How to build a 2 Column (Fixed - Fluid) Layout with Twitter Bootstrap?

Question

Is it possible to create a 2 Column Layout (Fixed - Fluid) Layout ( http://www.dynamicdrive.com/style/layouts/item/css-liquid-layout-21-fixed-fluid/) with Twitter Bootstrap (http://twitter.github.com/bootstrap/)?

Do you have any solutions?

Answer 1

- Another Update -

Since Twitter Bootstrap version 2.0 - which saw the removal of the .container-fluid class - it has not been possible to implement a two column fixed-fluid layout using just the bootstrap classes - however I have updated my answer to include some small CSS changes that can be made in your own CSS code that will make this possible

It is possible to implement a fixed-fluid structure using the CSS found below and slightly modified HTML code taken from the Twitter Bootstrap Scaffolding : layouts documentation page:

HTML

<div class="container-fluid fill">
    <div class="row-fluid">
        <div class="fixed">  <!-- we want this div to be fixed width -->
            ...
        </div>
        <div class="hero-unit filler">  <!-- we have removed spanX class -->
            ...
        </div>
    </div>
</div>

CSS

/* CSS for fixed-fluid layout */

.fixed {
    width: 150px;  /* the fixed width required */
    float: left;
}

.fixed + div {
     margin-left: 150px;  /* must match the fixed width in the .fixed class */
     overflow: hidden;
}


/* CSS to ensure sidebar and content are same height (optional) */

html, body {
    height: 100%;
}

.fill { 
    min-height: 100%;
    position: relative;
}

.filler:after{
    background-color:inherit;
    bottom: 0;
    content: "";
    height: auto;
    min-height: 100%;
    left: 0;
    margin:inherit;
    right: 0;
    position: absolute;
    top: 0;
    width: inherit;
    z-index: -1;  
}

I have kept the answer below - even though the edit to support 2.0 made it a fluid-fluid solution - as it explains the concepts behind making the sidebar and content the same height (a significant part of the askers question as identified in the comments)

---

Important

Answer below is fluid-fluid

Update As pointed out by @JasonCapriotti in the comments, the original answer to this question (created for v1.0) did not work in Bootstrap 2.0. For this reason, I have updated the answer to support Bootstrap 2.0

To ensure that the main content fills at least 100% of the screen height, we need to set the height of the html and body to 100% and create a new css class called .fill which has a minimum-height of 100%:

html, body {
    height: 100%;
}

.fill { 
    min-height: 100%;
}

We can then add the .fill class to any element that we need to take up 100% of the sceen height. In this case we add it to the first div:

<div class="container-fluid fill">
    ...
</div>

To ensure that the Sidebar and the Content columns have the same height is very difficult and unnecessary. Instead we can use the ::after pseudo selector to add a filler element that will give the illusion that the two columns have the same height:

.filler::after {
    background-color: inherit;
    bottom: 0;
    content: "";
    right: 0;
    position: absolute;
    top: 0;
    width: inherit;
    z-index: -1;  
}

To make sure that the .filler element is positioned relatively to the .fill element we need to add position: relative to .fill:

.fill { 
    min-height: 100%;
    position: relative;
}

And finally add the .filler style to the HTML:

HTML

<div class="container-fluid fill">
    <div class="row-fluid">
        <div class="span3">
            ...
        </div>
        <div class="span9 hero-unit filler">
            ...
        </div>
    </div>
</div>

Notes

• If you need the element on the left of the page to be the filler then you need to change right: 0 to left: 0.