The latest update to Understrap, the WordPress theme framework, has been released. The banner feature for Understrap 1.1 is support for Bootstrap 5, including a new “off-canvas” style mobile menu. You can find these new options in the Theme Layout Settings of the Customizer.
Understrap will still load Bootstrap 4 by default, so Bootstrap 5 is currently opt-in only. This means that sites will not find their settings updated automatically and the new release WILL NOT BREAK existing sites using child themes.
Bootstrap 5 is not just a change in the CSS and Javascript, but also requires some slightly different HTML markup and some updated CSS classes. While it is possible to seamlessly switch between Bootstrap 4 and 5, if you’ve added any custom code that might use Bootstrap features, you’ll want to review your site thoroughly before making the switch.
Notes for Child Themes
If you’re using a child theme, nothing should change. The default setting is still Bootstrap 4. While the option to switch between Bootstrap 4 and 5 will appear as a Customizer setting, any child theme will still load its own version of Bootstrap. Any child theme author who wants to use Bootstrap 5 will have to migrate their code manually.
For new child themes: The latest version of our Understrap child starter theme defaults to Bootstrap 5. If you’re starting a new child theme but want to continue using Bootstrap 4, you can use the v1.0.1 release as your child starter theme.
Accessibility
We’re proud to announce that Understrap has been given the `accessibility-ready` tag by the theme review team. We’ve paid special attention to colors, labels, semantic structure, and screen reader text to ensure that a site running the Understrap parent theme has a solidly accessible foundation.
Developer Notes
A few other fixes and enhancements include support for WPML’s flag icons in the main navigation and other developer goodies like updates to the build process, support for the SCRIPT_DEBUG constant, and the return of the automated `dist` tasks.
We’re thankful to all of the open source contributors who provided their time and efforts towards this release.