

Show HN: Bootswatch, free swatches for your Bootstrap site - parkov
http://bootswatch.com

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quan
Wow, what a coincidence! I just created a very similar project
<http://www.lavishbootstrap.com/>

How did you generate the different themes, and are they stored in different
css/less files?

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redslazer
That looks really amazing, i have also tried a couple of pictures and it works
really well.

I was wondering if it would be possible to share a link with the picture
attached allready, so you could show the theme to other people easily?

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quan
Just append image_url parameter like this:
[http://www.lavishbootstrap.com/?image_url=http://farm2.stati...](http://www.lavishbootstrap.com/?image_url=http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1156/5104802230_103b475358.jpg)

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stdbrouw
It's interesting to see Bootstrap is slowly turning into what jQuery UI was
always supposed to be.

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vyrotek
Agreed. The current state of jQuery UI is what pushed me to consider other
frameworks such as Dojo (which I'm really enjoying). I've also started using
Bootstrap on a new project and really like it as well. I just need more
components! :)

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mitchellmckenna
What are some of the components you think it's missing?

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vyrotek
I've been spoiled by Dojo with these components:

\- Rich DataGrid with ajax pagination & filtering

\- DropDown with ajax source for typeahead feature

I also think Bootstrap needs an initial set of distinct looking themes. Not
just different colors but fonts, padding, sizes etc. It would help me feel
confident that I would be able to create something that doesn't look like
everyone else's site.

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wildmXranat
As a developer, I'm not kidding when I say that Bootstrap and related projects
made it feel like perpetual Christmas. Thanks mate!

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joshmanders
Agreed whole heartily.

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jonny_eh
This is very very cool.

It'd be even cooler if users could customize the themes right on the site, but
that's probably obvious and not easy to implement.

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moe
At the current pace of the bootstrap ecosystem I wouldn't be surprised to see
that announced here on HN within the next couple weeks...

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rvenugopal1
This is awesome. I presume this is targeted at Bootstrap 2.0. Correct? One
question I have is, how do you plan to deal with changing versions of
Bootstrap. Just so I understand, are you recommending dropping the chosen
variables.less along with bootstrap less files to compile it?

Thanks

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parkov
Yes, it's targeting 2.0. Both the CSS and LESS files will be kept in sync with
Bootstrap. So you won't need to compile anything, just download the latest
swatch CSS.

~~~
rvenugopal1
I didn't see a target bootstrap version at
<http://bootswatch.com/spacelab/bootstrap.min.css>

Hence, I assumed that we had to compile the less files. Also, not everyone
will be willing to move to the latest version of bootstrap.

It might be easier to let github manage the multiple versions with a download
page similar to this <https://github.com/wycats/handlebars.js/downloads> .

Personally, I don't mind doing the extra step of lessc if I can get exactly
what I want. Thanks for the effort.

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pinchyfingers
My life keeps getting better. Thanks you, Thomas and Quan, both. I always
leave the front-end work for last because design is ridiculously more
difficult than coding. Guys like your are easing the anxiety I feel every time
I start trying to figure out colors, fonts, layout, etc.

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josscrowcroft
I love the concept - my only problem with it is that the six starter themes
(swatches) featured on the site aren't really attractive enough, more like
failed experiments... it could benefit from a design-off where popular
designers create a swatch with their own take on the Bootstrap, and submit it
to the site...

PS: Overheard on Twitter
(<https://twitter.com/#!/bcherry/status/169960949967626241>):

 _New web dev trend: "Yo dawg I heard you like Bootstrap so I made bootstrap
for your Bootstrap so you can bootstrap while you Bootstrap."_

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mcobrien
This is great! One minor thing I noticed is that on the homepage, the bottom
three swatches don't seem to link to individual files properly -- they all
download the bootstrap.min.css, regardless of what you choose in the split
button.

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alanmeaney
Thanks Thomas, this is great. Really wanted to customize bootstrap for a demo
site for a project I'm working on and your Spacelab swatch is perfect, saved
me loads of time. I'll drop you a mail for a peak when it's live, should be in
the next week or so.

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joshmanders
What would be awesome is a way to select all custom colors and build a unique
bootstrap swatch right on the site with live preview, like
<http://bytefluent.com/vivify/> does for VIM color schemes.

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thehodge
This is fantastic and just what bootstrap needs to stop people complaining
about all the bootstrap sites looking the same.. I hope this stays on the
frontpage a while so more people can find out and contribute..

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arturadib
More and more folks are realizing the power of Open Source - why limit it to
functional code when we all need design just as much? This is a fantastic
trend, and (I hope) just the beginning.

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corroded
Isn't this almost the same as this?

wrapbootstrap.com/themes

which was featured a couple of days ago? Maybe you could submit your
"swatches" as themes and earn a couple of bucks :)

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Blocks8
Nice site. I bookmarked it but it would be cool to sign up for a email when
there are new themes available. A very passive way to stay top of mind.

Thanks for creating this!

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mobytea
great stuff, lavishbootstrap is great too. hope that maybe the kuler color
schema or the colourlovers api get inside!

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creatom
Just awesome, that's exactly what Bootstrap was missing! I hope your project
will grow big, good luck!

P.S. That would be even cooler if there were more dark themes.

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jsavimbi
That's really nice, thank you. All I did was download the file and replaced my
existing bootstrap.min.css with it and it works great.

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tormentor
Awesome! Soon all our sites will look like bootstrap but now with a variety of
different colors. THANKS!! CSS is so hard.

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tormentor
lmfao your all idiots. this is why stupid shit like this makes it to the top.
im going to reddit

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joshmanders
Heaven forbid something helpful to the community and makes it easier to get
something useful to a level of eye pleasing is a wrong thing.

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PaulAnunda
this is awesome, thanks for the contribution!

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radagaisus
Nice work. thanks!

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railsmax
That's really cool!!! Thanks a lot !!!

