

Wordpress Bootstrap 3 Starter Theme – MIT License - bcarlson
https://github.com/bencarlson/wp-bootstrap
Thought you guys might find this useful. I whipped it up over the weekend as I couldn&#x27;t find one that worked properly. I&#x27;m using it for a client project, and will make updates as I make progress.<p>-Ben
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retlehs
You shouldn't be hardcoding CSS/JS into the template files - look into
wp_enqueue_style and wp_enqueue_script.

Could use a better directory structure, too. Assets should be in a different
folder, things like the walker should be in a lib/includes folder.

Being a starter theme, it doesn't make sense to just reference the Bootstrap
CSS from a CDN. Shouldn't you have the LESS files so people can easily make
changes without having to do overrides in their CSS?

ps. It's "WordPress", not "Wordpress"
([http://codex.wordpress.org/Function_Reference/capital_P_dang...](http://codex.wordpress.org/Function_Reference/capital_P_dangit))

Disclaimer: I made Roots ([http://roots.io](http://roots.io)), a Bootstrap
starter theme that's been around for a while

~~~
bcarlson
There's alot of stuff I did in this whipped together version that you
shouldn't do! :) If you think this is something to take as-is and use, you're
sorrowfully mistaken! :) I just wanted to give people a shortcut to start
using Bootstrap 3 on wORDpRESS... er, I mean WordPress (sorry about that...
touchy people... sheesh!) :)

Ok, all snarky responses aside, you're absolutely right on your points. The
way I look at it is, I have six hours into it, realized it might be useful for
others, and have alot of the tough parts out of the way. I am not selling it,
so if it rubs you the wrong way, say your piece, and move along. This is not
for you, right now.

I hadn't heard of Roots before, and obviously didn't find it in my searching.
Looking at the site, you might want to make it clear what versions of both
WordPress and Bootstrap you are using... I believe I was searching on
something like "Wordpress bootstrap 3 theme", and it didn't show up.

Take care man, and keep doing what you're doing... it looks solid!

-Ben

~~~
MichaelTieso
Roots is likely one of the most popular starter templates out there for
WordPress. Try searching for "WordPress Starter Template" rather than
WordPress Bootstrap 3. Bootstrap is optional on Roots, it's only included for
your convenience. I guess they could put the number 3 on the front page but
with a little search on GitHub, you'll see that Bootstrap 3 is used and
updated rather quickly with each release.

It's pretty clear on the Roots site that it's a starter template. Not sure
it's necessary to put what version of WordPress it works on seeing that it's
pretty obvious that it works on the latest.

Just a Roots user that has been following its development and using it for
clients.

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davidgerard
I believe Wordpress have stated that they regard Wordpress themes as
derivative code of Wordpress, and the PHP of a theme should therefore be GPL,
else constitute a copyright violation:

[http://ma.tt/2010/07/theme-are-gpl-too/](http://ma.tt/2010/07/theme-are-gpl-
too/) [http://markjaquith.wordpress.com/2010/07/17/why-wordpress-
th...](http://markjaquith.wordpress.com/2010/07/17/why-wordpress-themes-are-
derivative-of-wordpress/)

~~~
lucasmullens
Correct, they have to be GPL. Even paid themes must be GPL.

~~~
davidgerard
Yep. Thus demonstrating quite well, btw, that there is a market for paid GPL
software. (And the assorted images and CSS are often under another licence.)

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bretthopper
This looks like a good, simple Bootstrap 3 theme.
[https://github.com/roots/roots](https://github.com/roots/roots) is another
more mature option, but also has more features (could be a downside for some).

~~~
MichaelTieso
Been using Roots for awhile and absolutely love it. For all the other
features, they make it quite easy to remove. Very active on GitHub too.

------
thebiglebrewski
Also would be awesome to implement it as a theme in
[https://github.com/zachfeldman/wordpress-haml-
sass](https://github.com/zachfeldman/wordpress-haml-sass)

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eflowers
I've started a similar thing, but much more bare bones and meant for really
digging through things. There's almost no presentation layer done other than
just setting up Bootstrap defaults. It's meant to be something you go fully
custom on the design, and hopefully it is as much of a "reset" as it can be.

The theme is here: [http://shoelace-theme.helloerik.com/](http://shoelace-
theme.helloerik.com/) the repo: [https://github.com/erikflowers/shoelace-
theme](https://github.com/erikflowers/shoelace-theme)

It's built on the hybrid-base pre starter theme:
[http://themehybrid.com/themes/hybrid-
base](http://themehybrid.com/themes/hybrid-base)

It's not a _theme you use as is_ , its just a starter that is meant to be
hacked apart as needed, but it has the bootstrap Less and your own less
already started, and the html/php stuff is stubbed out for a lot easier
manipulation.

I made it with the intent that you should have to do as little "undoing" of a
theme as possible, which is why there are almost no custom layouts or designs.

It's 0.0.0, as I am just getting started. Definitely not worth a HN
submission, but I would be really interested in seeing what people think of
this approach in comparison to the OP's, which is great and I commend and
admire the efforts.

------
thebiglebrewski
Hey, this is awesome! Got a demo site maybe?

