
Customize Twitter Bootstrap To Not Look Bootstrap-y - antjanus
http://antjanus.com/blog/web-design-tips/user-interface-usability/customize-twitter-bootstrap-into-themes/
======
cheald
Once upon a time, I wrote a World of Warcraft add-on called "SexyMap".
Basically, it provided a bunch of functionality for your mini-map, and it made
it skinnable in a crapload of interesting ways, so that people could build
maps that thematically fit with the rest of their UIs.

As of right now, it is registering at 4,692,196 downloads.

Nobody customizes the damn thing. In every screenshot I've ever seen with
someone using it, they're using the default skin. The really creative ones do
a hue-shift on the default skin. It ships with a good dozen+ skins, and has an
editor built into it to let people easily build more. The only time that
functionality has apparently been used is when I was building the initial
default skin set.

Default Bootstrap annoys the heck out of me, too, but I've learned that people
just don't customize things even if you give them the tools to do it. If it's
good enough out of the box, they just leave it alone. Bootstrap is good enough
out of the box.

I expect years upon years of default Bootstrap websites. We'd best get used to
them now.

~~~
simonsarris
I agree with you and moreover I don't see a problem with default Bootstrap
sites.

I know a few dozen restaurant sites alone that I could only _dream_ of being
remotely as pleasant to look at as a default Bootstrap site.

The internet has come a long way since the era of Geocities, faux 3D gifs and
blink tags, and I am very thankful that there are tools to make a site look
passably pleasing with very little effort. I will gladly get used to them.

~~~
antjanus
I agree with you on the restaurant thing. There are god-awful sites out there
that make bootstrap look like the holy grail of design deliciousness.

I would, in those cases, prefer to see BS

~~~
nico
Well, there's a good business opportunity in what you guys say, build a custom
CMS system for restaurants, like buuteeq.com but for restaurants.

~~~
user-id
A couple of startups in this space already are <http://letseat.at> and
<http://www.happytables.com/> for reference.

------
gramsey
It's been said here before, but I'm fairly sure the only people "disappointed"
and "annoyed" at the many sites using Bootstrap are web developers. Of course
we notice UI frameworks because it's our job to create websites.

However, the vast majority of users don't give a half a cent about what UI
framework the site is using, let alone know what a front-end toolkit is. All
they notice is that it is easy for them to interact with the app, probably
much easier than if the developer had coded it. In fact, the site is probably
built sooner anyway since the developer didn't have to spend the time to
create a UI by themselves.

~~~
EnderMB
"It's been said here before, but I'm fairly sure the only people
"disappointed" and "annoyed" at the many sites using Bootstrap are web
developers. Of course we notice UI frameworks because it's our job to create
websites."

Are you sure you meant Web Developers? It sounds like you meant Web Designers.

I wouldn't use Bootstrap for any client-facing website, but other agencies I
know have tried it and those that work on the lower-end of the client scale
have had trouble with clients not wanting to pay when the look of certain
elements looks almost exactly like those on other sites they've been to.

Bootstrap is a decent tool, but it has been abused by non-developers and non-
designers that cannot develop or design their own pages. It's hardly
surprising, and it's a testament to how good Bootstrap can be. However, I hope
that Twitter eventually scales back some of Bootstrap to allow people that use
it for its intended use to get more out of it.

~~~
ssharp
I've been using Bootstrap more and more for mostly one reason: it's responsive
grid. I'm sure there are alternatives, but it required very little effort to
find Bootstrap and it does what I need it to do effectively. The other
features are a bonus I can choose to use or to leave out.

Most of BS's javascript features need to be loaded separately and if you use
LESS, you can scale back a huge chunk of the CSS if you don't plan to use
certain CSS features.

------
pxlpshr
I have used many frameworks of the past, but Bootstrap is in a different
league coupled with LESS. It just is.

I see Bootstrap as being not too dissimilar from iOS UI. In the early days,
you saw a lot of UI's built on Apple's native guidelines without much
deviation. It was just difficult, the SDKs weren't fully baked for it. If you
wanted to maintain compatibility as Apple progressed rapidly, you stuck to the
basics.

Now you're seeing all sorts of amazing UI's built upon a solid fountain for
interacting with _multi-touch_ mobile apps. Similarly, Bootstrap is an equally
great foundation for building responsive web apps that just continues to get
better.

