6 ms·

Free Bootstrap Themes

195 points by aram 13y ago

lindig 13y ago
"Education: Web Designer | Greenville University. Business Master | Loyal Univesrity." <--
thehodge 13y ago
Some of these are really great although I always chuckle at the idea of web design agencies using free themes for there own website.
- atourgates 13y ago
  I feel it says something fairly sad about the state of the industry when "Agency" themes are some of the most popular website themes out there. Sort of the (sad) opposite of demonstrating your craft in your own tools: http://www.finewoodworking.com/woodworking-plans/article/the-ho-studley-tool-chest.aspx http://www.finewoodworking.com/woodworking-plans/article/the...
jongold 13y ago
"Munter" means something that presumably you don't think it means.
- joeblau 13y ago
  LOL, I just looked it up, then went back to the page and now I can't stop laughing.
- jedbrown 13y ago
  Heh, and here I was wondering what the style had to do with climbing ropework. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%BCnter_hitch https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%BCnter_hitch
- willwill100 13y ago
  "cheerful" in german?
extrapolate 13y ago
Why have a checkbox[1], if we can't toggle it. [1] http://i.imgur.com/WbCJQsk.png http://i.imgur.com/WbCJQsk.png
- bkm 13y ago
  Many European countries require an opt-in subscription model by law ("EU Opt-In Directive") where the user explicitly states it want to receive the newsletter (e.g. it not being a side effect of a registration).
eggbrain 13y ago
First thing I check when I read "Free" is I see what the license is (MIT/BSD). Unfortunately, you can't find out what license the theme uses until you get the actual theme. You don't get the actual theme until you put your email address in. I couldn't submit my email address until I subscribed to the newsletter (but upon trying it again in incognito I wasn't prompted to subscribe -- might have been an error on my part, although the checkbox seems borked). I went ahead and took the plunge with a Mailinator address to see what I could find out, and it looks like there isn't any license to the themes at all. I'm not sure if this is good or bad -- if code has no license, is it a free for all? Second thing I check is whether the free theme inserts links in the code to their own website (visible or invisible). From what I see, that is not the case with the theme I downloaded. Looks like some great resources guys, but a little more information would be invaluable. Can't wait to try some of these out for some quick sites though :)
- NewHatMatt 13y ago
  I did some poking around, and the license information can be found here: http://www.blacktie.co/about-themes/ http://www.blacktie.co/about-themes/ It uses the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license.
  - oafitupa 13y ago
    Creative Commons are not supposed to be used for code, they say that themselves.
    - kazagistar 13y ago
      Right, but for the purposes of legal actions, CSS and HTML templates are probably more like media then like code.
- jfaucett 13y ago
  same thing happened to me, for some odd reason this site came off as sketchy to me - I even whoisd her which didnt help matters much. Is it just me or do others have profound mistrust for domains that don't reveal their identity?
Phrodo_00 13y ago
I think it's really weird that the example content is about design companies. Shouldn't those design their own homepages?
- techwizrd 13y ago
  I've always thought that too. Either way, these themes look pretty good. I like Bootstrap themes for simple one-off projects or demos that I want to try. For anything serious I'll at least change the colors and modify things.
- kazagistar 13y ago
  Eh, they are probably just using content that they know about themselves so it has a reasonable and realistic feel. Lorel ipsum or John Smiths get boring fast.
rmrfrmrf 13y ago
Somewhat tangentially related, but it's been bugging me for a while -- is every brogrammer in America really this ridiculously attractive, or are hackers using model "stunt doubles"? One wouldn't expect GitHub to be full of gorgeous male models who happen to sit in perfect coffee shop lighting while laughing in an almost robotic perfection, but here we are! (The stock photos on the site made me think of it, haha.)
- btgeekboy 13y ago
  Those of us that aren't model-grade attractive don't post photos. Oh, and also not a brogrammer, so... maybe this doesn't apply to me.
- minimaxir 13y ago
  I've noticed a rise in cartoonified hacker portraits as well, which is a stylistic alternative.
  - kazagistar 13y ago
    I get it... you can use it as a tell to find the ugly ones! Or, maybe just the self conscious ones.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
- schnevets 13y ago
