Buttons are the integral part of a website and application. They are used for various purposes like, submit or reset an HTML form, performing interactive actions such as showing or hiding something on a web page on click of the button, redirecting user to another page, and so on. Bootstrap provides a quick and easy way to create and customize the buttons.
Bootstrap Button Styles
Different classes are available in Bootstrap for styling the buttons as well as to indicate the different states or semantic. Button styles can be applied to any element. However, it is applied normally to the <a>, <input>, and <button> elements for the best rendering.
The following example will show you how to create different styles of buttons in Bootstrap:
— The output of the above example will look something like this:
You can also create full-width or block buttons (buttons that covers the full width of the parent elements) through using the Bootstrap’s display and gap utility classes. These utilities offers much greater control over spacing, alignment, and responsive behaviors.
— The output of the above example will look something like this:
You can also create responsive variation of these buttons using the .d-{breakpoint}-block classes.
In the following example buttons will be vertically stacked on small and extra small devices (i.e. viewport width <768px). From medium (md) breakpoint up .d-md-block replaces the .d-grid class, thus nullifying the .gap-2 class. Let’s try it out and see how it really works:
Sometimes we need to disable a button for certain reasons, for example, a user in case is not eligible to perform this particular action, or we want to ensure that user should performed all other required actions before proceed to this particular action. Let’s see how to do that.
Creating Disabled Buttons Using Button and Input Element
Buttons created through <button> or <input> tag can be disabled by adding the disabled attribute to the respective element, as shown in the following example:
— The output of the above example will look something like this:
Note: The .disabled class only make links visually appear like disabled, however the link will remain clickable unless you remove the href attribute from it. Alternatively, you could implement custom JavaScript to prevent those clicks.
Bootstrap Active Buttons
Moreover, you can also apply the class .active to force the buttons look like active (i.e. pressed). Usually you don’t need to add this class to the buttons, as their active state is automatically styled by the Bootstrap using CSS :activepseudo-class. Here’s an example:
— The output of the above example will look something like this:
Creating Spinner Buttons
With Bootstrap you can easily include spinner icon in a button to indicate the loading state in your application. Check out the following example to see how it works:
— The output of the above example will look something like this:
In the next chapter you will learn how to combine multiple buttons horizontally or vertically in a line like toolbars using the Bootstrap button groups component. Also, in the advanced section you will learn how to create toggle buttons without using any JavaScript code.
Bootstrap input group component is a very flexible and powerful component for creating interactive and elegant form controls, however, it is limited to text input, select, and textarea only.
In the following sections you will see how to extend form controls by adding the text, icons and buttons before, after, or on both sides of it to make your form more attractive.
Creating Prepended and Appended Inputs
Input groups are created using the class .input-group. It act as a container for inputs and addons.
Further, wrap the text or icon in a <span> element as well as apply the class .input-group-text on it and place it before or after the input. Let’s take a look at the following example:
— The output of the above example will look something like this:
Since Bootstrap 5 you can also prepend or append select box dropdown and textarea form controls. Let’s try out the following example and see how it basically works:
— The output of the above example will look something like this:
Similarly, you can also place multiple addons side-by-side within an input group. You can also mix it with checkbox and radio inputs, as shown in the following example:
— The output of the above example will look something like this:
Buttons Addons for Form Controls
You can also prepend or append buttons to the form controls like text. Simply, place as many buttons as you like within the .input-group, as shown in the following example:
— The output of the above example will look something like this:
Adding Button Dropdowns
You can even add buttons with dropdowns to a form control if you want to perform more than one action from a button. Also, in case of input group you don’t need the .dropdown wrapper element, which is otherwise normally required. Let’s check out an example:
— The output of the above example will look something like this:
Adding Segmented Dropdown Button Groups
Similarly, you can define the segmented dropdown button group where dropdown button is placed besides the other buttons, as shown in the following example:
— The output of the above example will look something like this:
Height Sizing of Input Groups
You can also add the relative form sizing classes such as .input-group-lg or .input-group-sm to the .input-group element itself to make it larger or smaller in height.
