Bootstrap Blog
If you’re looking for a web host provider for your next website or blog, I highly recommend that you give SiteGround a try. I’ve been using them as my host for all 7 of my WordPress websites for over 4 years, and I’ve literally never had any problems. I’ve also recently started using them to host my Bootstrap website, and that too is working perfectly, as expected. Installing bootstrap was a breeze – I just uploaded the Bootstrap files via an FTP to my SiteGround account, and personalized it to suit my needs, and it was good to go.
SiteGround has everything you need to run a Bootstrap website… they offer both HTML and CSS, as well as JS. So, overall, they make a perfect web hosting provider for those who’re using Bootstrap (or any CMS/framework for that matter).
You can have your Bootstrap website up and running 24/7 for just $3.99 per month.
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Also, feel free to reach out to me if you’re in need of web design because I can certainly help you out.
All the Best,
Andrew,
Web Designer
Introduction
Bootstrap is a fantastic tool released by Twitter to help people design websites. Initially, it was just something that they’d built for themselves internally, however, they decided to release it to the public to help out other web designers, and so far, it’s been a huge hit. It’s made web design easier and faster, allowing coders to get a really nice mobile-ready site up very quickly.
It’s not a Content Management System (CMS) like WordPress, and in order to use it, you should be able to do some coding (unlike with CMS’s like WP, where no coding is required) but, so long as you have SOME technical ability, Bootstrap is, on the whole, a fantastic tool. It’s also become exceedingly popular as well, being the #1 most used HTML, CSS, and JavaScript Framework for mobile friendly (responsive) websites. I’ve talked about it before, but now I want to get more into the meat and potatoes of how to actually use it.
Getting Started
First, before you can get a site going using Bootstrap, you’re going to need to get hosting. There are a lot of different hosts out there to choose from, but if you know me, then you know I like SiteGround because in my humble opinion, there’s simply no better host out there, period. I’m currently hosting most of my sites with SiteGround, and I’ve never had any problems with them.
I’ve been hosting my sites with them for over 7 years now, and not only do they handle all of my traffic effortlessly, they also rarely (if ever) go down, and, if I need to speak with them for any reason, they’re quick to help me out as well… their customer service is just fantastic. So again, if you’re in need of hosting, then I’d highly recommend you give SiteGround a try. If you do, I can almost guarantee you’ll never think of switching to another host for as you have your sites up.
So, once you have a hosting account and domain name (both of which you can get from SiteGround, not just the hosting) then it’s time to get Bootstrap. Now, if you go to Bootstrap.com, you’ll find yourself on a generic “coming soon” site, which has absolutely nothing to do with the desired Bootstrap framework, so, in order to GET Bootstrap, we have to go www.getbootstrap.com. You’ll see that (at the time of this writing) it’s a relatively simple site, which has a general description at the top, and underneath that, there’s a big “Download Bootstrap” button. You’re going to want to click on that, and you’ll be redirected to a page which has a few different downloading options.
You’re going to see “Bootstrap”, “Source Code”, and “Sass”. Unless you’re very tech-savvy and know what you’re doing, you’re going to want to go with the “Bootstrap” option. If you choose “Source Code”, you’re going to need a Less compiler, and on top of that, some setup will be required. Unless you’re going to be using Sass, you can safely ignore that option as well.
Once you know which type of download is best for you (again, I recommend the Bootstrap option) then it’s time to start building out your site. Bootstrap is a bit more technical than CMS’s (which I’ve covered before), so the full design of a Bootstrap website is beyond the scope of this article, but you can click here for a fantastic Bootstrap tutorial for beginners, which will give you everything which you need to get your Bootstrap site up and running.
I hope you’ve enjoyed my quick tutorial on how to build a website with Bootstrap. Good Luck with creating your new Bootstrap website!
First of all, Bootstrap is great because it has literally no compatibility issues with any browsers (even a lot of the older ones) which all developers know, is a big plus. It works well in any browser, and, if you use an older browser, it automatically downgrades for you to avoid issues without you having to do a thing.
