Products · Product
Bootstrap
Raised as a usability problem by 99 people on Hacker News over 16 years (2011–2026), in 61 threads.
No issue was raised by at least 3 people in 3 threads this year.
No issue was raised by at least 3 people in 3 threads in the last 5 years.
Every issue, all time, most people first
Many components don't work or aren't exposed when importing LESS sourceUnreviewed
20112026- Bootstrap is convoluted and hard to pick the right version for React2020-03-25
- Bootstrap's jQuery plugins are hard to set up with modular webpack imports2016-12-22
- Many Bootstrap components don't work or aren't exposed when importing the LESS source2012-12-04
Too many default styles must be overridden to get the layoutUnreviewed
20112026- Overriding its styles requires !important and strange selectors2014-09-15
- Padding and margin defaults are annoying and require overriding2014-07-16
- Had to override far too many default styles to get the desired layout2013-03-04
Switches don't clearly show their state or available actionUnreviewed
20112026- Users can't tell whether the switch is on or off after clicking, since the label and knob position conflict2013-08-10
- Switch mistaken for a button, so pressing it is unclear and confusing2013-02-24
- Switches are confusing because their state and available action aren't clearly shown2013-01-26
Unreviewed issues were grouped by machine: Claude Haiku labelled each comment as a usability complaint, named what it's about and summed up the problem in a line, and a small model grouped similar problems. Nobody has checked them by hand. Expect mistakes.
The newest 50 complaints
- Author couldn't figure out how to build a proper responsive accordion with Bootstrap 12026-03-29
- Bootstrap dropdowns were inaccessible to screen reader and keyboard users2026-01-07
- Confusing layout makes users rely on Ctrl+F and still fail to find content2022-09-29
- Hard to figure out how to handle modal open events without jQuery2021-05-05
- Large CSS delays top-of-page rendering on slow mobile connections, so users may leave2020-06-18
- Bootstrap is convoluted and hard to pick the right version for React2020-03-25
- Default colors are inaccessible, so sites built with them are hard to read2019-01-02
- Simple layout tasks take days of fiddling to work across browsers2018-12-18
- Color swatches for modifier classes are non-intuitive; picker behaves unexpectedly2017-10-25
- Modal and other jQuery-dependent parts are confusing to use with VueJS2017-10-20
- Left main nav with subsections on the right is counter-intuitive to navigate2017-10-19
- Bootstrap modal doesn't set focus correctly, so developers must write fixing code2017-08-27
- Icon-only buttons like a tick are less intuitive than text labels2017-07-10
- Bootstrap's jQuery plugins are hard to set up with modular webpack imports2016-12-22
- Background image makes text illegible in several places in Firefox2016-12-22
- Must open each theme and click several times to preview it2016-11-04
- Hard to remove later because it has hooks spread all over the codebase2016-09-21
- Back button goes through many duplicate states instead of returning to previous section2016-04-22
- Greyed out items give no feedback, so it's unclear why they don't work2016-04-22
- Hitting back after scrolling through many examples does not return to HN2016-04-21
- Hard to untangle the grid layout when classes are not on elements2016-04-21
- Browser back button is hijacked, so it doesn't navigate as expected2016-04-21
- Back button misbehaves because clicking elements changes the URL2016-04-21
- Back button and closing popups leave the wrong popup open and URL fragment stale2016-04-21
- Back button leaves modal open, so a second press exits the site2016-04-21
- Pressing back doesn't leave the page, feeling like being held hostage2016-04-21
- Changing template text or images breaks alignment, colors and typography for non-designers2016-03-15
- Template-driven sites are overdecorated and resource heavy, hiding the information visitors want2016-03-15
- Can't zoom out on phones, animations can't be turned off, and a scroll button gets in the way2016-03-15
- Pages hold vague fluff, forcing clicking and scrolling to find useful information2016-03-15
- People must spend minutes guessing how to navigate the website2016-03-15
- Can't select or copy the text of the message box2014-10-21
- Adding and removing code to customise it is tiring and tedious2014-10-13
- Responsive sites hide content on small screens, so users can't switch to the desktop version2014-10-13
- Controls and fonts are oversized, forcing scrolling through pages to read little content2014-10-13
- Overriding its styles requires !important and strange selectors2014-09-15
- Framework pushes inline styling, making it hard to write semantic HTML2014-09-14
- Page scrolls horizontally with empty sides when containers and rows are missing2014-07-16
- Padding and margin defaults are annoying and require overriding2014-07-16
- Constant animation makes pages a confusing mess that is hard to read2014-06-28
- Very unintuitive; no tutorial, and user gets lost dragging elements2014-05-30
- Hover menu doesn't work on touch devices, sends user to a link2014-05-08
- Images fade on hover when the mouse rests over them, unintentionally2014-02-16
- Hovering over an example image makes it go blank2014-02-16
- Navbar scrolls away, forcing users to scroll back up on long pages2014-01-30
- Responsive layout is not mobile-friendly enough for CRUD apps on phones2014-01-30
- Primary navigation hidden behind a click or touch, making it harder to reach2013-09-30
- PDF layout is hard to read on Kindle, worse after Calibre conversion2013-09-08
- Thumbnails distort and text columns resize oddly when the window is resized2013-08-20
- Tall fixed navigation gets its bottom items cut off on smaller screens2013-08-20