Twitter bootstrap 3 two columns full height

Question

I'm trying to make two-column full-height layout with twitter bootstrap 3. It seems that twitter bootstrap 3 does not support full height layouts. What I want to do:

  +-------------------------------------------------+
  |                     Header                      |
  +------------+------------------------------------+
  |            |                                    |
  |            |                                    |
  |Navigation  |         Content                    |
  |            |                                    |
  |            |                                    |
  |            |                                    |
  |            |                                    |
  |            |                                    |
  |            |                                    |
  +------------+------------------------------------+

If the content grows, the nav should also grow.

• Height 100% for every parent doesn't work because there is the case where content is one line.
• position absolute seems to be the wrong way
• display: table and display:table-cell solve the problem, but it is not elegantly

html:

    <div class="container">
      <div class="row">
        <div class="col-md-3"></div>
        <div class="col-md-9"></div>
      </div>
    </div>

Is there way to make it with default twitter bootstrap 3 classes?

Answer 1

Edit: In Bootstrap 4, native classes can produce full-height columns (DEMO) because they changed their grid system to flexbox. (Read on for Bootstrap 3)

---

css tables

Bootply demo / Codepen

Markup:

<header>Header</header>
<div class="container">
    <div class="row">
        <div class="col-md-3 no-float">Navigation</div>
        <div class="col-md-9 no-float">Content</div>
    </div>
</div>

(Relevant) CSS

html,body,.container {
    height:100%;
}
.container {
    display:table;
    width: 100%;
    margin-top: -50px;
    padding: 50px 0 0 0; /*set left/right padding according to needs*/
    box-sizing: border-box;
}

.row {
    height: 100%;
    display: table-row;
}

.row .no-float {
  display: table-cell;
  float: none;
}

The above code will achieve full-height columns (due to the custom css-table properties which we added) and with ratio 1:3 (Navigation:Content) for medium screen widths and above - (due to bootstrap's default classes: col-md-3 and col-md-9)

NB:

1) In order not to mess up bootstrap's native column classes we add another class like no-float in the markup and only set display:table-cell and float:none on this class (as apposed to the column classes themselves).

2) If we only want to use the css-table code for a specific break-point (say medium screen widths and above) but for mobile screens we want to default back to the usual bootstrap behavior than we can wrap our custom CSS within a media query, say:

@media (min-width: 992px) {
  .row .no-float {
      display: table-cell;
      float: none;
  }
}

Codepen demo

Now, for smaller screens, the columns will behave like default bootstrap columns (each getting full width).

3) If the 1:3 ratio is necessary for all screen widths - then it's probably a better to remove bootstrap's col-md-* classes from the markup because that's not how they are meant to be used.

Codepen demo

Answer 2

You can achieve what you want with the padding-bottom: 100%; margin-bottom: -100%; trick, has you can see in this fiddle.

I change your HTML a little bit, but you can achieve the same result with your own HTML with the following code

.col-md-9 {
    overflow: hidden;
}

.col-md-3 {
    padding-bottom: 100%;
    margin-bottom: -100%;
}

Answer 3

Pure CSS solution

Working Fiddle

Using CSS2.1 only, Work with all browsers (IE8+), without specifying any height or width.

That means that if your header suddenly grows longer, or your left navigation needs to enlarge, you don't have to fix anything in your CSS.

Totally responsive, simple & clear and very easy to manage.

<div class="Container">
    <div class="Header">
    </div>
    <div class="HeightTaker">
        <div class="Wrapper">
            <div class="LeftNavigation">
            </div>
            <div class="Content">
            </div>
        </div>
    </div>
</div>

Explanation: The container div takes 100% height of the body, and he's divided into 2 sections. The header section will span to its needed height, and the HeightTaker will take the rest. How is it achieved? by floating an empty element along side the container with 100% height (using :before), and giving the HeightTaker an empty element at the end with the clear rule (using :after). that element cant be in the same line with the floated element, so he's pushed till the end. which is exactly the 100% of the document.

With that we make the HeightTaker span the rest of the container height, without stating any specific height/ margin.

inside that HeightTaker we build a normal floated layout (to achieve the column like display) with a minor change.. we have a Wrapper element, that is needed for the 100% height to work.