Now, WordPress, as we all know, is a great CMS, but, it’s really more for people who’re using PC’s, as opposed to tablets, or smart phones… which is really a big problem in this day and age. This is where Bootstrap comes in handy, because it automatically detects the device that a person’s using, and it changes the appearance of the website accordingly so that it renders smoothly on any device, and you don’t have the UI issues which arise when you visit a typical WordPress site using a mobile device. Granted, you can do this with WordPress as well, but you have to install a plugin for it, and then just hope it works… which many of us know can be quite the hassle.
Also, its source code utilizes the two most popular preprocessors, Sass, and {less}, so you can enjoy precompiled style sheets with ease. Of course, it also comes equipped with CSS as well, so you can write the CSS code from scratch, if that’s preferable for you.
On top of all that, Bootstrap is absolutely crammed with amazing features, which quickly and easily allow you to get done what you have to, virtually hassle free. There’s a ton of documentation for stunning, custom HTML elements, as well as components for both HTML as well as CSS. And if that’s not enough, they’ve also got some amazing jQuery plugins which can be a dream come true for many of its users.
So, there you have it. Overall, it’s safe to say that Bootstrap is one of the best, if not the best toolkit of its kind, and clearly beats out much of its competition, including WordPress. WordPress was definitely great, but in this day and age, it’s simply out of date, and Bootstrap is soon to be the new #1 in all likelihood. We recommend you give it a try, if you haven’t yet. Just go to www.getbootstrap.com and you can download it for free. Enjoy.
So, what is Bootstrap, and what makes it so great?
Well, first of all, Bootstrap isn’t technically a CMS, but instead, it’s a free group of tools which can be used to create both websites, and web apps. At its core, it’s designed with simple HTML and CSS, so of course, if you’re one of the many people who know how to code in one or both or these languages, you’ll have the advantage of being able to customize your websites to a much higher degree than if you don’t. That being said, however, even if you don’t know HTML or CSS, you can still customize your websites to a high degree with relative ease, as Bootstrap is a very user-friendly toolset.
It was originally developed by two gentlemen working over at Twitter, by the names of Mark Otto, and Jacob Thornton. Why was it developed? Well, like all good solutions, it was developed as an answer to a problem (though today, it’s become so much more than that).
The problem was that there was a high degree of inconsistency between the various tools that the fine folks over at Twitter were using, and this caused what you could call a “maintenance nightmare”. You see, when tools don’t run smoothly together, they end up interacting in strange ways, and this causes some serious problems for the I.T. department, in the form of fires which have to be put out left and right. So, a solution was created, and Bootstrap was born.
In June of 2014, Bootstrap was actually the number one project on GitHub, an extremely popular Git repository. It had over 69k stars and over 25k forks (and for those of you who aren’t Github users… that’s quite a bit). So what type of users currently belong to the Bootstrap user base? It has some big names, including MSNBC, NASA, and others. Organizations like this don’t take part in a part in a project like Bootstrap unless it has some serious potential, and in this case, it definitely does.
Nowadays, Content Management Systems (CMS) are the go-to way of designing any website. In fact, very few websites today aren’t created using some sort of CMS. The reasons for this are fairly simple: CMS’s are easy to use, quick to learn, and nowadays, they’re extremely customizable, while also being much easier to edit than traditional forms of website design, so it’s no wonder people are flocking to them in favor of the “old” web design techniques.
CMS’s started mostly as “blogging” tools, though they’ve become much more that, essentially being able to handle nearly every type of web design required, oftentimes even working a lot more efficiently and quickly than all the traditional methods. Of course, they still make great blogging tools, but nowadays, that’s just one small capability out of many.
So, what are some of the powerful CMS’s available today? Well, we have Blogger (still very popular), Weebly (a classic, but seems to be losing some popularity), Joomla (great for customization), Drupal, and of course, the most popular one of them all: WordPress. While these are all pretty great solutions in their own right, WordPress has taken precedence as the #1 CMS by a long shot. It’s estimated that 80% or more of CMS users are currently using WordPress… and there’s a reason for it; overall, it’s a great CMS, and it’s unbelievably user-friendly.
That being said however, there’s currently one CMS which is still small, and yet, it’s gaining popularity in leaps and bounds, and becoming what’s likely to be the next “top dog” in the CMS arena.
What is it, you’re probably wondering, and why is it taking precedence over the major CMS’s in the field today, such as WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal?
It’s called “Bootstrap”, and for many reasons, it’s one of a kind…