  I'm curious if the Carlos mentioned in the More Info page (www.blacktie.co/info/) is the same Carlos mentioned in the bio of the Small theme. If so, I think we've discovered the bald, beer drinking designer behind the stock photo model.
  - rmrfrmrf 13y ago
    lol you mean this isn't the same guy? http://www.blacktie.co/2013/11/small-dribbble-portfolio-theme/ http://www.blacktie.co/2013/11/small-dribbble-portfolio-them...
bluetidepro 13y ago
Are these awesome themes on GitHub? it would also be really nice if they were all under one repo, or each had their own! Just an idea. Great work!
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
jonaldomo 13y ago
I think the market for HTML templates is on the rise. Is anyone else seeing that?
- eddieroger 13y ago
  I think it's more symptomatic of developers realizing that UI is hard (guilty), and while we may think it's easy to make something, it's hard to make it something people want to use. I can't tell you how many times I've nearly bought a Bootstrap theme rather than making one myself. Call it lazy, call it throwing money at your problems/weaknesses, but I agree, there's a rising market for themes.
beh 13y ago
As someone just getting started with front end development and who learns best by tinkering, this is a great resource. What are some other Bootstrap focused resources to learn front end development?
- guelo 13y ago
  getbootstrap.com/getting-started, getbootstrap.com/css, getbootstrap.com/components and getbootstrap.com/javascript
wasd 13y ago
The themes are beautiful and the presentation is nice but the required email opt in totally turns me off. Why not just host these on github? I actually want to be on your newsletter but I don't like that you are forcing people to do so [1]. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7002338 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7002338
- sgdesign 13y ago
  The "tweet to download" model is bad because you're forcing someone to endorse a product publicly before they even get a chance to try it, thus potentially hurting their credibility. On the other hand, the "leave email to download" model is completely fair. Not only is it used by the overwhelming majority of companies (most apps require some form of signing up), but you're also the only one receiving those email. So the cost is entirely personal. So in this case, it's really a matter of whether or not the transaction is worth it for you, and I don't think you have any grounds to complain. P.S. I'm not the author by the way, I just get ticked off seeing that objection, especially when somebody is already not charging any money for their products.
  - wasd 13y ago
    Hey Sacha, I'm a huge reader of your blog and follow your work. I completely agree with what you're saying but I think you might be misunderstanding me. I agree that email to download is not a bad system. The problem I have is that in order to be apart to download the theme, you need to opt into his newsletter. This is different from registration because when you register, you are not forced to opt into a newsletter. This product isn't free. The cost having any theme is to be apart of an audience this creator is building. This is a weak cost admittedly but I think that it turns a lot of people off that they have to join his news letter because that doesn't fit in line with many people's definition of free.
sixQuarks 13y ago
The responsive breakpoints are not really optimized on the themes I took a look at. Leaves a bunch of space on the margins, sometimes breaks way too early, images aren't responsive, etc. I guess you can't complain when it's free though.
kenshiro_o 13y ago
Just downloaded a theme by using a throwaway email address and have already customized it. Looks really slick! I have also just discovered fontawesome, which just shows that I really need to improve my front-end programming skills...
akbar501 13y ago
For the curious, I did some digging and found the following: Blacktie.co was created by Carlos Alvares (http://www.alvarez.is/ http://www.alvarez.is/). He's a designer who has a number of paid themes on https://wrapbootstrap.com/user/Basicoh https://wrapbootstrap.com/user/Basicoh. Blacktie appears to be his own site where he gives away some free themes in exchange for your email address.
eflowers 13y ago
No Less files? That feels like something that would be really helpful.
ajayjain 13y ago
Very cool, I might use one of these! The email with the download link was marked as spam by gmail, so you might have to do a search in:anywhere. Some other free themes: http://wrapbootstrap.com http://wrapbootstrap.com (I'm not affiliated, just love their stuff). They have less files and a compiled css file for their themes.
- corobo 13y ago
  I realise they're cheaper than coffee but I'm not seeing any free themes here at all. Even sorting lowest to highest price the lowest is $4. Do they have a hidden category somewhere for free?

