Less Starterkit

Below are instructions on how to create a Bootstrap sub-theme using a Less preprocessor.

• Prerequisites
• Additional Setup
• Overrides

Prerequisites

• Read the @link getting_started Getting Started @endlink and @link subtheme Sub-theming @endlink documentation topics.
• You must understand the basic concept of using the Less CSS pre-processor.
• You must use a local Less compiler.
• You must use the Bootstrap Framework Source Files ending in the .less extension, not files ending in .css.

Additional Setup {#setup}

Download and extract the latest 3.x.x version of Bootstrap Framework Source Files into your new sub-theme. After it has been extracted, the folder should read ./subtheme/bootstrap.

If for whatever reason you have an additional bootstrap folder wrapping the first bootstrap folder (e.g. ./subtheme/bootstrap/bootstrap), remove the wrapping bootstrap folder. You will only ever need to touch these files if or when you upgrade your version of the Bootstrap Framework.

{.alert.alert-warning} WARNING: Do not modify the files inside of ./subtheme/bootstrap directly. Doing so may cause issues when upgrading the Bootstrap Framework in the future.

Overrides {#overrides}

The ./subtheme/less/variable-overrides.less file is generally where you will the majority of your time overriding the variables provided by the Bootstrap Framework.

The ./subtheme/less/bootstrap.less file is nearly an exact copy from the Bootstrap Framework Source Files. The only difference is that it injects the variable-overrides.less file directly after it has imported the Bootstrap Framework's variables.less file. This allows you to easily override variables without having to constantly keep up with newer or missing variables during an upgrade.

The ./subtheme/less/overrides.less file contains various Drupal overrides to properly integrate with the Bootstrap Framework. It may contain a few enhancements, feel free to edit this file as you see fit.

The ./subtheme/less/style.less file is the glue that combines the bootstrap.less and overrides.less files together. Generally, you will not need to modify this file unless you need to add or remove files to be imported. This is the file that you should compile to ./subtheme/css/styles.css (note the same file name, using a different extension of course).

See also:

• @link templates Templates @endlink
• @link theme_settings Theme Settings @endlink
• @link registry Theme Registry @endlink