Update

Here's the Demo with Bootstrap classes. (I just added one div to your layout)

Answer 4

I thought about a subtle change, which doesn't change the default bootstrap behavior. And I can use it only when I needed it:

.table-container {
  display: table;
}

.table-container .table-row {
  height: 100%;
  display: table-row;
}

.table-container .table-row .table-col {
  display: table-cell;
  float: none;
  vertical-align: top;
}

so I can have use it like this:

<div class="container table-container">
  <div class="row table-row">
    <div class="col-lg-4 table-col"> ... </div>
    <div class="col-lg-4 table-col"> ... </div>
    <div class="col-lg-4 table-col"> ... </div>
  </div>
</div>

Answer 5

To my knowledge you can use up to 5 methods to accomplish this:

1. Using the CSS display table/table-cell properties or using actual tables.
2. Using an absolute positioned element inside the wrapper.
3. Using the Flexbox display property but, as of today, it still has partial support
4. Simulate full column heights by using the faux column technique.
5. Using the padding/margin technique. See example.

Bootstrap: I don't have much experience with it but I don't think they provide styles for that.

.row
{
    overflow: hidden;
    height: 100%;
}
.row .col-md-3,
.row .col-md-9 
{
    padding: 30px 3.15% 99999px; 
    float: left;
    margin-bottom: -99999px;
}
.row .col-md-3 p,
.row .col-md-9 p 
{
    margin-bottom: 30px;
}
.col-md-3
{
    background: pink;
    left:0;
    width:25%
}
.col-md-9
{
    width: 75%;
    background: yellow;
}

Answer 6

Modern and very simple solution:

HTML:

<div class="container">
  <div class="row">
    <div class="col-md-3"></div>
    <div class="col-md-9"></div>
  </div>
</div>

CSS:

.row{
    display: flex;
}

Answer 7

A pure CSS solution is easy enough and it works like a charm cross browser.

You simply add a large padding and an equally large negative margin to the nav and content columns, then wrap their row in a class with overflow hidden.
Live view
Edit view

HTML

<div class="container">

  <div class="row">
    <div class="col-xs-12 header"><h1>Header</h1></div>
  </div>

  <div class="row col-wrap">

    <div class="col-md-3 col">
      <h1>Nav</h1>
    </div>

    <div class="col-md-9 col">
      <h1>Content</h1>
    </div>

  </div>
</div>

CSS

.col{
margin-bottom: -99999px;
padding-bottom: 99999px;
}

.col-wrap{
overflow: hidden; 
}  

Good luck!

Answer 8

The solution can be achieved in two ways

1. Using display:table and display:table-cell
2. Using padding and negative margin.

The classes which are used to obtain the above solution are not provided in bootstrap 3. display:table and display:table-cell are given but only when using tables in HTML. negative margin and padding classes are also not there.

Hence we have to use custom css to achieve this.

The below is the first solution

HTML code:

<div class="container">
  <div class="row">
    <div class="col-md-12">
        <div class="page-header">
            <h3>Page-Header</h3>
        </div>
    </div>
  </div>
  <div class="row tablewrapper">
    <div class="col-md-12 tablerowwrapper">
        <div class="col-md-3 sidebar pad_top15">
            <ul class="nav nav-pills nav-stacked">
                <li class="active"><a href="#">Submenuone</a></li>
                <li><a href="#">Submenutwo</a></li>
                <li><a href="#">Submenuthree</a></li>
            </ul>
        </div>
        <div class="col-md-9 content">
            <div class="col-md-12">
                <div class="col-md-12">
                    <p>
                        Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s 
                    </p>
                </div>
                <div class="col-md-12">
                    <p>
                        Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s 
                    </p>
                </div>
                <div class="col-md-12">
                    <p>
                        Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s 
                    </p>
                </div>
                <div class="col-md-12">
                    <p>
                        Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s 
                    </p>
                </div>
                <div class="col-md-12">
                    <p>
                        Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s 
                    </p>
                </div>
                <div class="col-md-12">
                    <p>
                        Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s 
                    </p>
                </div>
            </div>
        </div>
    </div>
  </div>

</div>

the corresponding css:

html,body,.container{
        height:100%;
    }
    .tablewrapper{
        display:table;
        height:100%;
    }
    .tablerowwrapper{
        display:table-row;
    }
    .sidebar,.content{
        display:table-cell;
        height:100%;
        border: 1px solid black;
        float:none;
    }
    .pad_top15{
        padding-top:15px;
    }

The below is the second solution

HTML code:

 <div class="container">
  <div class="row">
    <div class="col-md-12">
        <div class="page-header">
            <h3>Page-Header</h3>
        </div>
    </div>
  </div>
  <div class="row ovfhidden bord_bot height100p">
    <div class="col-md-3 sidebar pad_top15">
            <ul class="nav nav-pills nav-stacked">
                <li class="active"><a href="#">Submenuone</a></li>
                <li><a href="#">Submenutwo</a></li>
                <li><a href="#">Submenuthree</a></li>
            </ul>
        </div>
        <div class="col-md-9 content pad_top15">
            <div class="col-md-12">