As it becomes more of a standard, then more time becomes available for the
veneer. After all, that's really the only thing people are complaining about —
something rather superficial and has no real impact on value of the product.
What is does to the user experience is an open debate (more graphics = slower
on mobile). I'm on my 3rd project with Bootstrap, and finally feel like I have
a grip on adding veneer programmatically after some trial and error.

Want to start a small-cap cash cow? Get some great designers together and go
make the next WooThemes for Bootstrap.

~~~
spitfire
"something rather superficial and has no real impact on value of the product."

Have you A/B tested that? Cavet: To normal real world folk, bootstrap is
shockingly new-high-tech. But you would be surprised how much, say, a dark
green background will help a forestry related website or a swiss bank.

This is excellent stuff and we need more of it. If simply to eliminate the
drudge work of defining GUI's so we can get back to building value in our
companies.

~~~
pxlpshr
Color theory is simple to apply with CSS. The type of veneer I'm describing
goes way beyond that. Fortunately with CSS3, more of it is moving to the style
sheet but it was very tedious until LESS and mixins came into the picture.

Don't forget split testing suffers from ceiling effect.

------
irahul
> I’m sick of seeing the same damn buttons. I’m sick of seeing that same damn
> toolbar up top. It’s driving me crazy.

If only html/css/js/browsers had default decent(or even non-decent) standard
gui widgets from the beginning, there won't have been a need for bootstrap,
and hence no need for getting riled up over buttons looking the same.

Making "submit" button different on every site you work on might have a
purpose; it's just that that "purpose" totally eludes me.

I don't know what app the blog post is talking about, but if you decide not to
use an app because it uses default bootstrap theme implies 1) either you don't
need the app and are just fidgeting around; 2) or the app has so much
competition that people are making decisions based on trivialities; 3) or you
are the kind of person who decides he wants a silver car first and then
decides what kind of car he wants. As a developer, if it's 1, you aren't a
priority. If it's 2, I will have to check if bootstrap is the reason people
are picking up the competition over me - if it isn't and I already have ample
competition breathing down my neck, I have other things to worry about. If
it's 3, I will be bothered only if there are many like you who want a silver
car first and bother about the mileage, pickup, handling etc next; if that
isn't the case, you can shop for your silver car elsewhere.

~~~
antjanus
The submit button isn't the problem. Look at the default HTML styles. What
sites out there still use that blue color for a link? It's one of the first
things that gets redeclared in CSS.

As far as the audience, yes, I was just messing around with a few apps and
looking at them. Each time I felt like there was something drawing me away
from using it. Design is not disjointed from app usage. It's part of
usability, it's part of the allure of an app. Read up on it.

Also, it's an EASY fix. Don't want to look like every other page hosted on
Github or any other small app page? Customize bootstrap. Within 30 minutes,
you're capturing audience, but not only that, you're standing out. It may not
be specifically that bootstrap usage REPULSES people it may just be it doesn't
really get them riled up about your app or make your app memorable.

~~~
irahul
> What sites out there still use that blue color for a link?

What do you mean _that blue_? As far as using blue for links go, I scanned my
opened tabs and Google, Facebook, Github use blue for links. Bootstrap's blue
isn't the browser default blue. They made it blue because most of the users
expect links to be blue.

> Design is not disjointed from app usage.

I don't remember claiming it is. The default bootstrap them isn't bad design.
It's better than what a typical developer or designer comes up with. Also, the
user doesn't give a shit if the buttons look the same on all websites. Most of
the users won't even notice.

> It's part of usability, it's part of the allure of an app. Read up on it.

Making links non-blue or changing button colors isn't usability. Read up on
it.

> Don't want to look like every other page hosted on Github or any other small
> app page? Customize bootstrap.

I would do that if _I don't want to look like every other bootstrap site_.
Does this even need to be said?

> Customize bootstrap. Within 30 minutes, you're capturing audience,

I missed the part where you proved changing bootstrap theme captures audience
in 30 minutes.

> It may not be specifically that bootstrap usage REPULSES people it may just
> be it doesn't really get them riled up about your app or make your app
> memorable.

