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Learn how to make your Bootstrap site stand out, and have it fit your own style and needs, by adding custom CSS.
Practice projects
- Add validation styles to the form, using Bootstrap's form validation messages
- Use the Media object to enhance the Schedule layout by floating a speaker's thumbnail image to the left of their scheduled talk
- Add a collapsible component to each schedule item that shows and hides information about each talk
Resources
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Since Bootstrap is one of the most popular
front-end frameworks for web development,
0:00
there is a good chance that your site
will look similar to other websites
0:04
developed with Bootstrap.
0:07
So you can make your Bootstrap site stand
out, and have it fit your own style and
0:08
needs, by adding custom CSS.
0:13
For example,
Bootstrap lets you download its files and
0:16
make changes, by modifying the source
Sass and compiling it to CSS.
0:19
But as I mentioned at the beginning of
the course, those options are not for
0:24
everyone, because they might appeal to
a different skill level or use case.
0:28
For instance, to customize the Sass,
you'll need to install and
0:32
run node and
NPM to compile the Sass to CSS.
0:37
Of course, this also means you
need to know how to use Sass.
0:41
Fortunately, Treehouse has
lots of courses on Sass, so
0:44
check the teacher's notes for links.
0:47
Now, you may want to skip the extra
effort of working with Sass, and
0:49
work with the compiled and minified CSS or
link to the CDN, like I am.
0:53
In that case, the easiest way to
add custom styles to your site,
0:58
is by creating a new style sheet,
and writing custom styles inside it.
1:02
Back in my workspace,
1:07
I'll create a new folder at
the root of my project named CSS.
1:09
Next, I'll create a new file inside
the CSS folder, named custom.css.
1:15
Now we just need to link
the new CSS file to our HTML.
1:23
And it's important that you link
the new CSS file below Bootstrap CSS.
1:27
That way, your custom CSS
can override Bootstrap CSS.
1:33
So I'll set the path to css/custom.css.
1:42
Now I'm ready to modify or
apply additional styling to my site,
1:48
inside custom.css.
1:53
For example,
1:55
let's make the presented by Treehouse
link in the navbar smaller and lighter.
1:56
I feel like it's too big, so
let's balance out the navbar content by
1:59
creating a new rule in custom.css,
that targets this text.
2:04
In the HTML, I see that
navbar-brand is inside the navbar.
2:08
So to make sure that we're overriding
Bootstrap's default css for navbar-brand,
2:13
we'll make our selector more specific,
using a descendent selector.
2:18
So in custom.css, we'll create a rule
2:22
that targets .navbar .navbar-brand.
2:27
We'll add a color property and
set the color with rgba,
2:32
using the values 255, 255, 255.
2:36
And we'll set the alpha to 0.85.
2:39
And right below,
I'll set the font size to 1rem.
2:43
You can even write your own styles for
Bootstrap's component classes,
2:49
like jumbotron for instance.
2:53
Remember, the jumbotron component
has the class jumbotron.
2:55
So let's target jumbotron in custom.css,
and
3:00
we'll customize it by adding
this jumbo-bg.jpg image,
3:04
located in the image folder,
as a background image.
3:09
So back in the .jumbotron rule,
body background-image property.
3:15
And set the url path to
../img/jumbo-bg.jpg.
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Then to scale the background image
to the size of the jumbotron,
3:32
I'll give the jumbotron a background
size cover declaration.
3:37
The value cover adjusts
the background image, so that
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we see the full image while maintaining
its width and height proportions.
3:47
All right, so the site starting
to look better, isn't it?
3:52
The custom CSS certainly
adds a unique touch.
3:55
Now, I'll stop here, but you can keep
adding more custom styles if you'd like.
3:58
For more resources on how to customize and
extend the Bootstrap framework,
4:03
be sure to visit the examples and
theme page of the documentation.
4:07
Here, you'll find lots of downloadable
examples and starter templates for
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building projects like dashboards,
applications and marketing websites.
4:16
You can even download official themes,
design and built by Bootstrap's creators.
4:19
So that's it!
4:25
We built a professional-looking
site really quickly.
4:26
Now the site's ready to
upload to a server and
4:29
introduce the world to Full Stack Conf.
4:32
And it looks like the conference
organizers are really happy with the job
4:34
you did, so nice work.
4:38
In this course, you learned that
using a framework like Bootstrap,
4:40
helps you build projects quickly without
having to spend lot of time on the HTML,
4:43
CSS, JavaScript, or the design.
4:48
So the methods I covered,
should give you new ideas for
4:50
using Bootstrap as a front-end
web development tool.
4:52
To practice what you've
learned in this course, and
4:56
to learn about other Bootstrap components,
try adding new features to the site.
4:58
For example,
add validation styles to the form,
5:03
using Bootstrap's form
validation classes and messages.
5:05
Use the media object to
enhance the schedule layout,
5:10
by floating a speaker's thumbnail image
to the left of their scheduled talk.
5:13
I've even included the thumbnails
in the project files.
5:16
Or add a collapsible component
to each schedule item,
5:19
that shows and
hides information about each talk.
5:23
Remember, we're here to help, so
5:27
if you have questions about
anything covered in this course,
5:29
feel free to reach out to the Treehouse
staff or other students in the community.
5:32
Thanks everyone.
5:36
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