195 points by aram 13y ago

"Education: Web Designer | Greenville University. Business Master | Loyal Univesrity." <--

Some of these are really great although I always chuckle at the idea of web design agencies using free themes for there own website.

atourgates 13y ago
I feel it says something fairly sad about the state of the industry when "Agency" themes are some of the most popular website themes out there. Sort of the (sad) opposite of demonstrating your craft in your own tools: http://www.finewoodworking.com/woodworking-plans/article/the-ho-studley-tool-chest.aspx http://www.finewoodworking.com/woodworking-plans/article/the...

jongold 13y ago

"Munter" means something that presumably you don't think it means.

joeblau 13y ago
LOL, I just looked it up, then went back to the page and now I can't stop laughing.
jedbrown 13y ago
Heh, and here I was wondering what the style had to do with climbing ropework. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%BCnter_hitch https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%BCnter_hitch
willwill100 13y ago
"cheerful" in german?

extrapolate 13y ago

Why have a checkbox[1], if we can't toggle it. [1] http://i.imgur.com/WbCJQsk.png http://i.imgur.com/WbCJQsk.png

bkm 13y ago
Many European countries require an opt-in subscription model by law ("EU Opt-In Directive") where the user explicitly states it want to receive the newsletter (e.g. it not being a side effect of a registration).

eggbrain 13y ago

First thing I check when I read "Free" is I see what the license is (MIT/BSD). Unfortunately, you can't find out what license the theme uses until you get the actual theme. You don't get the actual theme until you put your email address in. I couldn't submit my email address until I subscribed to the newsletter (but upon trying it again in incognito I wasn't prompted to subscribe -- might have been an error on my part, although the checkbox seems borked). I went ahead and took the plunge with a Mailinator address to see what I could find out, and it looks like there isn't any license to the themes at all. I'm not sure if this is good or bad -- if code has no license, is it a free for all? Second thing I check is whether the free theme inserts links in the code to their own website (visible or invisible). From what I see, that is not the case with the theme I downloaded. Looks like some great resources guys, but a little more information would be invaluable. Can't wait to try some of these out for some quick sites though :)

NewHatMatt 13y ago
I did some poking around, and the license information can be found here: http://www.blacktie.co/about-themes/ http://www.blacktie.co/about-themes/ It uses the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license.
- oafitupa 13y ago
  Creative Commons are not supposed to be used for code, they say that themselves.
  - kazagistar 13y ago
    Right, but for the purposes of legal actions, CSS and HTML templates are probably more like media then like code.
jfaucett 13y ago
same thing happened to me, for some odd reason this site came off as sketchy to me - I even whoisd her which didnt help matters much. Is it just me or do others have profound mistrust for domains that don't reveal their identity?

Phrodo_00 13y ago

I think it's really weird that the example content is about design companies. Shouldn't those design their own homepages?

techwizrd 13y ago
I've always thought that too. Either way, these themes look pretty good. I like Bootstrap themes for simple one-off projects or demos that I want to try. For anything serious I'll at least change the colors and modify things.
kazagistar 13y ago
Eh, they are probably just using content that they know about themselves so it has a reasonable and realistic feel. Lorel ipsum or John Smiths get boring fast.

rmrfrmrf 13y ago

Somewhat tangentially related, but it's been bugging me for a while -- is every brogrammer in America really this ridiculously attractive, or are hackers using model "stunt doubles"? One wouldn't expect GitHub to be full of gorgeous male models who happen to sit in perfect coffee shop lighting while laughing in an almost robotic perfection, but here we are! (The stock photos on the site made me think of it, haha.)