                <div class="col-md-12">
                    <p>
                        Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s 
                    </p>
                </div><div class="col-md-12">
                    <p>
                        Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s 
                    </p>
                </div>

                <div class="col-md-12">
                    <p>
                        Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s 
                    </p>
                </div><div class="col-md-12">
                    <p>
                        Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s 
                    </p>
                </div>

                <div class="col-md-12">
                    <p>
                        Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s 
                    </p>
                </div><div class="col-md-12">
                    <p>
                        Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s 
                    </p>
                </div>

                <div class="col-md-12">
                    <p>
                        Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s 
                    </p>
                </div><div class="col-md-12">
                    <p>
                        Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s 
                    </p>
                </div>

                <div class="col-md-12">
                    <p>
                        Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s 
                    </p>
                </div><div class="col-md-12">
                    <p>
                        Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s 
                    </p>
                </div>

                <div class="col-md-12">
                    <p>
                        Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s 
                    </p>
                </div><div class="col-md-12">
                    <p>
                        Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s 
                    </p>
                </div>
            </div>
        </div> 
  </div>

</div>

the corresponding css:

html,body,.container{
        height:100%;
    }
    .sidebar,.content{
        /*display:table-cell;
        height:100%;*/
        border: 1px solid black;
        padding-bottom:8000px;
        margin-bottom:-8000px;
    }
    .ovfhidden{
        overflow:hidden;
    }
    .pad_top15{
        padding-top:15px;
    }
    .bord_bot{
        border-bottom: 1px solid black;
    }

Answer 9

Ok, I've achieved the same thing using Bootstrap 3.0

Example with the latest bootstrap

http://jsfiddle.net/HDNQS/1/

The HTML:

<div class="header">
    whatever
</div>
<div class="container-fluid wrapper">
    <div class="row">
        <div class="col-md-3 navigation"></div>
        <div class="col-md-9 content"></div>
    </div>
</div>

The SCSS:

html, body, .wrapper {
    padding: 0;
    margin: 0;
    height: 100%;
}

$headerHeight: 43px;

.navigation, .content {
    display: table-cell;
    float: none;
    vertical-align: top;
}

.wrapper {
    display: table;
    width: 100%;
    margin-top: -$headerHeight;
    padding-top: $headerHeight;
}

.header {
    height: $headerHeight;
}

.row {
    height: 100%;
    margin: 0;
    display: table-row;
    &:before, &:after {
        content: none;
    }
}

.navigation {
    background: #4a4d4e;
    padding-left: 0;
    padding-right: 0;
}

Answer 10

So it seems your best option is going with the padding-bottom countered by negative margin-bottom strategy.

I made two examples. One with <header> inside .container, and another with it outside.

Both versions should work properly. Note the use of the following @media query so that it removes the extra padding on smaller screens...

@media screen and (max-width:991px) {
    .content { padding-top:0; }
}

Other than that, those examples should fix your problem.

Answer 11

there's a much easier way of doing this if all you're concerned about is laying down the colour.

Put this either first or last in your body tag

<div id="nfc" class="col col-md-2"></div>

and this in your css

#nfc{
  background: red;
  top: 0;
  left: 0;
  bottom: 0;
  position: fixed;
  z-index: -99;
}

you're just creating a shape, pinning it behind the page and stretching it to full height. By making use of the existing bootstrap classes, you'll get the right width and it'll stay responsive.

There are some limitations with this method ofc, but if it's for the page's root structure, it's the best answer.

Answer 12

I wrote a simple CSS compatible with Bootstrap to create full width and height tables:

Fiddle : https://jsfiddle.net/uasbfc5e/4/

The principle is :

• add the "tablefull" on a main DIV
• then implicitly, the DIV below will create rows
• and then DIV below the rows will be cells
• You can use the class "tableheader" for headers or similar

The HTML :

<div class="tablefull">
    <div class="tableheader">
        <div class="col-xs-4">Header A</div>
        <div class="col-xs-4">B</div>
        <div class="col-xs-4">C</div>
    </div>
    <div>
        <div class="col-xs-6">Content 50% width auto height</div>
        <div class="col-xs-6">Hello World</div>
    </div>
    <div>
        <div class="col-xs-9">Content 70% width auto height</div>
        <div class="col-xs-3">Merry Halloween</div>
    </div>
</div>

