Navigation Bars
A navigation bar is a navigation header that is placed at the top of the page:
With Bootstrap, a navigation bar can extend or collapse, depending on the screen size.
A standard navigation bar is created with <nav class="navbar navbar-default">.
The following example shows how to add a navigation bar to the top of the page:
Example
<body>
<nav class="navbar navbar-default">
<div class="container-fluid">
<div class="navbar-header">
<a class="navbar-brand" href="#">WebSiteName</a>
</div>
<ul class="nav navbar-nav">
<li class="active"><a href="#">Home</a></li>
<li><a href="#">Page 1</a></li>
<li><a href="#">Page 2</a></li>
<li><a href="#">Page 3</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
</nav>
...
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All of the examples on this page will show a navigation bar that takes up too much space on small screens (however, the navigation bar will be on one single line on large screens - because Bootstrap is responsive). This problem (with the small screens) will be solved in the last example on this page.
Inverted Navigation Bar
If you don't like the style of the default navigation bar, Bootstrap provides an alternative, black navbar:
Just change the .navbar-default class into .navbar-inverse:
Example
<nav class="navbar navbar-inverse">
<div class="container-fluid">
<div class="navbar-header">
<a class="navbar-brand" href="#">WebSiteName</a>
</div>
<ul class="nav navbar-nav">
<li class="active"><a href="#">Home</a></li>
<li><a href="#">Page 1</a></li>
<li><a href="#">Page 2</a></li>
<li><a href="#">Page 3</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
</nav>
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Fixed Navigation Bar
The navigation bar can also be fixed at the top or at the bottom of the page.
A fixed navigation bar stays visible in a fixed position (top or bottom) independent of the page scroll.
The .navbar-fixed-top class makes the navigation bar fixed at
the top:
Example
<nav class="navbar navbar-inverse
navbar-fixed-top">
<div class="container-fluid">
<div class="navbar-header">
<a class="navbar-brand" href="#">WebSiteName</a>
</div>
<ul class="nav navbar-nav">
<li class="active"><a href="#">Home</a></li>
<li><a href="#">Page 1</a></li>
<li><a href="#">Page 2</a></li>
<li><a href="#">Page 3</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
</nav>
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The .navbar-fixed-bottom class makes the navigation bar stay at
the bottom:
Example
<nav class="navbar navbar-inverse
navbar-fixed-bottom">
<div class="container-fluid">
<div class="navbar-header">
<a class="navbar-brand" href="#">WebSiteName</a>
</div>
<ul class="nav navbar-nav">
<li class="active"><a href="#">Home</a></li>
<li><a href="#">Page 1</a></li>
<li><a href="#">Page 2</a></li>
<li><a href="#">Page 3</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
</nav>
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Navigation Bar With Dropdown
Navigation bars can also hold dropdown menus.
The following example adds a dropdown menu for the "Page 1" button:
Example
<nav class="navbar navbar-inverse">
<div class="container-fluid">
<div class="navbar-header">
<a class="navbar-brand" href="#">WebSiteName</a>
</div>
<ul class="nav navbar-nav">
<li class="active"><a href="#">Home</a></li>
<li
class="dropdown">
<a
class="dropdown-toggle" data-toggle="dropdown" href="#">Page
1
<span class="caret"></span></a>
<ul
class="dropdown-menu">
<li><a href="#">Page
1-1</a></li>
<li><a href="#">Page
1-2</a></li>
<li><a href="#">Page
1-3</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a href="#">Page 2</a></li>
<li><a href="#">Page 3</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
</nav>
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Right-Aligned Navigation Bar
The .navbar-right class is used to right-align navigation bar buttons.
In the following example we insert a "Sign Up" button and a "Login" button to the right in the navigation bar. We also add a glyphicon on each of the two new buttons:
Example
<nav class="navbar navbar-inverse">
<div class="container-fluid">
<div class="navbar-header">
<a class="navbar-brand" href="#">WebSiteName</a>
</div>
<ul class="nav navbar-nav">
<li class="active"><a href="#">Home</a></li>
<li><a href="#">Page 1</a></li>
<li><a href="#">Page 2</a></li>
<li><a href="#">Page 3</a></li>
</ul>
<ul class="nav navbar-nav
navbar-right">
<li><a href="#"><span
class="glyphicon glyphicon-user"></span> Sign Up</a></li>
<li><a href="#"><span class="glyphicon glyphicon-log-in"></span>
Login</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
</nav>
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Collapsing The Navigation Bar
The navigation bar takes up too much space on a small screen.
We should hide the navigation bar; and only show it when it is needed.
In the following example the navigation bar is replaced by a button in the top right corner. Only when the button is clicked, the navigation bar will be displayed:
Example
<nav class="navbar navbar-inverse">
<div class="container-fluid">
<div class="navbar-header">
<button type="button" class="navbar-toggle" data-toggle="collapse"
data-target="#myNavbar">
<span
class="icon-bar"></span>
<span
class="icon-bar"></span>
<span
class="icon-bar"></span>
</button>
<a class="navbar-brand" href="#">WebSiteName</a>
</div>
<div class="collapse navbar-collapse" id="myNavbar">
<ul class="nav navbar-nav">
<li class="active"><a href="#">Home</a></li>
<li><a href="#">Page 1</a></li>
<li><a href="#">Page 2</a></li>
<li><a href="#">Page 3</a></li>
</ul>
<ul class="nav navbar-nav
navbar-right">
<li><a href="#"><span
class="glyphicon glyphicon-user"></span> Sign Up</a></li>
<li><a href="#"><span class="glyphicon glyphicon-log-in"></span>
Login</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
</nav>
Try it Yourself »
Test Yourself with Exercises!
Exercise 1 » Exercise 2 » Exercise 3 » Exercise 4 »