Bootstrap Bundle Laravel Package

Getting Started

Install the bundle with Composer ("braincrafted/bootstrap-bundle": "~2.2" — pin explicitly, dev-master moves), then register it in app/AppKernel.php:

new Braincrafted\Bundle\BootstrapBundle\BraincraftedBootstrapBundle(),

Before touching templates, check the compatibility matrix in the README. Version 2.2.x maps to Symfony 2.3–3.0 and Bootstrap 3.0–3.2 only. If your project is on Symfony 4+/Flex, stop here — this bundle will not boot.

Next, look at the documented Getting Started page rather than the README, because the README stops at registration. The practical sequence is:

1. app/console braincrafted:bootstrap:install — pulls jQuery and Bootstrap into web/ (versions configurable; web-dir is configurable since 2.1 beta2).
2. app/console braincrafted:bootstrap:generate — writes a bootstrap.less/bootstrap.scss entry file with @import statements and variables you can then override.
3. Wire Assetic (or your own build) to compile that file and dump it to web/css.
4. Enable the form theme — the single most valuable thing the bundle gives you:

# config.yml
twig:
    form_themes:
        - 'BraincraftedBootstrapBundle::form.html.twig'

(On Symfony < 2.6 this is the form.resources key instead — see gotchas.)

Your first real use case: take an existing Symfony form, apply bootstrap_3_horizontal_layout.html.twig, and every form_row starts emitting form-group, control-label, form-control and error has-error classes without a single template change. That alone justifies the dependency on a Bootstrap 3 project.

Implementation Patterns

Form theming at three scopes. Global via twig.form_themes, per-template via {% form_theme form 'bootstrap_3_layout.html.twig' %} (note the short name works because the bundle ships well-known theme paths), or per-form-type via setDefaultOptions(['inherit_data' => ...]) plus a theme. Prefer per-template when only one page is Bootstrap-styled; the global config leaks Bootstrap markup into emails and PDFs if you reuse form rendering there.

Horizontal layouts are option-driven. label_col_size and widget_col_size (plus col_size for the wrapper) are read by the horizontal theme. Set them once on the form type's buildForm/configureOptions rather than per field, and override per field only when a widget genuinely differs (e.g. a file upload that needs col-md-10).

Collections with add/remove rows. Swap CollectionType for BootstrapCollectionType and include bc-bootstrap-collection.js. The template contract is the standard Symfony data-prototype attribute plus data attributes the JS reads (data-prototype-name, data-prototype-label). The JS fires bc-collection-add / bc-collection-remove events on the container, so bind your own recalculations (index numbering, price totals, select2 re-init) there instead of patching the script.

{{ form_row(form.items, { attr: { 'data-prototype': prototype } }) }}

Static/read-only values. Use the shipped static control form type instead of rendering {{ value }} manually — it keeps the row structure and label alignment consistent with editable siblings.

Flash messages. The FlashMessageFactory service (braincrafted_bootstrap.flash) turns $session->getFlashBag()->add('success', ...) into styled, dismissible alert divs; danger() exists for error-level messages. Render them once in layout.html.twig via the flash_alert filter rather than repeating markup in controllers' templates.

Icons and buttons are Twig-level sugar. {{ icon('pencil') }}, {{ parse_icons(label) }}, {{ button('Save', 'primary', 'save') }}, {{ button_link(url, 'Cancel') }}. These are worth using in menus and collection rows where the same <span class="glyphicon"> boilerplate would otherwise repeat dozens of times. parse_icons only works inside the bundle's own helpers (button, button_link, badge, label), not arbitrary strings.

Assetic integration. The bundle ships LESS/SCSS filters config. Apply them to the generated bootstrap.less, and keep your own application styles in a separate file so a Bootstrap version bump doesn't force a rewrite. In dev enable assetic.use_controller; in prod dump to web/ during deploy. If you already have gulp/Encore/mix, skip this layer entirely — the bundle's Twig and form parts work fine without Assetic.

Gotchas and Tips

The Symfony 2.6 rename bites everyone. form.resources became form_themes. If forms silently render without Bootstrap classes, you are on the wrong key for your Symfony version — the bundle's changelog explicitly notes the switch.

This package is effectively end-of-life. Last release 2016, Symfony 3.0 ceiling, no Symfony 4/5/6 support, Twig 1.x APIs baked into extensions. Any new project should treat it as a historical reference and hand-roll the form theme (bootstrap_4_*/bootstrap_5_* themes now ship with Symfony core) or use a maintained alternative. Keep it only in brownfield Symfony 2 projects you cannot upgrade.

Do not assume the install command is idempotent. It downloads assets into web/ and will happily clobber customized copies. Back up web/js/web/css before rerunning, or use the configurable web-dir to point at a staging folder and copy deliberately.

Sass support has an external dependency. The SCSS path needs either a sass binary or leafo/scssphp; without it Assetic fails at dump time with an unhelpful filter-not-found error. Check assetic.filters registration and clear app/cache after changing it — Assetic caches compiled output aggressively.

Collection JS is jQuery- and Bootstrap-3-specific. bc-bootstrap-collection.js relies on .size() historically (fixed late, but old copies still have it) and on Bootstrap 3 tooltip/popover semantics. If you upgraded anywhere, vendor the file and patch rather than tracking the bundle.

label => false has known layout quirks in horizontal forms — column offsets get miscomputed. Workaround: set a zero-width label column (label_col_size = 0) rather than disabling the label outright.

File inputs never render a value by design (security), so don't add a "current file" display expecting the widget to do it — render it yourself alongside the field.

Extension points if you must fork behavior: override the bundle's templates using standard bundle template overriding (app/Resources/BraincraftedBootstrapBundle/views/Form/...), and extend BootstrapCollectionType if you need custom prototype names. There is no event-driven extension API for the form theme itself, so template overrides are the only clean seam.

Debug checklist when styling disappears: (1) form theme actually registered, (2) correct key for your Symfony version, (3) bootstrap.css actually compiled and linked — view source, don't trust the layout, (4) cache cleared after config edits. In that order; the third is the most common false alarm.