The contents within the .input-group will automatically resize — there is no need for repeating the form control size classes on each element. Here’s an example:
Example
<!-- Larger input group -->
<div class="input-group input-group-lg">
Bootstrap enables you to customize the browser’s default form controls to create even more elegant form layouts. Now you can create completely customized and cross-browser compatible radio buttons and checkboxes, file inputs, select dropdowns, range inputs, and more.
In the following sections, you’ll see how to create those custom form elements one by one.
Creating Custom Checkboxes
To create custom checkboxes wrap each checkbox <input> and their corresponding <label> in a <div> element, and apply the classes as shown in the following example:
— The output of the above example will look something like this:
Disabling Custom Checkboxes and Radios
Custom checkboxes and radio buttons can also be disabled. Just add the boolean attribute disabled to the <input> element, as shown in the following example:
— The output of the above example will look something like this:
Creating Toggle Switches
The switch markup is similar to custom checkbox—the only difference is—it uses the .form-switch class to render a toggle switch. Switches also support the disabled attribute.
Let’s try out the following example to understand how it basically works:
— The output of the above example will look something like this:
Creating Custom Select Menu
You can also customize the select dropdown menus by simply adding the class .form-select on the <select> element. However, this custom styling is limited only to the initial appearance of the <select> and cannot modify the <option>s due to browser limitations.
— The output of the above example will look something like this:
You can also add the disabled attribute on a custom select to give it a grayed out appearance and remove pointer events, as shown in the following example:
— The output of the above example will look something like this:
You can also create large and small variant of the custom selects to match the height of similarly sized Bootstrap’s text inputs using the classes .form-select-lg and .form-select-sm on the <select> element, respectively. Let’s take a look at the following example:
— The output of the above example will look something like this:
You can also add disabled attribute on the range inputs to give it a grayed out appearance and remove pointer events, as shown in the following example:
— The output of the above example will look something like this:
Setting the Min and Max Values
By default range inputs have implicit values for min and max—0 and 100, respectively. But, you may specify new values for those using the min and max attributes.
Also, range inputs “snap” to integer values by default. To change this, you can specify a step value. In the following example, we’ve doubled the number of steps by using the step="0.5".
HTML forms are an integral part of the web pages and applications, but creating the form layouts or styling the form controls manually one by one using CSS are often boring and tedious. Bootstrap greatly simplifies the process of styling and alignment of form controls like labels, input fields, selectboxes, textareas, buttons, etc. through predefined set of classes.
Bootstrap provides three different types of form layouts:
Vertical Form (default form layout)
Horizontal Form
Inline Form
The following section will give you the detailed overview of all these form layouts as well as the various form related Bootstrap components one by one. Well let’s get started.
Creating Vertical Form Layout
To create vertical form layouts simply use the predefined margin utility classes for grouping the labels, form controls, optional form text, and form validation messages.
Here’s an example in which form controls are vertically stacked with labels on the top.
— The output of the above example will look something like this:
You will learn about custom checkboxes and other custom form controls in the next chapter.
Note: All textual form controls, such as <input> and <textarea> requires the class .form-control, while <select> requires the class .form-select for general styling. These classes also makes the forms controls 100% wide. To change their width or use them inline, you can utilize the Bootstrap’s predefined grid classes.
Tip: It is recommend to use margin-bottom utility classes (e.g., mb-2, mb-3, etc.) to add vertical spacing between the form groups. As, using single direction margin throughout in the form prevent margin collapsing and create more consist form.
Creating Horizontal Form Layout
You can also create horizontal form layouts where labels and form controls are aligned side-by-side using the Bootstrap grid classes. To create a horizontal form layout add the class .row on form groups and use the .col-*-* grid classes to specify the width of your labels and controls.
