[Isolated]

Over my time developing and designing responsive websites for companies and my own personal projects, I've used a LOT of frameworks. I could talk for hours on how I build RESTful APIs using Slim3 for PHP, or how I use AngularJS to build interactive front-end applications.

But no matter what language you use, your project won't be anything without a strong UI.

By putting a lot of time and thought into the initial UI/UX design process you can really get a feel for how your application will function and feel in a real browser (or any device for that matter depending on your project).

In the past, developers would create huge stylesheets (CSS) to control the styling of almost every aspect on a website, leading to a lot of repeated and redundant code.

But this is 2016, almost 2017 and the Web is changing every day. Frameworks such as FlatUI Free/Pro, Bootstrap, Semantic UI, Foundation give developers a head start in developing smart, clean and simple/complex UI design and really give you a good foundation to build from.

All the frameworks listed above concentrate on mobile first design, meaning it'll look good on even the smallest displays. Allowing for responsive web design out the box (in most cases) allowing even the most novice developer to get an app up and running.

Now to the point in this topic, who in this community has used Bootstrap (or any framework) to build what I hope is a beautiful web application, if anyone has any suggestions on different frameworks to try out, please let me know! Knowledge is power, and understanding different frameworks can never be a bad thing.

Project:

My latest personal project is called Bigger World, a social networking platform for European users. Although the design is only in the first stage (a few hours work), a lot of backend work has been complete, mainly the APIs which deliver the Bigger World service to many different devices. (Work has began on Android and iOS apps).

I can't show the back end work, but I'll throw up a picture of the initial design with the hope that others do the same!

Preview can be found here, image was too big for the forum.


Thank you for reading!

If anyone has any feedback on this topic, please let me know, for anyone interested in the Bigger World project drop me a message and I'll let you know how you can be a part of it.

Extras:

Below I'll list a few different frameworks that I urge people to try.

• Laravel (PHP)
• CodeIgniter (PHP)
• ReactJS (JS)
• AngularJS (JS)
• Flash (Python)

There is thousands of frameworks for almost every programming language.

[Vince]

Bootstrap is terribly overused. In most instances I can instantly tell if a website has been based off of Bootstrap. It is very distinctly recognizable by its color scheme and its use of rounded corners for buttons and input fields. I tend to use Bootstrap mostly to quickly mock up a design for small projects where the design isn't that important.

[Alex Magaсa]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vince Bootstrap is terribly overused. In most instances I can instantly tell if a website has been based off of Bootstrap. It is very distinctly recognizable by its color scheme and its use of rounded corners for buttons and input fields. I tend to use Bootstrap mostly to quickly mock up a design for small projects where the design isn't that important.

Why it's overused? Bootstrap is more easier and attractive than Joomla,WordPress and any CMS template that exists Web-Designing! Many people use Bootstrap because it's more attractive, easy in configuration and it doesnt need SQLs & other external(web-hosting) stuffs at all.! I use Boostrap in my bussiness and it's really awesome but it depends on which way you will use it! I have no idea why you call it overused you are not even explain why! Think about and be more specific when you tell your opinion about Boostrap!


OT: Your boostrap website needs some CSS configuration to look more attractive and some javascripts! Anyways it looks good for beginner style!

[BlackBank]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vince Bootstrap is terribly overused. In most instances I can instantly tell if a website has been based off of Bootstrap. It is very distinctly recognizable by its color scheme and its use of rounded corners for buttons and input fields. I tend to use Bootstrap mostly to quickly mock up a design for small projects where the design isn't that important.

Well, that's maybe true, but the purpose of bootstrap is just to provide a basic style and sizes(grid). Colors, borders, sizes, etc are all easy to change for each design and website. Also bootstrap is a framework, frameworks are meant to build on and to expand.

[SickAttack]

I hate bootstrap websites.

