Getting · Bootstrap

Before downloading, be sure to have a code editor (we recommend Sublime Text 2) and some working knowledge of HTML and CSS. We won't walk through the source files here, but they are available for download. We'll focus on getting started with the compiled Bootstrap files.

Download compiled

Fastest way to get started: get the compiled and minified versions of our CSS, JS, and images. No docs or original source files.

Download Bootstrap

Download source

Get the original files for all CSS and JavaScript, along with a local copy of the docs by downloading the latest version directly from GitHub.

Download Bootstrap source

Within the download you'll find the following file structure and contents, logically grouping common assets and providing both compiled and minified variations.

Once downloaded, unzip the compressed folder to see the structure of (the compiled) Bootstrap. You'll see something like this:

  bootstrap/
  ├── css/
  │   ├── bootstrap.css
  │   ├── bootstrap.min.css
  ├── js/
  │   ├── bootstrap.js
  │   ├── bootstrap.min.js
  └── fonts/
      ├── glyphiconshalflings-regular.eot
      ├── glyphiconshalflings-regular.otf
      ├── glyphiconshalflings-regular.svg
      ├── glyphiconshalflings-regular.ttf
      └── glyphiconshalflings-regular.woff

This is the most basic form of Bootstrap: compiled files for quick drop-in usage in nearly any web project. We provide compiled CSS and JS (bootstrap.*), as well as compiled and minified CSS and JS (bootstrap.min.*). The image files are compressed using ImageOptim, a Mac app for compressing PNGs.

Please note that all JavaScript plugins require jQuery to be included.

Bootstrap comes equipped with HTML, CSS, and JS for all sorts of things, but they can be summarized with a handful of categories visible at the top of the Bootstrap documentation.

Docs sections

In addition to the getting started documentation you're reading now, the Bootstrap docs are broken into a few key pages.

Core CSS

Global styles for the body, Normalize, links, grid system, tables, forms, buttons, icons, and more.

Components

Basic styles for common interface components like tabs and pills, navbar, alerts, page headers, and more. Head here to see what kind of custom components Bootstrap has to offer beyond basic HTML elements.

JavaScript plugins

Similar to Components, these JavaScript plugins are interactive components for things like tooltips, popovers, modals, and more.

With a brief intro into the contents out of the way, we can focus on putting Bootstrap to use. To do that, we'll utilize a basic HTML template that includes everything we mentioned in the File structure.

Now, here's a look at a typical HTML file:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Bootstrap 101 Template</title>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h1>Hello, world!</h1>
    <script src="http://code.jquery.com/jquery-latest.js"></script>
  </body>
</html>

To make this a Bootstrapped template, just include the appropriate CSS and JS files:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Bootstrap 101 Template</title>
    <!-- Bootstrap -->
    <link href="css/bootstrap.min.css" rel="stylesheet" media="screen">
  </head>
  <body>
    <h1>Hello, world!</h1>
    <script src="http://code.jquery.com/jquery-latest.js"></script>
    <script src="js/bootstrap.min.js"></script>
  </body>
</html>

And you're set! With those two files added, you can begin to develop any site or application with Bootstrap.

Move beyond the base template with a few example layouts. We encourage folks to iterate on these examples and not simply use them as an end result.