Also, be sure to apply the class .col-form-label on the <label> elements, so that they’re vertically centered with their associated form controls. Let’s check out an example:
— The output of the above example will look something like this:
Creating Inline Form Layout
Sometimes you may want to display a series of form controls, and buttons in a single horizontal row to compact the layout. You can do this easily by using the Bootstrap’s grid classes.
Let’s take a look at following example and see how it actually works:
Tip: It is recommended to include a label for every form inputs otherwise screen readers will have trouble with your forms. However, in case of inline form layouts you can hide the labels using the .visually-hidden class, so that only screen readers can read it.
Creating Responsive Form Layout
You can also make your forms responsive through using the grid classes with specific breakpoints.
The following example will create a form which laid out inline on medium devices and up (i.e., viewport width ≥768px), but will become vertically stacked on smaller viewports.
There might be a situation when you just want to display a plain text value next to a form label instead of a working form control. You can do this easily by replacing the class .form-control with the .form-control-plaintext and applying the attribute readonly.
The .form-control-plaintext class removes the default styling from the form field, but preserves the correct margin and padding. Let’s take a look at an example:
— The output of the above example will look something like this:
Column Sizing of Form Controls
You can also match the size of your inputs, textareas and select boxes to the Bootstrap grid column sizes. Simply, place your form controls (i.e. <input>, <textarea>, and <select>) in grid columns.
Let’s try out the following example to understand how it basically works:
— The output of the above example will look something like this:
Placing Checkboxes and Radio Buttons Inline
By default, any number of custom checkboxes and radio buttons that are immediate sibling will be vertically stacked and appropriately spaced with .form-check class.
But, you can also place these custom checkboxes and radio buttons inline (i.e., in the same line) by simply adding the class .form-check-inline to .form-check element, like this:
— The output of the above example will look something like this:
Adding Help Text to Form Controls
Placing help text for the form controls in an efficient way to guide users to enter the correct data in a form. You can place block level help text for a form control using the class .form-text. The block help text is typically displayed at the bottom of the control. Here’s an example:
Must be 8-20 characters long, contain letters, numbers and special characters, but must not contain spaces.
</div>
— The output of the above example will look something like this:
Similarly, you can also place inline help text using the <small> element. No need to use .form-text in this case. The following example shows how to implement this:
— The output of the above example will look something like this:
Creating Disabled Form Controls
To disable individual form controls such as <input>, <textarea>, <select> just add the attributes disabled to them and Bootstrap will do the rest. Here’s an example:
— The output of the above example will look something like this:
However, if you want to disable all controls within a <form> at once, place them inside a <fieldset> element and apply the attribute disabled on it, as shown in the following example:
— The output of the above example will look something like this:
Creating Readonly Inputs
You can also add the readonly boolean attribute on an input or textarea to prevent the modification of its value. Read-only inputs appear in lighter background (just like disabled inputs), but it retain the standard text cursor. Check out the following example to see how it works:
<input type="text" class="form-control mb-2" value="This input value cannot be changed." readonly>
<textarea rows="3" class="form-control" readonly>This textarea value cannot be changed.</textarea>
— The output of the above example will look something like this:
Height Sizing of Form Controls
You can easily change the height of your text inputs and select boxes to match the button sizes.
Use the form control height sizing classes such as .form-control-lg and .form-control-sm on the text inputs to create it’s larger or smaller sizes. Here’s an example:
— The output of the above example will look something like this:
Tip: Be sure to apply the class .col-form-label-lg or .col-form-label-sm on the <label> or <legend> elements to correctly resize the label according to the form controls.
Similarly, you can create larger and smaller variants of the select boxes using the .form-select-lg and .form-select-sm classes on the <select> element, like this:
— The output of the above example will look something like this:
Bootstrap Form Validation
Bootstrap provides an easy and quick way to validate web forms on client-side. It uses browser’s native form validation API to validate the form. Form validation styles are applied via CSS :invalid and :valid pseudo-classes. It applies to <input>, <select>, and <textarea> elements.