Since you are throwing around a lot of "maybe" and anecdotes, I will throw one
of mine. I am yet to meet someone who is repulsed by bootstrap and is a
_customer_ \- people who need my app and directly or indirectly pay for it.

~~~
antjanus
"that blue" is the default browser blue and if you check Facebook uses a
different blue and doesn't use the default underline, neither does Google and
neither does Github. They all changed the default.

I'm not saying it's bad design. And if they don't notice, good for you.

it's part of legibility. And yes, it's part of usability as well

that was a point. Do you want to look like every other page hosted on github
or any other small app page?

the article states how long it takes to change to customize bootstrap. It's
less than 30 minutes. Within that time, you can have a site that doesn't look
like stock bootstrap thus differentiating yourself from the rest of the sites
that look exactly the same.

Different audience desires different stuff; however, having a site that keeps
away from the default is brandable, much more so than a default Bootstrap
site. Branding is marketing 101.

What's your site's URL? I'd love to check it out.

~~~
irahul
> > What sites out there still use that blue color for a link?

>> "that blue" is the default browser blue and if you check Facebook uses a
different blue and doesn't use the default underline, neither does Google and
neither does Github. They all changed the default.

Bootstrap doesn't use the default blue either.

> it's part of legibility. And yes, it's part of usability as well

It's part of legibility, but your changes aren't making it any more legible
than it already is.

> that was a point. Do you want to look like every other page hosted on github
> or any other small app page?

Depends.

> Within that time, you can have a site that doesn't look like stock bootstrap
> thus differentiating yourself from the rest of the sites that look exactly
> the same.

Again, that depends. Consider freshbooks - a small product I use. It can very
well switch to bootstrap theme or geocities era design. I won't give a damn
because it's free and serves my purpose. I am pretty sure there are other
invoicing solutions out there, but whether they use bootstrap or not(an
example; none of them do) isn't a variable in my decision.

> however, having a site that keeps away from the default is brandable, much
> more so than a default Bootstrap site. Branding is marketing 101.

At this point, I will just agree to disagree. You seem to place a lot of
importance on visibly differentiating a product. For me, visibly
differentiating(as in changing a few less variables in bootstrap) is so low on
the list that it fell down the list.

> What's your site's URL? I'd love to check it out.

Mostly enterprisy stuff. I do contractual work with Ruby/Python/Clojure.

------
delinka
I can get behind the headline. However, the implementation is seriously
lacking. I'm _not_ a designer. I can't find anyone who can explain to me the
hows and whys of CSS without expecting me to already know CSS. So I just copy
CSS that I like.

I've implemented Bootstrap on a new site. I see your colorschemedesigner.com
link. Now, how do I get these colors from it into Bootstrap? Oh, the Bootstrap
customize page. Which colors from Color Scheme Designer 3 go in which boxes?
If I have to edit CSS, which files do I have to edit and why?

You're a designer and you think this stuff is "easy." Speeding up your
database-centric app is easy, too. Use a proper RDBMS and correctly normalize
your data. What? You don't understand? Yeah, that's how I feel when designers
expect me to "fix" my Bootstrap-clone website.

Edited to add: On Color Scheme Designer, I find a set of colors I think looks
nice and then look at the light and dark page examples ... and they look like
ass. I have no patience to sit and find something that looks nice here and
drop it in Bootstrap there and discover that it looks terrible. A lovely
'download Bootstrap CSS' link on this site would save tons of time.

~~~
ExpiredLink
> If I have to edit CSS, which files do I have to edit and why?

Seems to be the wrong approach. Framework code shall never be changed. The
challenge is to design e.g. your own button that is based on the Bootstrap
button. This approach is upward-compatible.

~~~
delinka
Assuming this is indeed the case, I'm surprised this isn't a big attention-
getter on the bootstrap site. I also have no idea how I'd go about 'extending'
the bootstrap button into something for me.

~~~
ExpiredLink
> I also have no idea how I'd go about 'extending' the bootstrap button into
> something for me.

You extend it by using what CSS offers.

------
sp332
I just don't get the bootstrap hate. Same buttons and toolbar? Well you see
the same buttons and toolbar about every page, in your browser window. It
doesn't bother me.

~~~
antjanus
That's fine. I tend to get riled up about it because there's just no variety.
I understand "standards" and "defaults" the way that the browser displays
stuff but this is just a bit too much for my taste.

~~~
sp332
I don't mind it because the people who use bootstrap get to spend their time
doing something more productive than making a platform. I appreciate the
advice about easily customizing it, though. I didn't think it would be that
easy to make something unique on bootstrap.

~~~
antjanus
I definitely agree with your statement. That's why I said, I know why people
use it. I'm so glad I don't have to spend an hour trying to come up with
styles for a particular thing and have something built in. With that said,
it's even nicer that the interface I look at for 8 hours a day is actually
customized and unique.

