Spinner components in Bootsrap - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Create a Loading Spinner with Bootstrap

📖 Scenario: You are building a simple web page that shows a loading spinner while content is loading. This spinner will help users know that something is happening in the background.

🎯 Goal: Build a web page with a Bootstrap spinner component centered on the page. The spinner should be visible and use the Bootstrap classes correctly.

📋 What You'll Learn

Use Bootstrap 5 spinner component

Center the spinner horizontally and vertically on the page

Use semantic HTML5 structure

Include necessary meta tags for responsive design

Ensure the spinner has an accessible label for screen readers

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Loading spinners are common in websites and apps to show users that content is loading or a process is running.

💼 Career

Knowing how to use Bootstrap components and utilities helps you quickly build responsive and accessible UI elements in professional web projects.

1

Create the basic HTML structure

Write the basic HTML5 skeleton with lang="en", meta charset="UTF-8", and meta viewport tags inside the <head>. Also add a <main> element inside the <body>.

Bootsrap

    
    
    Loading Spinner


    
        
    

Hint

Start with a simple HTML5 page structure including <html>, <head>, and <body>. Use lang="en" in the <html> tag for accessibility.

2

Add Bootstrap CSS link

Inside the <head>, add the Bootstrap 5 CSS CDN link: https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/bootstrap@5.3.0/dist/css/bootstrap.min.css using a <link> tag with rel="stylesheet".

Bootsrap

    
    
    Loading Spinner
    


    
    

Hint

Use a <link> tag with rel="stylesheet" and the Bootstrap CSS URL as the href.

3

Add the Bootstrap spinner inside <main>

Inside the <main> element, add a <div> with classes spinner-border and text-primary. Add role="status" and inside it add a <span> with class visually-hidden containing the text Loading... for accessibility.

Bootsrap

    
    
    Loading Spinner
    


    
        
    

Hint

Use the Bootstrap spinner classes exactly as shown. The role="status" and visually-hidden span help screen readers.

4

Center the spinner vertically and horizontally

Add Bootstrap utility classes d-flex, justify-content-center, and align-items-center to the <main> element. Also add min-vh-100 to make it fill the full viewport height.

Bootsrap

    
    
    Loading Spinner
    


    
        
            Loading...
        
    

Hint

Use Bootstrap flexbox utility classes on the <main> tag to center the spinner both vertically and horizontally.

Practice

1. What is the main purpose of Bootstrap spinner components?

easy

A. To show a loading or processing state visually

B. To create navigation menus

C. To style buttons with colors

D. To add images to the page

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand spinner usage

   Spinners are used to indicate that something is loading or processing in the background.

2. Step 2: Identify spinner purpose in Bootstrap

   Bootstrap spinner components visually show this loading state to users.

3. Final Answer:

   To show a loading or processing state visually -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   Spinner = Loading indicator [OK]

Hint: Spinners always mean loading or waiting [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Thinking spinners are for decoration only
• Confusing spinners with buttons
• Using spinners for static images

2. Which of the following is the correct Bootstrap class to create a border spinner?

easy

A. spinner-grow

B. spinner-spin

C. spinner-border

D. spinner-circle

Solution

1. Step 1: Recall Bootstrap spinner classes

   Bootstrap provides two main spinner classes: spinner-border and spinner-grow.

2. Step 2: Identify the border spinner class

   The class spinner-border creates a spinner with a border style.

3. Final Answer:

   spinner-border -> Option C

4. Quick Check:

   Border spinner class = spinner-border [OK]

Hint: Border spinner always uses spinner-border class [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Using spinner-grow for border spinner
• Typing class names incorrectly
• Confusing spinner classes with button classes

3. What will be the visible result of this code snippet?

<div class="spinner-grow text-primary" role="status">
  <span class="visually-hidden">Loading...</span>
</div>

medium

A. A growing spinner with blue color and hidden accessible text

B. A border spinner with red color and visible text

C. A static blue circle with visible 'Loading...' text

D. No spinner shown, only text visible

Solution

1. Step 1: Analyze spinner-grow and text-primary classes

   The spinner-grow class creates a growing spinner animation. The text-primary class applies Bootstrap's primary blue color.

2. Step 2: Understand role and visually-hidden span

   The role="status" helps screen readers. The span with visually-hidden hides the text visually but keeps it accessible.

3. Final Answer:

   A growing spinner with blue color and hidden accessible text -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   spinner-grow + text-primary = blue growing spinner [OK]

Hint: spinner-grow + text-primary = blue growing spinner [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Thinking text-primary changes text color only
• Expecting visible text from visually-hidden span
• Confusing spinner-grow with spinner-border

4. Identify the error in this spinner code:

<div class="spinner-border" aria-label="Loading">
  <span>Loading...</span>
</div>

medium

A. aria-label should be aria-labelledby

B. Incorrect class name spinner-border

C. Missing role="status" attribute for accessibility

D. Span should have class visually-hidden for screen readers

Solution

1. Step 1: Check accessibility best practices for spinners

   Bootstrap recommends adding a span with visually-hidden class inside spinners to provide accessible text for screen readers.

2. Step 2: Analyze given code

   The span inside the spinner lacks the visually-hidden class, so the text is visible visually, which is not ideal.

3. Final Answer:

   Span should have class visually-hidden for screen readers -> Option D

4. Quick Check:

   Accessible text inside spinner needs visually-hidden class [OK]

Hint: Use visually-hidden class on spinner text for accessibility [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Omitting visually-hidden class
• Using aria-label instead of role
• Confusing aria-label with aria-labelledby

5. You want to create a spinner that grows in size and uses the Bootstrap danger color with accessible text. Which code snippet correctly achieves this?

hard

A. Loading...

B. Loading...

C. Loading...

D. Loading...

Solution

1. Step 1: Choose spinner-grow for growing animation

   The question asks for a spinner that grows in size, so spinner-grow is the correct class.

2. Step 2: Apply danger color and accessibility

   The text-danger class applies the red color. The role="status" and span with visually-hidden provide accessible loading text.

3. Step 3: Verify all requirements

   Loading... uses spinner-grow, text-danger, role="status", and hidden accessible text correctly.

4. Final Answer:

   <div class="spinner-grow text-danger" role="status"><span class="visually-hidden">Loading...</span></div> -> Option B

5. Quick Check:

   Growing spinner + danger color + accessible text =
   Loading...
   [OK]

Hint: spinner-grow + text-danger + visually-hidden span = correct combo [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Using spinner-border instead of spinner-grow
• Missing role="status"
• Not hiding accessible text visually