Let’s try out the following example and see how it actually works:
Note: For custom Bootstrap form validation messages, you’ll need to disables the browser default feedback tooltips by adding the novalidate boolean attribute to the <form> element. However, it still provides access to the form validation APIs in JavaScript.
Here’s the custom JavaScript code that displays error messages and disables form submission if there are invalid fields. See the JavaScript closures chapter to learn about self-executing function.
Example
<script>
// Self-executing function
(function() {
'use strict';
window.addEventListener('load', function() {
// Fetch all the forms we want to apply custom Bootstrap validation styles to
var forms = document.getElementsByClassName('needs-validation');
// Loop over them and prevent submission
var validation = Array.prototype.filter.call(forms, function(form) {
form.addEventListener('submit', function(event) {
if (form.checkValidity() === false) {
event.preventDefault();
event.stopPropagation();
}
form.classList.add('was-validated');
}, false);
});
}, false);
})();
</script>
— The output of the above example will look something like this:
Tip: To reset the appearance of the form programmatically, remove the .was-validated class from the <form> element after submission. This class is applied automatically on the form by the Bootstrap when you click the submit button.
If you require server-side validation, you can alternatively use the .is-invalid and .is-valid classes to indicate invalid and valid form fields. The .invalid-feedback and .valid-feedback are also supported with these classes. Let’s take a look at the following example:
— The output of the above example will look something like this:
You can alternatively swap the .{valid|invalid}-feedback classes for .{valid|invalid}-tooltip classes to display the validation feedback text in a tooltip style.
Also, be sure to apply the style position: relative or class .position-relative on the parent element for proper feedback tooltip positioning. Here’s an example:
— The output of the above example will look something like this:
Supported Form Controls in Bootstrap
Bootstrap includes support for all standard HTML form controls as well as new HTML5 input types such as datetime, number, email, url, search, range, color, url, and so on. The following example will show you the usages of standard form controls with Bootstrap.
The list groups are very useful and flexible component for displaying lists of elements in a beautiful manner. In most basic form a list group is simply an unordered list with the class .list-group whereas, the list items having the class .list-group-item.
— The output of the above example will look something like this:
Tip: List groups are 100% wide by default. To set their width explicitly you can either use the Bootstrap’s width utility classes (e.g. w-25, w-50, etc.) or place them inside grid columns.
Indicate Disabled and Active Items
You can simply add the class .active to a .list-group-item to indicate the current active selection. Similarly, you can add .disabled to a .list-group-item to make it look like disabled.
— The output of the above example will look something like this:
Tip: In case of list group with linked items, the .disabled class only make the link look like disabled, but the link is still clickable. To actually disable links you need to remove the anchor’s href attribute either using the JavaScript or manually.
Edge-to-Edge List Groups
You can optionally add the class .list-group-flush to the list-group element to remove outer borders and rounded corners to create list groups that are edge-to-edge with their parent container.
Let’s check out the following example to understand how it actually works:
— The output of the above example will look something like this:
Creating Numbered List Groups
You can also create list groups where items are numbered through simply adding the modifier class .list-group-numbered on the .list-group element, like this:
Example
<ol class="list-group list-group-numbered w-50">
<li class="list-group-item">An item</li>
<li class="list-group-item">A second item</li>
<li class="list-group-item">A third item</li>
<li class="list-group-item">A fourth item</li>
</ol>
— The output of the above example will look something like this:
Note: Numbers are generated via CSS (as opposed to <ol> element’s default browser styling) for better placement inside list group items and to allow for better customization. See the CSS counter-reset and counter-increment properties to learn more about it.
List Group with Checkboxes and Radios
You can also place Bootstrap’s custom checkboxes and radio buttons within the list group items.
The following example will create a list group with custom checkboxes:
— The output of the above example will look something like this:
You’ll learn about custom checkboxes and radio buttons in the Bootstrap custom forms chapter.
