Using Bootstrap with Webpack

Question

I have an app that uses Webpack. I'm new to Webpack and trying to learn how to use it effectively. Specifically, I'm trying to import Bootstrap with Font Awesome into my project. I found this SO post, however, I am still unable to use Bootstrap. I'm not sure if it's out-of-date, or if I'm misunderstanding something.

I tried loading Bootstrap and Font Awesome via the url-loader. I was referencing the following URLs:

https://maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/4.0.0-alpha.4/css/bootstrap.min.css
https://maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com/font-awesome/4.3.0/css/font-awesome.min.css

I also tried using loading Bootstrap and Font Awesome via NPM and then referencing it in my entry file like this:

require('bootstrap');
require('font-awesome');

It seems like this should be part of a commonly used template. However, I'm not finding one. How do I use Bootstrap and Font Awesome with Webpack?

However, I've come up short with that approach as well.

Why don't it work ``require('bootstrap'); require('font-awesome');`` in entry file? Do you have any errors? Can you add webpack config file? — Stanislav Mayorov, Jul 05 '17 at 19:08
@StanislavMayorov When I do `require('bootstrap');` the bootstrap CSS simply does not load. I installed bootstrap using `npm install bootstrap --save-dev`. I can see `bootstrap` in the `node_modules` directory. I can successfully run `webpack` from the command-line with `require('bootstrap')` in my entry-file. However, the CSS simply is not loaded when I visit the web page. — user687554, Jul 06 '17 at 14:43
You must add loaders for css and fonts in your config. And don't forget to import jquery because it needs for bootstrap. — Stanislav Mayorov, Jul 06 '17 at 21:05
@StanislavMayorov I have `css-loader` and `url-loader` in my config file. However, I do not see any font-specific loaders listed in the loaders: https://webpack.js.org/loaders/. — user687554, Jul 07 '17 at 14:19
Have you tried installing the npm packages for bootstrap and font awesome? https://www.npmjs.com/package/bootstrap-webpack https://www.npmjs.com/package/font-awesome-webpack That will put the files into `node_modules` and you should be able to import or require them. — Håken Lid, Jul 08 '17 at 13:29

score 7 · Accepted Answer · edited May 10 '19 at 21:06

I have created a simple example on GitHub. Webpack 2 and Bootstrap 3 are used.

Install dependency npm install jquery bootstrap

index.js

require('bootstrap');
require('bootstrap/dist/css/bootstrap.css');
require('font-awesome/css/font-awesome.css'); //Optional. The question author uses this package.

webpack

const webpack = require('webpack');
const path = require("path");
const ExtractTextPlugin = require("extract-text-webpack-plugin");

module.exports = {
    entry: path.resolve(__dirname, "index.js"),
    output: {
        path: path.resolve(__dirname, 'dist'),
        filename: "bundle.js"
    },
    module: {
        rules: [    
            {
                test: /\.woff2?$|\.ttf$|\.eot$|\.svg$/,
                use: [{
                    loader: "file-loader"
                }]
            },
            {
                test: /\.css$/,
                use: ExtractTextPlugin.extract({
                    fallback: 'style-loader',
                    use: 'css-loader'
                })
            }
        ]
    },
    plugins: [
        new ExtractTextPlugin('bundle.styles.css'),
        new webpack.ProvidePlugin({
            // inject ES5 modules as global vars
            $: 'jquery',
            jQuery: 'jquery',
            'window.jQuery': 'jquery'
        })
    ]
};

index.html

<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/dist/bundle.styles.css">
<script type="text/javascript" src="/dist/bundle.js"></script>

You can use HtmlWebpackPlugin if don't want to insert bundle.styles.css and bundle.js manually.

@YevgeniyAfanasyev Because it will increase build time. Author didn't want to use bootstrap variables. You can use less and add `less-loader` if you need it. — Stanislav Mayorov, Jan 19 '18 at 09:44
Bootstrap 3 **does not** need tether.js. That's a Bootstrap 4 requirement. — rzb, May 19 '18 at 13:58

Tripurari Shankar · Answer 2 · 2019-05-14T06:45:25.593

if you are not generating your base HTML file dynamically then you can symply include a <link> tag in your base html's head section (means same base html file everywhere)

and if you want to use it using webpack then along with url-loader you need to use either style-loader and css-loader (if you want to insert the style as style tag in head witch is probabbly not the case)

or you can use webpack's extract to text plugin to load as a different file and insert it using html link tag

for reference you can use this open source project's configration file

webpack production config

and

webpack developement config

edit: link update

Using Bootstrap with Webpack

2 Answers2