btgeekboy 13y ago
Those of us that aren't model-grade attractive don't post photos. Oh, and also not a brogrammer, so... maybe this doesn't apply to me.
minimaxir 13y ago
I've noticed a rise in cartoonified hacker portraits as well, which is a stylistic alternative.
- kazagistar 13y ago
  I get it... you can use it as a tell to find the ugly ones! Or, maybe just the self conscious ones.
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
schnevets 13y ago
I'm curious if the Carlos mentioned in the More Info page (www.blacktie.co/info/) is the same Carlos mentioned in the bio of the Small theme. If so, I think we've discovered the bald, beer drinking designer behind the stock photo model.
- rmrfrmrf 13y ago
  lol you mean this isn't the same guy? http://www.blacktie.co/2013/11/small-dribbble-portfolio-theme/ http://www.blacktie.co/2013/11/small-dribbble-portfolio-them...

bluetidepro 13y ago

Are these awesome themes on GitHub? it would also be really nice if they were all under one repo, or each had their own! Just an idea. Great work!

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

jonaldomo 13y ago

I think the market for HTML templates is on the rise. Is anyone else seeing that?

eddieroger 13y ago
I think it's more symptomatic of developers realizing that UI is hard (guilty), and while we may think it's easy to make something, it's hard to make it something people want to use. I can't tell you how many times I've nearly bought a Bootstrap theme rather than making one myself. Call it lazy, call it throwing money at your problems/weaknesses, but I agree, there's a rising market for themes.

beh 13y ago

As someone just getting started with front end development and who learns best by tinkering, this is a great resource. What are some other Bootstrap focused resources to learn front end development?

guelo 13y ago
getbootstrap.com/getting-started, getbootstrap.com/css, getbootstrap.com/components and getbootstrap.com/javascript

wasd 13y ago

The themes are beautiful and the presentation is nice but the required email opt in totally turns me off. Why not just host these on github? I actually want to be on your newsletter but I don't like that you are forcing people to do so [1]. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7002338 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7002338

sgdesign 13y ago
The "tweet to download" model is bad because you're forcing someone to endorse a product publicly before they even get a chance to try it, thus potentially hurting their credibility. On the other hand, the "leave email to download" model is completely fair. Not only is it used by the overwhelming majority of companies (most apps require some form of signing up), but you're also the only one receiving those email. So the cost is entirely personal. So in this case, it's really a matter of whether or not the transaction is worth it for you, and I don't think you have any grounds to complain. P.S. I'm not the author by the way, I just get ticked off seeing that objection, especially when somebody is already not charging any money for their products.
- wasd 13y ago
  Hey Sacha, I'm a huge reader of your blog and follow your work. I completely agree with what you're saying but I think you might be misunderstanding me. I agree that email to download is not a bad system. The problem I have is that in order to be apart to download the theme, you need to opt into his newsletter. This is different from registration because when you register, you are not forced to opt into a newsletter. This product isn't free. The cost having any theme is to be apart of an audience this creator is building. This is a weak cost admittedly but I think that it turns a lot of people off that they have to join his news letter because that doesn't fit in line with many people's definition of free.

sixQuarks 13y ago

The responsive breakpoints are not really optimized on the themes I took a look at. Leaves a bunch of space on the margins, sometimes breaks way too early, images aren't responsive, etc. I guess you can't complain when it's free though.

kenshiro_o 13y ago

Just downloaded a theme by using a throwaway email address and have already customized it. Looks really slick! I have also just discovered fontawesome, which just shows that I really need to improve my front-end programming skills...

akbar501 13y ago

For the curious, I did some digging and found the following: Blacktie.co was created by Carlos Alvares (http://www.alvarez.is/ http://www.alvarez.is/). He's a designer who has a number of paid themes on https://wrapbootstrap.com/user/Basicoh https://wrapbootstrap.com/user/Basicoh. Blacktie appears to be his own site where he gives away some free themes in exchange for your email address.

eflowers 13y ago

No Less files? That feels like something that would be really helpful.

ajayjain 13y ago

Very cool, I might use one of these! The email with the download link was marked as spam by gmail, so you might have to do a search in:anywhere. Some other free themes: http://wrapbootstrap.com http://wrapbootstrap.com (I'm not affiliated, just love their stuff). They have less files and a compiled css file for their themes.

corobo 13y ago
I realise they're cheaper than coffee but I'm not seeing any free themes here at all. Even sorting lowest to highest price the lowest is $4. Do they have a hidden category somewhere for free?