List Group with Linked Items
You can also link list group items with the little change in HTML markup.
Just replace the <li> with <a> tag and use <div> element as a parent instead of <ul>. You can also add icons and badges to this list group to make it more elegant. Here’s an example:
— The output of the above example will look something like this:
Tip: You can use the Bootstrap list group component for creating the sidebar navigation menu, e.g. displaying the list of products or categories on your website.
List Group with Custom Content
You can also add nearly any HTML within the list groups with the help of flexbox utilities.
Here’s an example of a linked list group with headings and paragraph.
Example
<div class="list-group">
<a href="#" class="list-group-item list-group-item-action">
<div class="d-flex w-100 justify-content-between">
<h4>Asteroid detected near earth</h4>
<small>1 days ago</small>
</div>
<p>Researchers have detected an asteroid of the size of a football field near earth. This asteroid does not pose any threat to the planet, but it is difficult to be tracked.</p>
</a>
<a href="#" class="list-group-item list-group-item-action active">
<div class="d-flex w-100 justify-content-between">
<h4>Scientists found massive black hole</h4>
<small>2 days ago</small>
</div>
<p>Scientists have found an ultra-bright, supermassive black hole at the center of a distant galaxy, whose mass is about a million times that of our Sun.</p>
</a>
<a href="#" class="list-group-item list-group-item-action">
<div class="d-flex w-100 justify-content-between">
<h4>NASA launches solar probe</h4>
<small>3 days ago</small>
</div>
<p>NASA launched a Parker space probe in 2018 with the mission of making observations of the outer corona of the Sun. It is the first-ever mission to "touch" the Sun.</p>
</a>
</div>
— The output of the above example will look something like this:
List Group with Contextual States
Like most of the other components you can also use contextual classes on the list group items to apply extra emphasis on them. Here’s an example:
Example
<ul class="list-group w-50">
<li class="list-group-item">A simple default list group item</li>
<li class="list-group-item list-group-item-primary">A simple primary list group item</li>
<li class="list-group-item list-group-item-secondary">A simple secondary list group item</li>
<li class="list-group-item list-group-item-success">A simple success list group item</li>
<li class="list-group-item list-group-item-danger">A simple danger list group item</li>
<li class="list-group-item list-group-item-warning">A simple warning list group item</li>
<li class="list-group-item list-group-item-info">A simple info list group item</li>
<li class="list-group-item list-group-item-light">A simple light list group item</li>
<li class="list-group-item list-group-item-dark">A simple dark list group item</li>
</ul>
— The output of the above example will look something like this:
Similarly, you can use these contextual classes to the linked list group items. You can also use the class .active to specify the active list group item. Here’s an example:
Example
<div class="list-group">
<a href="#" class="list-group-item list-group-item-action">A simple default list group item</a>
<a href="#" class="list-group-item list-group-item-action list-group-item-primary">A simple primary list group item</a>
<a href="#" class="list-group-item list-group-item-action list-group-item-secondary">A simple secondary list group item</a>
<a href="#" class="list-group-item list-group-item-action list-group-item-success">A simple success list group item</a>
<a href="#" class="list-group-item list-group-item-action list-group-item-danger">A simple danger list group item</a>
<a href="#" class="list-group-item list-group-item-action list-group-item-warning">A simple warning list group item</a>
<a href="#" class="list-group-item list-group-item-action list-group-item-info">A simple info list group item</a>
<a href="#" class="list-group-item list-group-item-action list-group-item-light">A simple light list group item</a>
<a href="#" class="list-group-item list-group-item-action list-group-item-dark">A simple dark list group item</a>
</div>
Please, check out the Bootstrap tabs chapter to learn how to create dynamic vertical tabs using the Bootstrap list group component without using any JavaScript code.
You can create three different types of HTML lists:
Unordered lists — A list of items in which the order does not explicitly matter. The list items in unordered lists are marked with bullets, e.g. ⚬, ●, etc.