------
tptacek
It's funny how when people use alternative dev tools to build UIs on OS X,
people complain that the resulting applications "don't look like Mac
applications", but that at the same time web applications are expected to look
different from one another. What purpose does that look/feel diversity solve?

~~~
statictype
I get the feeling that many of the complaints about "doesn't look like a Mac
app" really mean "isn't as polished".

Chrome on the Mac isn't completely consistent with how Mac apps work but no
one complains about it (as far as I know) because it's polished and works
well.

------
jewel
As HN users I suspect we're seeing a far greater quantity of brand-new
bootstrap sites than almost every other group on the internet. I wouldn't
sweat using bootstrap for your app if you're targeting a different group.

------
nicholassmith
I think people _should_ configure Bootstrap and use different colours, and
approach it not as a strict guideline but as a good starting point with useful
widgets to play with. I am, however, completely happy with people using
Bootstrap unconfigured, it looks good and for the most part is normally used
in a really clean way. A lot of iOS apps look like the stock components, and
that's fine as those components are nice and clean.

There often seems to be a bit of push back about websites looking the same,
especially with Bootstrap sites, but we don't expect (and often don't want)
applications running myriads of different UI styles on our desktops. Maybe
it's just a sign of the times.

~~~
Swizec
I visually recognise websites I visit, app-like stuff especially.

Everyone using bootstrap has made the internet a mostly unrecognizable hogwash
of same-looking stuff that I have a hard time telling apart, let alone any
sort of lasting impression being left.

Think about it, even Bootstrap's page itself doesn't look like a default
Boostrap template.

~~~
nicholassmith
If the page has made no impression, doesn't that speak more about the content
than the presentation? I agree on the visual aspects of being able to
determine a page, but Bootstrap just provides a clean way to display some
content, I'm alright with that.

And no, Bootstraps page doesn't look like a default template, but they don't
say 'you _must_ customise it', it's left up to the
developer/designer/implementor.

~~~
Swizec
I think that was OP's point though. Bootstrap is a framework, so please use it
as a framework, not as a finished solution.

And I don't think lasting impressions are determined that much by content. I
recognize pages by a sort of screenshot in my mind, it's a bit like
recognizing faces. Happens too quickly for the content to come into play.

~~~
nicholassmith
It's a finished solution _and_ a framework, it can be picked on what you need
from it. Not being trying obtuse, I just see a lot of criticism levelled at
Bootstrap for creating similar looking pages, but for most of those pages
they're primarily focussed around displaying content in a nice way
(documentation for example).

------
sopooneo
All windows apps look the same. And all Mac Apps. Maybe Bootstrap is the
beginning of making all things web look/work/feel similar to on another. Is
that terrible?

~~~
taude
I'd dispute that any of my apps on OS X or Windows look the same, except those
from related product families like Office. Safari doesn't look like Chrome.
Mac Mail looks nothing like iPhoto, etc...

------
dclaysmith
When I started on my project I created a /css directory and then a /twitter
folder underneath it full of the raw .less files. When I decided I wanted to
use a bootstrap component, I would move it out of the /twitter folder into the
main /css folder and then include it. It's a good way to get a lot out of
Twitter bootstrap without falling into the "obviously bootstrappy" look.

Over time, I've tried to remove what I can of the bootstrap look and feel but
I found it hard (for me and my below average css skills) to beat some of the
items (forms, etc). My site (<http://www.thetaboard.com>) is definitely 'built
with bootstrap' but I don't think it gives off a 100% bootstrap vibe.

~~~
antjanus
I'm bookmarking it and I'll feature it on my next post with the results from
people :) thanks!

honestly, the forms, tables etc. those styles are okay with me. It's just that
toolbar and buttons that goes against grain for me.

~~~
Kerrick
Another site I've seen in the wild Built with Bootstrap that was quite
difficult to tell at first pass was Bright Nest. <http://brightnest.com/>

The Missouri Department of Conservation's E-Testing service for Hunter's
Education also uses a customized version of Bootstrap, but it's pretty easy to
tell it's Bootstrap. <http://www.hunter-ed.com/missouri/>

~~~
antjanus
I'll add these to my follow up post on what sites do use bootstrap but you
can't tell

------
Sakes
Example of not bootstrappy bootstrap.

Here is a quick and simple site I did this weekend. I used bootstrap because
of it's responsive design support. It makes it easy to create content that
looks nice on desktops and mobile/tablet devices.

<http://patriciafreymd.com/>

It is pretty simple to make bootstrap not so bootstrappy, just view source and
take a look at my inc.css file.

