The Bootstrap Fixed Grid

One of the first things I wanted to do with my blog - after exploring pelican - was to begin digging into some responsive layouts. I wanted a fixed grid design with various layouts and I wanted to test out a framework instead of build from scratch.

Surprise, I ended up implementing Bootstrap. Here is what I looked at:

Bootstrap seemed to be the most well adopted; it has a great community, great documentation, and is actively supported. I didn’t care for any of the UI tools, but it was easy to build and exclude all the extras I didn’t want.

Foundation looked pretty good as well. Maybe a slightly smaller user base, but still very supported and the documentation was there. Again, didn’t want the UI tools and there was a way to exclude them.

Frameless also caught my eye. It ended up being less of a framework and more of a strategy. But it was really interesting, and I may end up adopting a fully customized approach since I am using so little of a framework that doesn’t do everything I want it to.

… so now you can view the site on your phone, tablet and computer.

Bootstrap ended up being very easy to implement. Checkout my commit. It’s probably not worth going over the steps, as the documentation on Scaffolding really is clear. The only downside I have with the framework is that it’s not “mobile first”. Foundation is designed to be mobile first, but it doesn’t come with fixed-width layouts. Bootstrap 3.0 looks very similar to the latest iteration of Foundation, in that it is being redesigned with mobile in mind. I am pleased for now, and will likely take a look at Foundation, Frameless, and Bootsrtrap 3.0 sometime in the furture.