Ordered lists — A list of items in which the order does explicitly matter. The list items in ordered lists are marked with numbers, e.g. 1, ⅵ, etc.
Definition list — A list of terms with their associated descriptions.
See the tutorial on HTML lists, to learn more about the different lists types.
Unstyled Ordered and Unordered Lists
Sometimes you might need to remove the default styling form the list items. You can do this by simply applying the class .list-unstyled to the respective <ul> or <ol> elements.
— The output of the above example will look something like this:
Note: The .list-unstyled class removes the default list-style and left padding only from the list items which are immediate children of the <ul> or <ol> element.
Placing Ordered and Unordered List Items Inline
If you want to create a horizontal menu using the ordered or unordered list you need to place all list items in a single line (i.e. side by side). You can do this simply by adding the class .list-inline to the <ul> or <ol>, and the class .list-inline-item to the child <li> elements.
— The output of the above example will look something like this:
Creating Horizontal Definition Lists
The terms and descriptions in a definition list can also be aligned horizontally side-by-side using the Bootstrap grid system’s predefined classes. Here’s an example:
Example
<dl class="row">
<dt class="col-sm-3">User Agent</dt>
<dd class="col-sm-9">An HTML user agent is any device that interprets HTML documents.</dd>
<dt class="col-sm-3 text-truncate">Client-side Scripting</dt>
<dd class="col-sm-9">Client-side scripting generally refers to the category of computer programs on the web that are executed by the user's web browser.</dd>
<dt class="col-sm-3">Document Tree</dt>
<dd class="col-sm-9">The tree of elements encoded in the source document.</dd>
</dl>
— The output of the above example will look something like this:
The HTML tables are used to present data in grid manner like row and columns. Using Bootstrap you can greatly improve the appearance of table in a quick and easy way.
See the tutorial on HTML tables to learn more about tables.
Creating a Simple Table with Bootstrap
You can create tables with basic styling that has horizontal dividers and small cell padding (8px by default), by just adding the Bootstrap’s class .table to the <table> element.
— The output of the above example will look something like this:
Creating Accented Tables
Bootstrap even provides a handful of contextual classes such as .table-primary, .table-secondary, .table-success, .table-danger, .table-warning, .table-info, .table-light and .table-dark to color tables, table rows or individual cells.
For example, you can create a dark version of the table (i.e. table with light text on dark backgrounds) by adding the contextual class .table-dark to the .table base class, like this:
— The output of the above example will look something like this:
Similarly, you can use other contextual classes. For instance, the following example uses the class .table-success on the .table to create green colored variant of a table.
— The output of the above example will look something like this:
Check out the snippets section for examples of some beautifully designed Bootstrap tables.
Tip: You can use these contextual classes on the .table base class to create colored version of any table such as stripped, hoverable, bordered, compact table, and so on.
Similar to the tables you can also use these contextual classes to emphasize the rows within a table. Here’s an example of a table with emphasized rows, let’s take a look:
— The output of the above example will look something like this:
Creating Tables with Striped Rows
You can also add zebra-striping to the table rows within the <tbody> by simply adding an additional class .table-striped to the .table base class, as shown below:
— The output of the above example will look something like this:
Creating Bordered Tables
You can add borders on all sides of the table and cells by adding the modifier class .table-bordered to the .table base class, as shown in the following example:
— The output of the above example will look something like this:
Enabling Hover State on Table Rows
You can also enable a hover state on table rows within a <tbody> element by adding the modifier class .table-hover to the .table base class. Let’s try out the following example:
— The output of the above example will look something like this:
Creating Small or Compact Tables
You can also make your tables more compact and save the space through adding the modifier class .table-sm to the .table base class. The .table-sm class makes the table compact by cutting all cell padding in half. Let’s take a look at the following example:
— The output of the above example will look something like this:
Setting Table Head Colors
Similar to light and dark tables, you can use the modifier classes .table-light or .table-dark on the <thead> element to make it appear in light or dark gray.