~~~
jonknee
Why is it so narrow? 768 pixels at its widest isn't very responsive, only
phones will not be wide enough (and even then only some phones).

~~~
Sakes
The site was made 4 years ago using tables and images for titles. I just took
the existing design and converted it to bootstrap, header tags, and paragraph
tags. The titles are actual text now too.

I didn't make it any wider because there is not a lot of content to begin
with. It just doesn't need a wide amount of real estate.

------
namzo
My simple solution to prevent your site from looking "bootstrap-y" is to
design a mockup of what you want to achieve first (in maybe photoshop or
fireworks) then re-create that interface with bootstrap & make sure you use
the design as a guide. Works every time.

Disclaimer: I'm a front-end designer.

~~~
publicfig
That's the method I've tended to use, and it's worked great for me. The
problem with starting from bootstrap is that it's incredibly well designed for
specific purposes, and there's a fear that changing anything is making it
worst for the sake of difference. By starting with the interaction design, not
only can you cut down on the elements used from Bootstrap, you can find
uniqueness and utility without losing too much.

------
mixmastamyk
On one hand, its nice to have a one-of-a-kind site. But, I'm going to disagree
that using a standard theme is a bad thing.

When I use a GUI one of the things I hate is when an app doesn't follow the
look and feel of the system. This "skinz" disease ever trending upward.

So, I also tend to think every web site looking similar (and great) is a
blessing. A lot of time can be saved trying to find your way around, and
you'll know what to expect. The focus therefore falls to the content which was
an original goal of the web.

There might not be as many design jobs open for secondary players, but it's
happening all over these days, see the teachers vs. khan academy trend.

------
enra
Wrote a similar post while back if you're interested in learning more
<http://blog.kippt.com/2012/04/26/building-with-bootstrap/>

~~~
antjanus
Ha! I didn't know you guys wrote about it too. Your site was halfway an
inspiration for me to use bootstrap (rather than try to do my own thing) and
customize it beyond recognition!

------
taude
I've said it before, but I like Zurb Foundation because I felt that I had to
customize a few things from the get-go: <http://foundation.zurb.com/> (Not
affiliated) And the built in responsive grid stuff is pretty nice, and you can
still chose some of your own display components.

~~~
taude
I should add that I think Twitter Bootstrap is perfect for building behind-
the-firewall type of corporate/infrastructure apps. But using it bare on a
public-facing marketing site?

------
johnernaut
I feel like the tone of this post could have been less rage-filled and more
informative. I also wasn't very impressed with the end result. It still looks
extremely bootstrappy to me (not that I think that's a bad thing).

~~~
antjanus
Wait, what do you mean by end result? There really wasn't one, I posted
screenshots of the applications I used to adjust bootstrap.

And yeah, I tend to write "passionately". I basically wrote this up after
seeing five or six different apps using bootstrap -.- it gets really annoying,
and I just can't stand it.

However, I'll take the suggestion of being informative over rage-filled to
heart next time. Thanks!

~~~
jacobsimeon
I think the parent was talking about the screen shot with the big green
rectangle in the center when he said "the end result". I, for one, thought the
writing felt a bit rushed and perhaps overblown with the whole "you're lazy if
you don't customize bootstrap" tone. But the tools you linked to seem like
they're pretty useful, so I think you achieved your goal of raising awareness
of how easy it is to customize bootstrap.

~~~
antjanus
I'll keep that in mind. Didn't want it to sound like that. Unfortunately, the
post arose from some frustration on my part. Thanks!

------
ScotterC
I'm really really glad so many developers who are starting out are using
bootstrap. It makes it a hell of a lot easier to get people up to speed when
they join my team. It's awesome to have someone start learning your codebase
and have an easy command of the templates out of the box because they've
worked with that framework before.

Now, my company Artsicle.com has a bootstrap foundation but you'd never guess
it. However, whining about a good UI that works on many browsers out of the
box and provides easy responsiveness? Get over yourself.

------
thomasfl
"Don’t want to do it? Fine! Hire me. Seriously. You see that button on the
right?"

Wonderful shameless self promotion! I don't see no reason to be shy about what
you want with your blog posting.