The CSS:

div.tablefull {
    display: table;
    table-layout: fixed;
    width: 100%;
    height: 100%;
}

div.tablefull>div.tableheader, div.tablefull>div.tableheader>div{
    height: 0%;
}

div.tablefull>div {
    display: table-row;
}

div.tablefull>div>div {
    display: table-cell;
    height: 100%;
    padding: 0;
}

Answer 13

try

<div class="container">
    <div class="row">
        <div class="col-md-12">header section</div>

    </div>
     <div class="row fill">
        <div class="col-md-4">Navigation</div>
        <div class="col-md-8">Content</div>

    </div>
</div>

css for .fill class is below

 .fill{
    width:100%;
    height:100%;
    min-height:100%;
    padding:10px;
    color:#efefef;
    background: blue;
}
.col-md-12
{
    background: red;

}

.col-md-4
{
    background: yellow;
    height:100%;
    min-height:100%;

}
.col-md-8
{
    background: green;
    height:100%;
    min-height:100%;

}

For your reference just look into the fiddle.

Answer 14

try this

 <div class="container">
     <!-- Header-->         
  </div>
</div>
 <div class="row-fluid">
     <div class="span3 well">
         <ul class="nav nav-list">
             <li class="nav-header">Our Services</li>
                <!-- Navigation  -->
             <li class="active"><a href="#">Overview</a></li>
             <li><a href="#">Android Applications</a></li>
             <li class="divider"></li>
         </ul>
     </div>
     <div class="span7 offset1">
      <!-- Content -->         
     </div>
 </div>

Visit http://www.sitepoint.com/building-responsive-websites-using-twitter-bootstrap/

Thanks to Syed

Answer 15

If there will be no content after the row (whole screen height is taken), the trick with using position: fixed; height: 100% for .col:before element may work well:

header {
  background: green;
  height: 50px;
}
.col-xs-3 {
  background: pink;
}
.col-xs-3:before {
  background: pink;
  content: ' ';
  height: 100%;
  margin-left: -15px; /* compensates column's padding */
  position: fixed;
  width: inherit; /* bootstrap column's width */
  z-index: -1; /* puts behind content */
}
.col-xs-9 {
  background: yellow;
}
.col-xs-9:before {
  background: yellow;
  content: ' ';
  height: 100%;
  margin-left: -15px; /* compensates column's padding */
  position: fixed;
  width: inherit; /* bootstrap column's width */
  z-index: -1; /* puts behind content */
}

<link href="https://maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/3.3.6/css/bootstrap.min.css" rel="stylesheet"/>

<header>Header</header>
<div class="container-fluid">
    <div class="row">
        <div class="col-xs-3">Navigation</div>
        <div class="col-xs-9">Content</div>
    </div>
</div>

Answer 16

This was not mentioned here with offsetting.

You can use absolute to position for the left sidebar.

CSS

.sidebar-fixed{
  width: 16.66666667%;
  height: 100%;
}

HTML

<div class="row">
  <div class="sidebar-fixed">
    Side Bar
  </div>
  <div class="col-md-10 col-md-offset-2">
    CONTENT
  </div>
</div>

Answer 17

Try this

<div class="row row-offcanvas row-offcanvas-right">
<div class="col-xs-6 col-sm-3 sidebar-offcanvas" id="sidebar" role="navigation">Nav     Content</div>
<div class="col-xs-12 col-sm-9">Content goes here</div>
</div>

This uses Bootstrap 3 so no need for extra CSS etc...

Answer 18

Have you seen the the bootstrap's afix in the JAvascript's section ???

I think it would be the best & easiest solution dude.

Have a look there : http://getbootstrap.com/javascript/#affix

Answer 19

After experimenting with the code provided here: Bootstrap Tutorial

Here is another alternative using latest Bootstrap v3.0.2:

Markup:

<div id="headcontainer" class="container">
           <p>Your Header</p>    
</div>
<div id="maincontainer" class="container">
      <div class="row">
         <div class="col-xs-4"> 
            <p>Your Navigation</p> 
         </div>
         <div class="col-xs-8"> 
            <p>Your Content</p> 
         </div>
      </div>
</div>

Additional CSS:

#maincontainer, #headcontainer {
width: 100%;
}

#headcontainer {
background-color:#CCCC99; 
height: 150px
}

#maincontainer .row .col-xs-4{
background-color:gray; 
height:1000px
}

#maincontainer .row .col-xs-8{
background-color:green;
height: 1000px
}

Sample JSFiddle

Hope this helps anyone interested.