The following example will create a table with light gray background head.
— The output of the above example will look something like this:
Creating Responsive Tables with Bootstrap
You can also create responsive tables to enable horizontal scrolling on small devices.
To make any table responsive just place it inside a <div> element and apply the .table-responsive class on it. You can also specify when the table should have a scrollbar, based on the viewport width (i.e. breakpoints), using the classes .table-responsive{-sm|-md|-lg|-xl}.
Let’s try out the following example to understand how it basically works:
You can define all HTML headings, <h1> through <h6> — In the same way you define in simple HTML document. You can also utilize the heading classes .h1 through .h6 on other elements, if you want to apply the style on element’s text same as headings.
— The output of the above example will look something like this:
Customizing Headings
Additionally, you can use the <small> tag with .text-muted class to display the secondary text of any heading in a smaller and lighter variation. Here’s an example:
— The output of the above example will look something like this:
Display Headings
Bootstrap also provides display headings that can be used when you need a heading to stand out. Display headings are displayed in larger font-size but lighter font-weight.
Six different display headings are available. Here’s is an example:
— The output of the above example will look something like this:
Working with Paragraphs
Bootstrap’s global default font-size is 1rem (typically 16px), with a line-height of 1.5 (typically 24px), which is applied to the <body> element as well as all the paragraphs i.e. the <p> elements. In addition to that margin-bottom of 1rem is also applied to all the paragraphs.
You can also make a paragraph stand out by adding the class .lead on it.
Example
<p>This is how a normal paragraph looks like in Bootstrap.</p>
<p class="lead">This is how a paragraph stands out in Bootstrap.</p>
— The HTML code in the above examples will produce the following result:
Tip: In CSS rem stands for “root em”. 1rem is equal to the font size of the root element (i.e. the <html> element), which is 16px in most browsers by default.
Text Alignment
You can easily align text to left, right, and center using the text alignment classes.
Example
<p class="text-start">Left aligned text on all viewport sizes.</p>
<p class="text-center">Center aligned text on all viewport sizes.</p>
<p class="text-end">Right aligned text on all viewport sizes.</p>
— The output of the above example will look something like this:
You can also align text based on screen size using the responsive text alignment classes. These classes use the same viewport width breakpoints as the grid system.
Example
<p class="text-sm-center">Text will be center aligned on small sized (sm) viewports and up.</p>
<p class="text-md-center">Text will be center aligned on medium sized (md) viewports and up.</p>
<p class="text-lg-center">Text will be center aligned on large sized (lg) viewports and up.</p>
<p class="text-xl-center">Text will be center aligned on extra-large sized (xl) viewports and up.</p>
Text Formatting
You are free to use text formatting tags like <strong>, <i>, <small> to make your text bold, italic, small and so on, in the same way you do in simple HTML page. Here’s an example:
Example
<p><b>This is bold text</b></p>
<p><code>This is computer code</code></p>
<p><em>This is emphasized text</em></p>
<p><i>This is italic text</i></p>
<p><mark>This is highlighted text</mark></p>
<p><small>This is small text</small></p>
<p><strong>This is strongly emphasized text</strong></p>
<p>This is <sub>subscript</sub> and <sup>superscript</sup></p>
<p><ins>This text is inserted to the document</ins></p>
<p><del>This text is deleted from the document</del></p>
— The output of the above example will look something like this:
Text Transformation
You can also transform the text to lowercase, uppercase or make them capitalize.
Example
<p class="text-lowercase">The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.</p>
<p class="text-uppercase">The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.</p>
<p class="text-capitalize">The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.</p>
— The output of the above example will look something like this:
Text Coloring
Colors are the powerful method of conveying important information in website design.
Bootstrap has handful of emphasis utility classes that can be used for this purpose such as showing success message in green color, warning or error message in red color, etc.