[Vince]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alex Magaсa Why it's overused? Bootstrap is more easier and attractive than Joomla,WordPress and any CMS template that exists Web-Designing! Many people use Bootstrap because it's more attractive, easy in configuration and it doesnt need SQLs & other external(web-hosting) stuffs at all.! I use Boostrap in my bussiness and it's really awesome but it depends on which way you will use it! I have no idea why you call it overused you are not even explain why! Think about and be more specific when you tell your opinion about Boostrap!

I'm saying it's overused. I'm not saying it's bad. But perhaps I am biased because I have to look at it all day. If even your university can't come up with something better ...

[Isolated]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vince I'm saying it's overused. I'm not saying it's bad. But perhaps I am biased because I have to look at it all day. If even your university can't come up with something better ...

I've never been a fan of the rounded corners of buttons, input fields etc.. And somewhat agree, but for those undertaking a major project, with a lot of customisation you can change all of that to fit your theme, however, I've had a lot of headaches with Bootstrap, as have many others.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alex Magaсa OT: Your boostrap website needs some CSS configuration to look more attractive and some javascripts! Anyways it looks good for beginner style!

I agree, however, my plan is that the styling (colours, images, etc..) will be customised by the end user.

There's a lot more work a head, and I'm currently the only developer working on this project, although I'm very grateful for my right hand man Denis, who I often bounce ideas off who has become a very valuable asset with all of my projects really.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SickAttack I hate bootstrap websites.

Care to elaborate? What's your framework of choice? Or are you completely DIY?

[TakeiT]

Everyone does. Even my router CP is made in bootstrap

[kristo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alex Magaсa Bootstrap is more easier and attractive than Joomla,WordPress and any CMS template that exists Web-Designing!

You can't compare Bootstrap, which is a design framework with some jQuery plugins included, to a full content management system. It's like comparing a pile of graded cheese to a pizza. Just like you put the cheese on the pizza, you can create designs for the CMS of your choice, using Bootstrap.

Personally, I've been using Bootstrap for most of my designs, because I started using it a few years ago, without looking into any alternatives (I think that's what many designers do, when they first get into responsive design). It's easy for me to adjust, though, as I've also used W3.css for one of my projects.

[Dairyll]

I love Bootstrap and all the other alternatives, don't get me wrong, but there's a feeling of uniformity that I don't like about them. They all look incredibly similar unless the person working on them is creative enough to add a lot of flair onto them (eg. Apple's iPhone 7 website). At least 10 years ago, almost every website looked incredibly different from each other. Granted, they didn't function as well as something that utilizes Bootstrap would've.

That being said, I use Bootstrap for almost all of my websites. Hah.

[matje]

Bootstrap is not meant to be used for it's buttons and rounded corners.

[Mark_Weston]

angularjs.org uses bootstrap. Lmao.
So does Code Ignite.

Just sayin.

[Luis-]

I tend to design / code my websites from scratch, a lot more fun.

[Isolated]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Luis- I tend to design / code my websites from scratch, a lot more fun.

Although it can be a lot of fun, it also can be very time consuming, if you're making a project with a huge amount of backend code, and front end code, and then javascript and CSS, and whatever else you're using on a site, it's more productive to use a framework (in most cases), although that's highly down to the developer/designer.

[Luis-]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Isolated Although it can be a lot of fun, it also can be very time consuming, if you're making a project with a huge amount of backend code, and front end code, and then javascript and CSS, and whatever else you're using on a site, it's more productive to use a framework (in most cases), although that's highly down to the developer/designer.

I suppose you've got a good point there! Using a ready made framework can take a load of your time. Like you said though, it's down to the developer(s).

[benjenden]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vince Bootstrap is terribly overused. In most instances I can instantly tell if a website has been based off of Bootstrap. It is very distinctly recognizable by its color scheme and its use of rounded corners for buttons and input fields. I tend to use Bootstrap mostly to quickly mock up a design for small projects where the design isn't that important.

That is exactly how I can tell...the BUTTONS. My website is using bootstrap though.