~~~
antjanus
Thanks :) I originally didn't want to add it but I'm pretty strapped for
hosting right now and it's supposed to renew. ;)

~~~
Swizec
Yeah, your hosting is already crumbling under the pressure it seems. Site is
very slow.

That said, I might need a designer in the near-ish future. Email is in my
profile.

~~~
jongalloway2
PROTIP: Cloudflare <https://www.cloudflare.com/>

~~~
antjanus
Already on it. Max caching and optimization. My hosting provider actually
integrates directly with them.

------
Lukeas14
I've taken the opposite route for my project <http://iwaat.com>. The HTML/CSS
is all done from scratch with several elements stolen from Bootstrap (ex.
highlighting around form fields). It also uses a background image from subtle
patterns which really made all the difference vs. plain white/grey. I'm sure
this workflow took longer than building off of Bootstrap from the start but I
like the way it turned out.

------
PeterPiper
Confused... In your article you state: "Second, I need something that I can
develop quickly in without having to write any styles, my current work focuses
on results rather than prettiness and UI (for all I know, they wouldn’t mind
straight HTML without CSS but that would make working on it hell for me)."
Same reason people use the default Bootstrap theme.

~~~
antjanus
Yes, I also iterate in the article that it's quite fine to develop in
bootstrap default theme; however, I would appreciate if they could at least
download one of the free themes or use a SLIGHTLY modified version of it. Cool
thing is, (and I stated this) they can just drop the modified version in
whenever they wish to once they're done with development.

------
at-fates-hands
I'm wondering if this is a side effect of too many frameworks where developers
have gotten so lazy, design is a total afterthought.

I actually thought the end result of this framework would've been the complete
opposite of what's happening. Since developers have more time and resources,
they'd take the time to experiment and put some real effort into a design.

------
colinsidoti
Meh, I'm currently guilty of using straight bootstrap styles with
www.kangacruise.com

I also hate the UI, but I don't think these kinds of changes would be worth
the marginal improvement. I know I'll never get what I _really_ want with
these subtle changes, so I think I'm better off waiting until I can hire a
designer.

------
rosstamicah
If, in 5 years time, 50% of the internet looked like default
bootstrap.....this would not be a bad thing. At all.

------
AtTheLast
I'll take a bootstrap site over some janky unusable design I've seen plenty of
programmers create.

~~~
antjanus
point taken and I whole-heartedly agree. But I wish the programmers could take
that one extra step (those 10-30 extra minutes) and make it unique.

------
mjs7231
I customized Bootstrap on my website. Thing is, no one knows I'm using it
because of the customization. I suppose you only notice the people who don't
customize it, and assume because of that, no one customizes it?

------
jaredsohn
This seems like something a browser extension could resolve, at least
partially. If you're a web designer, you can install this extension and then
each bootstrap site would always use a random predefined CSS.

------
ojr
An efficient way is to learn less, work with it on the client side and compile
it from the command line to css, this can be a pain on windows, I'm going to
make a youtube video describing it!

~~~
antjanus
I have a sublime text 2 plugin that builds it with a keyboard shortcut. Same
with SASS :)

~~~
mjs7231
Take it one step further. Install SublimeOnSaveBuild and have it compile every
time you save a less or sass file.

~~~
antjanus
will do

------
pud
One of the things I did on my Boostrap'd site, is to make the button corners
sharp instead of rounded. That makes a big difference in making it look less
Bootstrap'y. See fandalism.com

------
cek
We use Bootswatch and are really pleased with the results (www.milelogr.com).
It appears to be broken with BS 2.1, but i haven't taken the time to see what
broke.

------
AndresOspina
I haven´t used Bootstrap, but Hacker News Community always impulse to test the
"new" ways and technologies for solve the "problems". So get one's hands
dirty!

------
atomical
Is there an easy way to preview bootstrap after you customize the variables? A
quick and dirty preview, maybe?

~~~
antjanus
The only way to do that is to use Boottheme. Boot theme does a great job
because it gives you all the responsive views, and different layouts. You can
also edit html on the site to see what it would look like.

------
memset
Great to use this page as a resource of all the tools the community has built
around extending boostrap.

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joeblau
Thanks so much for the resources. I knew of a few, but the rest helped a lot!

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alpine
Anyone with experience starting with a Bootstrap theme then handing it over to
a designer to see what they come up with?