Example
<p class="text-primary">Primary: Please read the instructions carefully before proceeding.</p>
<p class="text-secondary">Secondary: This is featured has been removed from the latest version.</p>
<p class="text-success">Success: Your message has been sent successfully.</p>
<p class="text-info">Info: You must agree with the terms and conditions to complete the sign up process.</p>
<p class="text-warning">Warning: There was a problem with your network connection.</p>
<p class="text-danger">Danger: An error has been occurred while submitting your data.</p>
<p class="text-muted">Muted: This paragraph of text is grayed out.</p>
— The output of the above example will look something like this:
Please, check out the Bootstrap helper classes chapter to learn about other text coloring and background coloring classes, as well as various other utility classes.
Styling Blockquotes
You can also give pretty look to your blockquotes — Just define the blockquotes using the standard <blockquote> element and bootstrap’s style sheet will do the rest.
Example
<blockquote class="blockquote">
<p>Imagination is more important than knowledge.</p>
</blockquote>
— The output of the above example will look something like this:
When providing attribution, wrap your <blockquote> in a <figure> element and use a <figcaption> or a block level element (e.g., <p>) with the .blockquote-footer class, like this:
Example
<figure>
<blockquote class="blockquote">
<p>The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it.</p>
</blockquote>
<figcaption class="blockquote-footer">by <cite>Albert Einstein</cite></figcaption>
</figure>
— The output of the above example will look something like this:
You can also align blockquotes to the right or center by simply applying the text alignment classes .text-end or .text-center on the <blockquote> or <figure> element.
Truncating Long Text
For longer text, you can use the class .text-truncate to truncate the text with an ellipsis. The display property value of the element must be inline-block or block.
It is particularly helpful in a situation where you want to display a piece of text in a single line but there is no enough space available. Let’s try out an example and see how it works:
Example
<!-- Block level element -->
<div class="row">
<div class="col-2 text-truncate">
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
</div>
You can use the class .text-wrap to wrap the text within an element by overwriting its white-space property if it is set to pre or nowrap, such as Bootstrap badge components.
Similarly, you can use the class .text-nowrap to prevent text from wrapping within an element.
Let’s try out the following example to understand how it basically works:
Responsive web design is a process of designing and building websites to provide better accessibility and optimal viewing experience to the user by optimizing it for different devices.
With the growing trend of smart phones and tablets, it has become almost unavoidable to ignore the optimization of sites for mobile devices. Responsive web design is a preferable alternative and an efficient way to target a wide range of devices with much less efforts.
Responsive layouts automatically adjust and adapts to any device screen size, whether it is a desktop, a laptop, a tablet, or a mobile phone. See the following Illustration.
Creating Responsive Layout with Bootstrap
With the Bootstrap powerful mobile first flexbox grid system creating the responsive and mobile friendly websites and applications has become much easier.
Bootstrap is responsive and mobile friendly from the start. Its six tier grid classes provides better control over the layout as well as how it will be rendered on different types of devices like mobile phones, tablets, laptops and desktops, large screen devices, and so on.
The following example will create a responsive layout that is rendered as 4 column layout in extra-large devices (viewport ≥ 1200px), and 3 column layout in large devices (992px ≤ viewport < 1200px), whereas 2 column layout in medium devices (768px ≤ viewport < 992px), and 1 column layout in small and extra-small devices (viewport < 768px). Let’s try it out and see how it works:
In Bootstrap you can use the class .container-fluid to create fluid layouts to utilize the 100% width of the viewport across all devices (extra small, small, medium, large, extra large, and extra-extra large).
The class .container-fluid simply applies the width: 100% instead of different width for different viewport sizes. However, the layout will still responsive and you can use the grid classes as usual. See the tutorial on Bootstrap grid system to learn more about grid classes.
The following example will create a fluid layout that covers 100% width of the screen.
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— The output of the above example will look something like this:
