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Twitter Bootstrap: Free tool for responsive web design

by: Amy Gahran |

Responsive design is one of the easiest and most efficient ways to make your website work well on any type of device, including smartphones and tablets. If you're inclined to do your own web development (either for your main site or a special-purpose microsite), you might want to try Bootstrap by Twitter: a set of development tools that simplifies responsive design.

Bootstrap is a front-end development framework created by Twitter and available for free on the open source code repository Github. To use it you'll need some basic coding skills for HTML5 and CSS3, as well as a code editor (such as Sublime Text).

Bootstrap sets basic global display, typography, and link styles. It utilizes a 12-column layout 940 pixels wide; but with responsive features added the grid adapts to be 724px or 1170px wide, depending on the display width. Any narrower than that, the columns become fluid and stack vertically. Media queries allow for custom CSS based on several conditions -- ratios, widths, display type, etc.

See examples of sites built with Bootstrap. Most of them are small business or marketing sites, but Bootstrap could be used to support a simple responsive site for community news, information, or engagement.

Amy Gahran

Amy Gahran is a journalist, editor, trainer, entrepreneur, strategist, and media consultant based in Boulder, Colorado. In addition to writing
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