Building the navbar from scratch

Setting up the navbar is quick and dirty when copy pasting code from the Bootsrap termplates. However, here we will take a little more time to dig deep into the how the navbar is created.

The navbar used on this website from the Flask-Bootrap tutorial uses code directly from bootstrap. If we were to inspect the code on the example site, or view the docs on bootstrap, this is the first line that we would see:

<nav class="navbar navbar-default">

From this line we can gather that there’s a “<nav>” tag in HTML. The bootstrap nav tag uses classes navbar and navbar-default. We have neither of these written for us so instead, we’ll write them later oursleves.

Within the nav tags, we can insert elements, which are hyper links to other pages. We will also give them the class “button” and write it later.

<nav class="navbar navbar-default">
   <a class="button" href="/">Home</a> 
   <a class="button" href="/page1">Page 1</a> |
   <a class="button" href="/page2">Page 2</a> 
</nav> 

By inserting the code above between our <body> tags we can retain the same functionality as the the bootstrap navbar we implemented in the Flask-Bootstrap demo, and you can see it in action here.

In the demo site, as well as the basic navbar site, the html code above is
actually written in the navbar.html in the templates folder

And with just a few more lines of CSS, we’ll be able to make our navbar much more presentable. But what is CSS? To put it simply: CSS describes properties for HTML elements; telling the browser details of how something should be displayed. Although, this could be accomplished within the HTML file itself, the implementation of the style sheets allows the user to implement the rules without repeating herself/himself.

How to include a CSS file

Inserting a CSS file is done using the link attribute. In the <head> section of HTML file, insert the following code:

<link rel="stylesheet" href="{_{ url_for('static', filename='navbar.css') }}">

Once the CSS code is added, this is what the final result will be a slightly better navbar

Note: href may change based on where the css is placed. Format of href link may also vary. Oh and ignore the underscore between the two brackets. Temporary fix to keep the link from disappearing because I’m too tired for a clever solution.

Writing the CSS file

Now, there’s wasn’t really any point in giving the nav bar two classes for out intent and purposes. So, in the static folder (because that’s where our link is pointing, we’re going to create navbar.css. To properly define a class we write its properties in the squigly brackets following its name, which is written with a period “.” in ….and I’m asleep

OKAY IM AWAKE. There’s a great explanation of class vs ID in you starter files.

#####What are the properties of the navbar that will make it look better?

There’s many ways to approach this. And different property settings may result in the same navbar.

The Rest is Under Construction :)

under construction

What is BootStrap?

BootStrap is comprised of HTML, CSS and JavaScript presets used to create responsive websites that work seamlessly on mobile devices. “However, cliched, unoriginal, symbolic of everything wrong with society and capitalism” -M. Bland. BootStrap should be used as a library, and you should refrain from using bootstrap templates, especially if your purpose is to learn how to build a website from the ground up, and remove all the magic behind from the scenes. Once you understand the magic: how HTML, CSS, and JS come together to form a fluid and responsive website, templates become more maleable in your hands, and BootStrap code becomes more clear.

Where To Start with HTML

HTML is found here, there, and everywhere on the internet, and you can look at the code that makes up any site by opening up web inspector (the shortcut for which is ctrl+shift+i; cmd+opt+i on macs).

divs within divs within divs within divs within divs within divs…

Go on any website, and use the web inspector, and you will see many divs enclosed within others. For our purposes, we’ll use YouTube as our example. If you were to use the web inspector to find one of the images in the recommended tab, you would find it enclosed in a dozen divs. These divs have IDs and classes, both of which can be modified using CSS, but each element can only have one ID, and

height? width? percentages? vh? em? px?

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location: fixed, static, floating, relative

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