~~~
bcarlson
I just tossed one up at a new domain... it'll likely change so check the
github site for the latest. Without further ado:
[http://hillfold.com/](http://hillfold.com/)

~~~
thebiglebrewski
Cool! Your test menu page is broken?
[http://hillfold.com/?page_id=15](http://hillfold.com/?page_id=15) Might want
to check out the page.php file

------
bcarlson
Hey guys, thanks for the response! This was just meant to be a starting point
for anyone working on getting bootstrap 3 to work. It's not an end-all be-all,
use it as-is theme. I just realized after a bunch of hours of fighting through
and figuring out stuff, that this might help some others.

You have great points about the (horrible lack of) code structure. Sue me. Fix
it yourself! :) Kidding aside, literally I have about six hours into this, and
thought it might be helpful to others.

I really stuck it on github more so that my buddies could use it, than for
general consumption... it was just a whim to stick in on here.

I'll pop up a demo site in the next day or two... client work takes a
priority. If I had expected to get as much traffic as I am, I would have put
it up already... sorry about that!

As for the licensing... I'm not up on it, and shame on me for that... I guess
I'll have to do some reading about GPL vs MIT... I just know that I tend to
use MIT in the past. Thank you for pointing that out... stay tuned.

------
ptbello
Good job! I did the same a while ago
[https://github.com/ptbello/_strap](https://github.com/ptbello/_strap)

it's a medley between bootstrap 2.3.* and automattic's _s theme. Haven't got
round to updating it to bootstrap 3 yet. I guess that's what the Christmas
break will be for.

------
DotSauce
Here is a preview for anyone interested in seeing it right away:
[http://www.markfulton.com/?theme=wp-bootstrap-
master](http://www.markfulton.com/?theme=wp-bootstrap-master)

The front page template is hard coded.

------
gavinballard
Looks great, Ben! I agree with thebiglebrewski that a link to a demo site
would be super helpful.

FYI, I built a similar (paid) product for Shopify Themes
([http://bootstrapforshopify.com](http://bootstrapforshopify.com)) and I have
gotten quite a few queries from folks asking about a similar thing for
Wordpress - there are people willing to pay for something like this, for sure,
if you're interested in offering a supported version or something of that ilk.

In any case, now I have somewhere to direct folks that ask about a WP
Bootstrap framework :).

------
abimaelmartell
[http://choosealicense.com/licenses/gpl-v2/](http://choosealicense.com/licenses/gpl-v2/)
Sublicensing is Forbidden

~~~
bcarlson
Shame on me... thanks for pointing that out, I'll try to get some time to
figure out what license I can use.

~~~
abimaelmartell
you only can use GPL v2, the same as wordpress

------
callmeed
I've been recently looking to build a theme or have one built. It's been a bit
of a pain trying to track down the best practices and tools to use for theme
development.

Can anyone offer some guidance? Does a framework like Genesis help or hurt in
the long-run? Are tools like [http://roots.io](http://roots.io) getting
traction?

What are the essential things to require when hiring someone to build a theme
for you?

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straws
Just here to say: if you have to be using WordPress, use Timber
([http://jarednova.github.io/timber/](http://jarednova.github.io/timber/)).

Abstracts away what is terrible about querying posts, pages, authors,
comments, etc and gives you nice objects with what you'd expect. Uses Twig
templates.

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pavansolapure
What is the depth of menus you have implemented. Twitter Bootstrap recommends
only 2 levels. I am looking for simple solution to allow multiple levels of
menus. Any pointers?

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skloubkov
Just a suggestion, but perhaps you should provide a screenshot or a demo page.
Seems like it would help since its all about visuals for the project.

~~~
bcarlson
Here you go: [http://hillfold.com/](http://hillfold.com/)

------
the_mitsuhiko
How can you even legally combine wordpress (GPL 2.0) with bootstrap (Apache
License 2.0)?

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hnriot
Why would you adapt Wordpress, something that isn't a bootstrap project, but
rather a mature product? The bootstrap framework is meant as (and delivers as)
a starter place from which to begin customization. Bootstrap has done wonders
for the web, but putting a theme on wp for it just doesn't (to me) make any
sense.

~~~
jrochkind1
Because Bootstrap's typography and layout (line heights, margins and spacing,
etc.) is way better than most everything else, including browser default
stylesheets and most WP themes.

Because if you do want to customize it further, there are an increasing number
of people who find it most efficient and powerful to do that on top of
Bootstrap, and a lot of code samples/templates for doing so.

I know that the official line is (or was?) that Bootstrap is 'a starter place,
for wireframe prototypes, not for mature projects' \-- but that is not in fact
how it's been used. I believe the reason it's been so popular is because of
it's excellent typography, as well as fairly well-structured easy to work with
code.

~~~
pdwetz
Related to these points, if you're using Bootstrap elsewhere and then have to
work on a WP project, it's convenient being able to utilize the same classes,
tricks, etc. that you've grown accustomed to utilizing.

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nixarn
No screenshots? Or am I missing something

~~~
buckbova
There's probably not much to look at, aside from pictures of bbq chicken.

~~~
bcarlson
Yeah... I'm building a site for a BBQ Sauce company, and when I went looking
for a wordpress/bootstrap3 theme to start with... nada. So, enjoy the chicken
and ribs photos for now... I'll try to put up a demo site shortly. :)

------
abimaelmartell
wp_bootstrap_navwalker is GPL, wordpress is GPL, you cant license your project
as MIT

