Liferay 6.2 Theme using Bootstrap 3

July 20, 2016

There are lots of people thinking about feasibility of using Bootstrap 3 in Liferay 6.2. Bootstrap 2 is upgraded by bootstrap 3 and also new features have been introduced according Twitter Bootstrap development community. Let's fulfill the wish of many Liferay theme developers to work with Bootstrap 3 in Liferay 6.2.

Bootstrap 3 provides flat design with no more fluid and fixed classes. Everything in bootstrap 3 is fluid to create fluid design. Besides, Bootstrap 3 is available with four level of responsiveness. We also can order columns using pull and push classes.

Here, I have tried to support most used bootstrap 3 component like flat design button, forms, media object, responsive image classes, completely responsive grid system.

Consider following requirements to develop theme.

System Requirements : -

Liferay 6.2 CE/EE version
Liferay plugin SDK

Follow the below steps to build sample theme.

Make the following selections:

Open IDE(Eclipse/Liferay Developer Studio) and go to File -> New -> Liferay Plugin Project.
- Build type: Ant (liferay-plugins-sdk) / Maven (liferay-maven-plugin)
- Plugins SDK: [a configured Plugins SDK]
- Liferay runtime: [a configured Liferay runtime]
- Plugin Type: Theme
- JDK: [a configured Java runtime 7 and above]
- Click Next
- Choose parent theme ( _styled / _unstyled / classic) according to requirement. For now select classic as a parent theme.
- Choose Theme Framework ( Freemarker / Velocity / jsp).
- Click on Finish.

After step 1, Theme will resemble to below structure.

Note :- Make sure _diffs directory is not created during step 1. Create it manually and copy resource folders (css,images,js,templates) according to requirement.

Theme Design:

Liferay-theme
- docroot
  - WEB-INF
    - Liferay-look-and-feel.xml
    - liferay-plugin-package.properties
  - _diffs
    - css
    - images
    - js
    - templates
  - css
  - images
  - js
  - templates
The _diffs directory must mirror the parent theme’s directory structure.

2. Follow below steps for theme customization.

Copy custom.css from css directory to _diffs --> css directory as per the requirements.
Add bootstrap_3.css and theme_6_2_bootstrap_3.css to _diffs --> css directory.
Import bootstrap_3.css and theme_6_2_bootstrap_3.css at the end of _diffs --> css --> custom.css file.

Note : - Take bootstrap_3.css from attached war file, Because It's classes hierarchy is changed to meet liferay theme rules.

Custom.css

-----
--------
----------
@import url(bootstrap_3.css);
@import url(theme_6_2_bootstrap_3.css);

Theme_6_2_bootstrap_3.css

.aui {
    body {
        background:url(../images/cover1.jpg) no-repeat 0 0 /cover;
    }
    .site-title .site-name {
            color:#fff;
    }
    
    #wrapper {
        background-color: rgba(0,0,0,0.5);
        #content {
            min-height:500px;
        }
    }
    
    #footer {
        background-color: #ffffff;
        p {
            padding:5px;
        }    
    }    
}

3. Follow the steps to make default layout for theme ( Optional).

Create layout plugin by following step 1 and select plugin type as layout.
Create layouttpl directory under _diffs directory in theme plugin.
Copy layout files ( B3_layout.png, B3_layout.tpl and B3_layout.wap.tpl) from layout plugin and paste under layouttpl directory in theme plugin.
Add layout configuration inside theme configuration in WEB-INF --> Liferay-look-and-feel.xml.

Liferay-look-and-feel.xml

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!DOCTYPE look-and-feel PUBLIC "-//Liferay//DTD Look and Feel 6.2.0//EN" "http://www.liferay.com/dtd/liferay-look-and-feel_6_2_0.dtd">

<look-and-feel>
    <compatibility>
        <version>6.2.10+</version>
    </compatibility>
    <theme id="L6_2withBT3-theme" name="L6_2withBT3">
           <layout-templates>
            <custom>
                <layout-template id="B3_layout" name="B3 Layout">
                    <template-path>layouttpl/B3_layout.tpl</template-path>
                    <wap-template-path>layouttpl/B3_layout.wap.tpl</wap-template-path>
                    <thumbnail-path>layouttpl/B3_layout.png</thumbnail-path>
                </layout-template>
            </custom>
        </layout-templates>
    </theme>
</look-and-feel>

4. Deploy theme using command ant clean deploy.

5. Deploy layout if created separately.

Responsive Layout (optional):

For example, To use bootstrap 3 layout with new grid class ( col-* ). Follow below link

https://www.surekhatech.com/blog/liferay-dxp-theme-with-bootstrap-3

After successful deployment, theme will look as shown in following snapshots.

Mobile View