.leaderboard h1 {
  font-size: 40px;
  margin-bottom: 5px;
  line-height: 1;
  letter-spacing: -1px;
  color:#FF6600;
}
.leaderboard p {
  font-size: 18px;
  font-weight: 200;
  line-height: 27px;
}

.well {
background-image: url('/twitter-bootstrap/images/gridbg.gif');
  background-repeat:repeat;
  -webkit-border-radius: 6px;
  -moz-border-radius: 6px;
  border-radius: 6px;
}

.nav .nav-header {
font-size: 18px;
color:#FF9900;
}

HTML Code:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
  <head>
    <meta charset="utf-8">
    <title>Example of Fluid Layout with Twitter Bootstrap version 2.0 from w3resource.com</title>
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0 ">
    <meta name="description" content="Example of Fluid Layout with Twitter Bootstrap version 2.0 from w3resource.com">
    <meta name="author" content="">

    <!-- Le styles -->
    <link href="twitter-bootstrap-v2/docs/assets/css/bootstrap.css" rel="stylesheet">
	<link href="twitter-bootstrap-v2/docs/assets/css/example-fluid-layout.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <!-- Le HTML5 shim, for IE6-8 support of HTML5 elements -->
    <!--[if lt IE 9]>
      <script src="//html5shim.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/html5.js"></script>
    <![endif]-->

    <!-- Le fav and touch icons -->
    <link rel="shortcut icon" href="twitter-bootstrap-v2/docs/examples/images/favicon.ico">
    <link rel="apple-touch-icon" href="twitter-bootstrap-v2/docs/examples/images/apple-touch-icon.png">
    <link rel="apple-touch-icon" sizes="72x72" href="twitter-bootstrap-v2/docs/examples/images/apple-touch-icon-72x72.png">
    <link rel="apple-touch-icon" sizes="114x114" href="twitter-bootstrap-v2/docs/examples/images/apple-touch-icon-114x114.png">
  </head>
  <body>
    <div class="navbar navbar-fixed-top">
      <div class="navbar-inner">
        <div class="container-fluid">
          <a class="btn btn-navbar" data-toggle="collapse" data-target=".nav-collapse">
            <span class="icon-bar"></span>
            <span class="icon-bar"></span>
            <span class="icon-bar"></span>
          </a>
          <a class="brand" href="#"><img src="/images/w3r.png" width="111" height="30" alt="w3resource logo" /></a>
          <div class="nav-collapse">
            <ul class="nav">
              <li class="active"><a href="#">Home</a></li>
              <li><a href="#about">About</a></li>
              <li><a href="#contact">Contact</a></li>
            </ul>
            <p class="navbar-text pull-right">Logged in as <a href="#">username</a></p>
          </div><!--/.nav-collapse -->
        </div>
      </div>
    </div>
    <div class="container-fluid">
      <div class="row-fluid">
        <div class="span3">
          <div class="well sidebar-nav">
            <ul class="nav nav-list">
              <li class="nav-header">Frontend</li>
              <li class="active"><a href="#">HTML 4.01</a></li>
              <li><a href="#">HTML5</a></li>
              <li><a href="#">CSS</a></li>
              <li><a href="#">JavaScript</a></li>
			  <li><a href="#">Twitter Bootstrap</a></li>
			  <li><a href="#">Firebug</a></li>
              <li class="nav-header">Backend</li>
              <li><a href="#">PHP</a></li>
              <li><a href="#">SQL</a></li>
              <li><a href="#">MySQL</a></li>
              <li><a href="#">PostgreSQL</a></li>
              <li><a href="#">MongoDB</a></li>
           </ul>
          </div><!--/.well -->
        </div><!--/span-->
        <div class="span9">
          <div class="leaderboard">
            <h1>Learn. Practice. Develop.</h1>
            <p>w3resource offers web development tutorials. We believe in Open Source. Love standards. And prioritize simplicity 				             and readability while serving content.</p>
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          </div>
          <div class="row-fluid">
            <div class="span4">
              <h2>Learn</h2>
              <p>Donec id elit non mi porta gravida at eget metus. Fusce dapibus, tellus ac cursus commodo, tortor mauris condimentum nibh, ut fermentum massa justo sit amet risus. Etiam porta sem malesuada magna mollis euismod. Donec sed odio dui. </p>
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            </div><!--/span-->
            <div class="span4">
              <h2>Practice</h2>
              <p>Donec id elit non mi porta gravida at eget metus. Fusce dapibus, tellus ac cursus commodo, tortor mauris condimentum nibh, ut fermentum massa justo sit amet risus. Etiam porta sem malesuada magna mollis euismod. Donec sed odio dui. </p>
              <p><a class="btn btn-success btn-large" href="#">Start percticing now</a></p>
            </div><!--/span-->
            <div class="span4">
              <h2>Develop</h2>
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              <p><a class="btn btn-success btn-large" href="#">Start developing now</a></p>
            </div><!--/span-->
          </div><!--/row-->
          <hr>
     <footer>
        <p>© Company 2012</p>
      </footer>

    </div><!--/.fluid-container-->
    
    <!-- Le javascript
    ================================================== -->
    <!-- Placed at the end of the document so the pages load faster -->
    <script src="twitter-bootstrap-v2/docs/assets/js/jquery.js"></script>
    <script src="twitter-bootstrap-v2/docs/assets/js/bootstrap-transition.js"></script>
    <script src="twitter-bootstrap-v2/docs/assets/js/bootstrap-alert.js"></script>
    <script src="twitter-bootstrap-v2/docs/assets/js/bootstrap-modal.js"></script>
    <script src="twitter-bootstrap-v2/docs/assets/js/bootstrap-dropdown.js"></script>
    <script src="twitter-bootstrap-v2/docs/assets/js/bootstrap-scrollspy.js"></script>
    <script src="twitter-bootstrap-v2/docs/assets/js/bootstrap-tab.js"></script>
    <script src="twitter-bootstrap-v2/docs/assets/js/bootstrap-tooltip.js"></script>
    <script src="twitter-bootstrap-v2/docs/assets/js/bootstrap-popover.js"></script>
    <script src="twitter-bootstrap-v2/docs/assets/js/bootstrap-button.js"></script>
    <script src="twitter-bootstrap-v2/docs/assets/js/bootstrap-collapse.js"></script>
    <script src="twitter-bootstrap-v2/docs/assets/js/bootstrap-carousel.js"></script>
    <script src="twitter-bootstrap-v2/docs/assets/js/bootstrap-typeahead.js"></script>

  </body>
</html>

View Online

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You may download all the HTML, CSS, JS and image files used in our tutorials here.

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