vertical-align with Bootstrap 3

Question

I'm using Twitter Bootstrap 3, and I have problems when I want to align vertically two div, for example — JSFiddle link:

<!-- Latest compiled and minified CSS -->
<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/3.3.4/css/bootstrap.min.css">

<!-- Optional theme -->
<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/3.3.4/css/bootstrap-theme.min.css">

<!-- Latest compiled and minified JavaScript -->
<script src="https://maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/3.3.4/js/bootstrap.min.js"></script>
<div class="row">
  <div class="col-xs-5">
    <div style="height:5em;border:1px solid #000">Big</div>
  </div>
  <div class="col-xs-5">
    <div style="height:3em;border:1px solid #F00">Small</div>
  </div>
</div>

The grid system in Bootstrap uses float: left, not display:inline-block, so the property vertical-align doesn't work. I tried using margin-top to fix it, but I think this is not a good solution for the responsive design.

Answer 1

Try this,

.exe {
  font-size: 0;
}

.exe > [class*="col"] {
  display: inline-block;
  float: none;
  font-size: 14px;
  font-size: 1rem;
  vertical-align: middle;
}

<link href="//maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/3.3.2/css/bootstrap.min.css" rel="stylesheet"/>
<div class="row  exe">
   <div class="col-xs-5">
      <div style="height:5em;border:1px solid grey">Big</div>
   </div>
   <div class="col-xs-5">
       <div style="height:3em;border:1px solid red">Small</div>
   </div>
 </div>

Answer 2

Flex behaviors are natively supported since Bootstrap 4. Add d-flex align-items-center in the row div. You no longer need to modify your css.

Simple example : http://jsfiddle.net/vgks6L74/

<!-- language: html -->    
<div class="row d-flex align-items-center">
  <div class="col-5 border border-dark" style="height:10em">  Big </div>
  <div class="col-2 border border-danger" style="height:3em"> Small </div>
</div>

With your example : http://jsfiddle.net/7zwtL702/

<!-- language: html -->
<div class="row d-flex align-items-center">
    <div class="col-5">
        <div class="border border-dark" style="height:10em">Big</div>
    </div>
    <div class="col-2">
        <div class="border border-danger" style="height:3em">Small</div>
   </div>
</div>

Source : https://getbootstrap.com/docs/4.0/utilities/flex/

Answer 3

With Bootstrap 4 (which is in alpha currently) you can use the .align-items-center class. So you can keep the responsive character of Bootstrap. Workes straight away fine for me. See Bootstrap 4 Documentation.

Answer 4

No need for table and table-cells. It can be achieved easily using transform. Example: http://codepen.io/arvind/pen/QNbwyM

Code:

.child {
  height: 10em;
  border: 1px solid green;
  position: relative;
}
.child-content {
  position: absolute;
  top: 50%;
  left: 50%;
  -webkit-transform: translate(-50%, -50%);
  transform: translate(-50%, -50%);
}

<link href="https://maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/3.3.5/css/bootstrap.min.css" rel="stylesheet" />
<div class="row parent">
  <div class="col-xs-6 col-lg-6 child">
    <div class="child-content">
      <div style="height:4em;border:1px solid #000">Big</div>
    </div>
  </div>
  <div class="col-xs-6 col-lg-6 child">
    <div class="child-content">
      <div style="height:3em;border:1px solid #F00">Small</div>
    </div>
  </div>
</div>

Answer 5

Try this in the CSS of the div:

display: table-cell;
vertical-align: middle;