Alternating Row Colors in Bootstrap 3 - No Table

I am looking for a way to do alternating row colors in a responsive layout in Bootstrap 3. I cannot figure out how to do it without a LOT of extensive, confusing CSS and was hoping that someone had a better solution.

Here is the simple premise: 12 divs that display as 4 rows of 3 on large screens, 6 rows of 2 on small screens, and 12 rows of 1 on mobile. The rows will need to have alternating background colors regardless of screen size.

The HTML for Bootstrap 3 is as follows:

<div class="container">
    <div class="row">
        <div class="col-md-4 col-sm-6 col-xs-12">Emp-01</div>
        <div class="col-md-4 col-sm-6 col-xs-12">Emp-02</div>
        <div class="col-md-4 col-sm-6 col-xs-12">Emp-03</div>
        <div class="col-md-4 col-sm-6 col-xs-12">Emp-04</div>
        <div class="col-md-4 col-sm-6 col-xs-12">Emp-05</div>
        <div class="col-md-4 col-sm-6 col-xs-12">Emp-06</div>
        <div class="col-md-4 col-sm-6 col-xs-12">Emp-07</div>
        <div class="col-md-4 col-sm-6 col-xs-12">Emp-08</div>
        <div class="col-md-4 col-sm-6 col-xs-12">Emp-09</div>
        <div class="col-md-4 col-sm-6 col-xs-12">Emp-10</div>
        <div class="col-md-4 col-sm-6 col-xs-12">Emp-11</div>
        <div class="col-md-4 col-sm-6 col-xs-12">Emp-12</div>
    </div>
</div>

Any thoughts/hints/help would be greatly appreciated.

Solution 1:

Since you are using bootstrap and you want alternating row colors for every screen sizes you need to write separate style rules for all the screen sizes.

/* For small screen */
.row :nth-child(even){
  background-color: #dcdcdc;
}
.row :nth-child(odd){
  background-color: #aaaaaa;
}

/* For medium screen */    
@media (min-width: 768px) {
    .row :nth-child(4n), .row :nth-child(4n-1) {
        background: #dcdcdc;
    }
    .row :nth-child(4n-2), .row :nth-child(4n-3) {
        background: #aaaaaa;
    }
}

/* For large screen */
@media (min-width: 992px) {
    .row :nth-child(6n), .row :nth-child(6n-1), .row :nth-child(6n-2) {
        background: #dcdcdc;
    }
    .row :nth-child(6n-3), .row :nth-child(6n-4), .row :nth-child(6n-5) {
        background: #aaaaaa;
    }
}

Working FIDDLE
I have also included the bootstrap CSS here.

Solution 2:

I find that if I specify .row:nth-of-type(..), my other row's elements (for other formatting, etc) also get alternating colours. So rather, I'd define in my css an entirely new class:

.row-striped:nth-of-type(odd){
  background-color: #efefef;
}

.row-striped:nth-of-type(even){
  background-color: #ffffff;
}

So now, the alternating row colours will only apply to the row container, when I specify its class as .row-striped, and not the elements inside the row.

<!-- this entire row container is #efefef -->
<div class="row row-striped">
    <div class="form-group">
        <div class="col-sm-8"><h5>Field Greens with strawberry vinegrette</h5></div>
        <div class="col-sm-4">
            <input type="number" type="number" step="1" min="0"></input><small>$30/salad</small>
        </div>
    </div>
</div>

<!-- this entire row container is #ffffff -->
<div class="row row-striped">
    <div class="form-group">
        <div class="col-sm-8"><h5>Greek Salad</h5></div>
        <div class="col-sm-4">
            <input type="number" type="number" step="1" min="0"></input><small>$25/salad</small>
        </div>
    </div>
</div>

Solution 3:

You can use this code :

.row :nth-child(odd){
  background-color:red;
}
.row :nth-child(even){
  background-color:green;
}

Demo : http://codepen.io/mouhammed/pen/rblsC

Solution 4:

There isn't really a way to do this without the css getting a little convoluted, but here's the cleanest solution I could put together (the breakpoints in this are just for example purposes, change them to whatever breakpoints you're actually using.) The key is :nth-of-type (or :nth-child -- either would work in this case.)

Smallest viewport:

@media (max-width:$smallest-breakpoint) {

  .row div {
     background: #eee;
   }

  .row div:nth-of-type(2n) {
     background: #fff;
   }

}

Medium viewport:

@media (min-width:$smallest-breakpoint) and (max-width:$mid-breakpoint) {

  .row div {
    background: #eee;
  }

  .row div:nth-of-type(4n+1), .row div:nth-of-type(4n+2) {
    background: #fff;
  }

}

Largest viewport:

@media (min-width:$mid-breakpoint) and (max-width:9999px) {

  .row div {
    background: #eee;
  }

  .row div:nth-of-type(6n+4), 
  .row div:nth-of-type(6n+5), 
  .row div:nth-of-type(6n+6) {
      background: #fff;
  }
}

Working fiddle here