
What are your experiences with customizing Twitter Bootstrap? - jacobwilliamroy
Whenever I run into a problem with Bootstrap (usually a layout issue), I try to customize it. Every time I look over the docs, I become extremely anxious, jettison bootstrap from the project, and write the whole site from a clean slate.<p>Am I missing out on incredible time-savings by not taking the time to learn Twitter Bootstrap customization?
======
sharmi
I am not sure about your skillset.

In my case, I am a backend developer. While javascript and general scaffolding
is so easy to myself, creating a button and other ui elements with perfect
shadow and border options resemble the dark arts. And there are so many edge
cases.

For example basic dropdown is rendered differently in different browsers and
are often ugly (atleast in the older versions of the browsers). One would
expect something as basic as a dropdown to be fairly standardised :(

Bootstrap is rather handy in such situations as the ui is standardized across
browsers.

What I tend to do is, use the bootstrap Sass version. So I can write my own
layouts and pull in only the components that I need using the bootstrap Sass.

My apps are usually light on the front end and don't use too many javascript
features from Bootstrap. So I hate having to load jquery, which is a basic
requirement for Bootstrap. One thing that I do is, I use Native Javascript for
Bootstrap[0].

[0]
[https://thednp.github.io/bootstrap.native/](https://thednp.github.io/bootstrap.native/)

------
sheraz
Perhaps rather than using bootstrap on a high stakes project (like client work
or apps with paying customers) you could try bootstrap customization on a low
risk side project? That way when (not if) your screw it up there is no anxiety
of an angry client or customers demanding a fix? There is no anxiety of having
to support IE or some client’s esoteric dom-modifying browser plugins.

This way you can learn at your own pace and really get s feel for the codebase
and workflows for bootstrap customization.

------
mkempe
It's been singular.

You did not explain the exact cause of your anxiety. External pressure or
personal standards?

