4 ms·

For me I've found bootstrap is a perfect tool for use in tech demos, experiments, really any small project I'm using to learn some new piece of technology. Boo

For me I've found bootstrap is a perfect tool for use in tech demos, experiments, really any small project I'm using to learn some new piece of technology. Bootstrap makes it effortless to have the presentation in such demo look halfway decent. I'm still not sure if I would use it in a 'production' application though (perhaps with a lot of fiddling to the default styles). As a side note has anyone else found it funny that a few months ago anyone submitting a project to HN that used bootstrap would get comments like "awesome using bootstrap", "bootstrap is the new standard for the web", etc. And quickly the sentiment is turning to "yuck another bootstrap site" and "learn some css you fools".

jenius 15y ago
Agree completely. I've made a few posts saying exactly this, but they haven't picked up enough upvotes to hit the front page : ( http://blog.jenius.me/post/18909693841/to-bootstrap-or-not-to-bootstrap http://blog.jenius.me/post/18909693841/to-bootstrap-or-not-t... http://blog.jenius.me/post/17162410587/stop-using-bootstrap-in-production http://blog.jenius.me/post/17162410587/stop-using-bootstrap-...
esmevane 15y ago
I agree with you. It reminds me of a response someone made to me when I professed that I had a kneejerk negative reaction to something (which I admittedly still have a kneejerk negative reaction to... Oh well). They linked this: http://lesswrong.com/lw/2pv/intellectual_hipsters_and_metacontrarianism/ http://lesswrong.com/lw/2pv/intellectual_hipsters_and_metaco... Once I got past the vague offense at thinking of someone calling me an intellectual hipster, the point sunk in and I tried to move on.
bdunn 15y ago
Remember: Twitter Bootstrap's UI is just some default styles. I think Bootstrap is a great foundation, just like 960gs and Blueprint. But it's just that: a foundation. Overload or add your own custom styles, and you can easily break away from the default look and feel. In fact, just yesterday I wrote a blog post about my thoughts on using Bootstrap in "production": http://www.projectorpm.com/blog/2012/03/10/dont-hate-twitter-bootstrap/ http://www.projectorpm.com/blog/2012/03/10/dont-hate-twitter... (FYI, the blog and the product are both built using Bootstrap)
- jwarzech 15y ago
  From your product screenshot it looks like you did a great job building on top of the default styles. I like your use of the bootstrap top nav in the sidebar.
jredwards 15y ago
Bootstrap? That band sold out. They're so mainstream now.
kellishaver 15y ago
I think basic Bootstrap is great for small projects, experiments, open source projects that don't have a designer on bard, etc. and for bigger things, it's a great base to build from. Bootstrap's strength is that you can use to to quickly build a uniform, fully functional, cohesive and clean UI. Just because you can, it doesn't mean you have to.... and just because you don't have to, doesn't mean you shouldn't. It needs to be evaluated on a per-project basis, like anything else we do. Some tools and services really call for a custom look. Some, let's be honest, just don't. I see things like internal tools being a great example of when to use Boostrap's defaults--that web app to visualize analytics on your data, your ticketing system, that private web interface you built for your Git repositories, the documentation manager, etc. Use Bootstrap, be cool with it, free up your designers and creative energy to roll out custom layouts on your client-facing pages.
- jwarzech 15y ago
  I think you hit the nail on the head!

jenius 15y ago

Agree completely. I've made a few posts saying exactly this, but they haven't picked up enough upvotes to hit the front page : ( http://blog.jenius.me/post/18909693841/to-bootstrap-or-not-to-bootstrap http://blog.jenius.me/post/18909693841/to-bootstrap-or-not-t... http://blog.jenius.me/post/17162410587/stop-using-bootstrap-in-production http://blog.jenius.me/post/17162410587/stop-using-bootstrap-...

esmevane 15y ago

I agree with you. It reminds me of a response someone made to me when I professed that I had a kneejerk negative reaction to something (which I admittedly still have a kneejerk negative reaction to... Oh well). They linked this: http://lesswrong.com/lw/2pv/intellectual_hipsters_and_metacontrarianism/ http://lesswrong.com/lw/2pv/intellectual_hipsters_and_metaco... Once I got past the vague offense at thinking of someone calling me an intellectual hipster, the point sunk in and I tried to move on.

bdunn 15y ago

Remember: Twitter Bootstrap's UI is just some default styles. I think Bootstrap is a great foundation, just like 960gs and Blueprint. But it's just that: a foundation. Overload or add your own custom styles, and you can easily break away from the default look and feel. In fact, just yesterday I wrote a blog post about my thoughts on using Bootstrap in "production": http://www.projectorpm.com/blog/2012/03/10/dont-hate-twitter-bootstrap/ http://www.projectorpm.com/blog/2012/03/10/dont-hate-twitter... (FYI, the blog and the product are both built using Bootstrap)

jwarzech 15y ago
From your product screenshot it looks like you did a great job building on top of the default styles. I like your use of the bootstrap top nav in the sidebar.

jredwards 15y ago

Bootstrap? That band sold out. They're so mainstream now.

kellishaver 15y ago

I think basic Bootstrap is great for small projects, experiments, open source projects that don't have a designer on bard, etc. and for bigger things, it's a great base to build from. Bootstrap's strength is that you can use to to quickly build a uniform, fully functional, cohesive and clean UI. Just because you can, it doesn't mean you have to.... and just because you don't have to, doesn't mean you shouldn't. It needs to be evaluated on a per-project basis, like anything else we do. Some tools and services really call for a custom look. Some, let's be honest, just don't. I see things like internal tools being a great example of when to use Boostrap's defaults--that web app to visualize analytics on your data, your ticketing system, that private web interface you built for your Git repositories, the documentation manager, etc. Use Bootstrap, be cool with it, free up your designers and creative energy to roll out custom layouts on your client-facing pages.

jwarzech 15y ago
I think you hit the nail on the head!