Navbar
The navbar is a simple wrapper for positioning branding, navigation, and other elements into a concise navigation header. It’s easily extensible and, with the help of our collapse plugin, it can easily integrate offscreen content.
Contents
Basics
Here’s what you need to know before getting started with the navbar:
- Navbars require a wrapping
.navbar
and a color scheme. - Navbars and their contents are fluid by default. Use optional containers to limit their horizontal width.
- Use
.pull-*-left
and.pull-*-right
to quickly align sub-components. - Ensure accessibility by using a
<nav>
element or, if using a more generic element such as a<div>
, add arole="navigation"
to every navbar to explicitly identify it as a landmark region for users of assistive technologies.
Supported content
Navbars come with built-in support for a handful of sub-components. Mix and match from the following as you need:
.navbar-brand
for your company, product, or project name.navbar-nav
for a full-height and lightweight navigation (including support for dropdowns).navbar-toggler
for use with our collapse plugin and other navigation toggling behaviors.
Here’s an example of all the sub-components included in a default, light navbar:
<nav class="navbar navbar-light bg-faded">
<a class="navbar-brand" href="#">Navbar</a>
<ul class="nav navbar-nav">
<li class="nav-item active">
<a class="nav-link" href="#">Home <span class="sr-only">(current)</span></a>
</li>
<li class="nav-item">
<a class="nav-link" href="#">Features</a>
</li>
<li class="nav-item">
<a class="nav-link" href="#">Pricing</a>
</li>
<li class="nav-item">
<a class="nav-link" href="#">About</a>
</li>
</ul>
<form class="form-inline pull-xs-right">
<input class="form-control" type="text" placeholder="Search">
<button class="btn btn-outline-success" type="submit">Search</button>
</form>
</nav>
Brand
The .navbar-brand
can be applied to most elements, but an anchor works best.
<nav class="navbar navbar-light bg-faded">
<a class="navbar-brand" href="#">Navbar</a>
</nav>
<nav class="navbar navbar-light bg-faded">
<h1 class="navbar-brand">Navbar</h1>
</nav>
Nav
Navbar navigation is similar to our regular nav options—use the .nav
base class with a modifier to achieve a particular look. In this case you’ll want .nav.navbar-nav
.
<nav class="navbar navbar-light bg-faded">
<ul class="nav navbar-nav">
<li class="nav-item active">
<a class="nav-link" href="#">Home <span class="sr-only">(current)</span></a>
</li>
<li class="nav-item">
<a class="nav-link" href="#">Features</a>
</li>
<li class="nav-item">
<a class="nav-link" href="#">Pricing</a>
</li>
<li class="nav-item">
<a class="nav-link" href="#">About</a>
</li>
</ul>
</nav>
And because we use classes for our navs, you can avoid the list-based approach entirely if you like.
<nav class="navbar navbar-light bg-faded">
<div class="nav navbar-nav">
<a class="nav-item nav-link active" href="#">Home <span class="sr-only">(current)</span></a>
<a class="nav-item nav-link" href="#">Features</a>
<a class="nav-item nav-link" href="#">Pricing</a>
<a class="nav-item nav-link" href="#">About</a>
</div>
</nav>
Color schemes
Theming the navbar has never been easier thanks to the combination of a simple link color modifier class and background-color
utilities. Put another way, you specify light or dark and apply a background color.
Here are some examples to show what we mean.
Containers
Although it’s not required, you can wrap a navbar in a .container
to center it on a page or add one within to only center the contents of a fixed or static top navbar.
<div class="container">
<nav class="navbar navbar-light bg-faded">
<a class="navbar-brand" href="#">Navbar</a>
</nav>
</div>
<nav class="navbar navbar-light bg-faded">
<div class="container">
<a class="navbar-brand" href="#">Navbar</a>
</div>
</nav>
Placement
Navbars can be statically placed (their default behavior), static without rounded corners, or fixed to the top or bottom of the viewport.
<nav class="navbar navbar-full navbar-light bg-faded">
<a class="navbar-brand" href="#">Full width</a>
</nav>
<nav class="navbar navbar-fixed-top navbar-light bg-faded">
<a class="navbar-brand" href="#">Fixed top</a>
</nav>
<nav class="navbar navbar-fixed-bottom navbar-light bg-faded">
<a class="navbar-brand" href="#">Fixed bottom</a>
</nav>
Collapsible content
Our collapse plugin allows you to use a <button>
or <a>
to toggle hidden content.
<nav class="navbar navbar-light bg-faded">
<button class="navbar-toggler" type="button" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#exCollapsingNavbar" aria-controls="exCollapsingNavbar" aria-expanded="false" aria-label="Toggle navigation">
☰
</button>
<div class="collapse" id="exCollapsingNavbar">
<div class="bg-inverse p-a-1">
<h4>Collapsed content</h4>
<span class="text-muted">Toggleable via the navbar brand.</span>
</div>
</div>
</nav>
For more complex navbar patterns, like those used in Bootstrap v3, use the .navbar-toggleable-*
classes in conjunction with the .navbar-toggler
. These classes override our responsive utilities to show navigation only when content is meant to be shown.
<nav class="navbar navbar-light bg-faded">
<button class="navbar-toggler hidden-sm-up" type="button" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#exCollapsingNavbar2" aria-controls="exCollapsingNavbar2" aria-expanded="false" aria-label="Toggle navigation">
☰
</button>
<div class="collapse navbar-toggleable-xs" id="exCollapsingNavbar2">
<a class="navbar-brand" href="#">Responsive navbar</a>
<ul class="nav navbar-nav">
<li class="nav-item active">
<a class="nav-link" href="#">Home <span class="sr-only">(current)</span></a>
</li>
<li class="nav-item">
<a class="nav-link" href="#">Features</a>
</li>
<li class="nav-item">
<a class="nav-link" href="#">Pricing</a>
</li>
<li class="nav-item">
<a class="nav-link" href="#">About</a>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</nav>