How to change bootstrap navigation menu colors?

Question

I want to change the color of the \"Home\" \"Spin\" \"Social Media\" but no clue how. I spent a few days on figuring out how to change the navigation background but

Answer 1

This is a relatively comprehensive breakdown of the navigation components and often changed properties. I would suggest using a custom class in your main navbar div (navbar-custom is used for this example) to avoid changing the base CSS directly.

/***Navbar Background Color, Border Removed ,Border Radius Sqaure***/

.navbar.navbar-custom {
  background: #66ccff;
  border: none;
  border-radius: 0;
}
/***Link Color***/

.navbar.navbar-custom .navbar-nav > li > a {
  color: #f00;
}
/***Link Color Hover Statr***/

.navbar.navbar-custom .navbar-nav > li > a:hover {
  color: #ff0;
}
/***Link Background and Color Active State***/

.navbar.navbar-custom .navbar-nav > .active,
.navbar.navbar-custom .navbar-nav > .active > a,
.navbar.navbar-custom .navbar-nav > .active > a:hover,
.navbar.navbar-custom .navbar-nav > .active > a:focus {
  background: #DBF022;
  color: #66ccff;
}
/***Navbar Brand Link Color***/

.navbar.navbar-custom .navbar-brand {
  color: #f00;
}
/***Navbar Brand Link Color Hover State***/

.navbar.navbar-custom .navbar-brand:hover {
  color: #ff0;
}
/***Dropdown Background Active State***/

.navbar.navbar-custom .nav li.dropdown.open > .dropdown-toggle,
.navbar.navbar-custom .nav li.dropdown.active > .dropdown-toggle,
.navbar.navbar-custom .nav li.dropdown.open.active > .dropdown-toggle {
  background: #DBF022;
  color: #f00;
}
/***Dropdown-menu Background Color***/

.navbar.navbar-custom .dropdown-menu {
  background: #66ccff;
  border: none;
}
/***Dropdown-menu Color***/

.navbar.navbar-custom .dropdown-menu > li > a {
  color: #f00;
}
/***Dropdown-menu Color Hover and Focus State***/

.navbar.navbar-custom .dropdown-menu > li > a:hover,
.navbar.navbar-custom .dropdown-menu > li > a:focus {
  color: #ff0;
  background: #f00;
}
/***Toggle Button***/

.navbar.navbar-custom .navbar-header .navbar-toggle {
  border-color: #f00;
}
/***Toggle Button Hover and Focus State***/

.navbar.navbar-custom .navbar-header .navbar-toggle:hover,
.navbar.navbar-custom .navbar-header .navbar-toggle:focus {
  background: #f00;
  border: #f00;
}
/***Collapse Borders***/

.navbar.navbar-custom .navbar-collapse {
  border: none;
}
@media (max-width: 767px) {
  .navbar.navbar-custom li.dropdown .dropdown-menu > li > a {
    color: #f00;
  }
  /***Dropdown-menu Color Hover and Focus State***/
  .navbar.navbar-custom li.dropdown .dropdown-menu > li > a:hover,
  .navbar.navbar-custom li.dropdown .dropdown-menu > li > a:focus {
    color: #ff0;
    background: #f00;
  }
}

<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.11.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/3.3.5/js/bootstrap.min.js"></script>
<link href="https://maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/3.3.5/css/bootstrap.min.css" rel="stylesheet" />
<nav class="navbar navbar-inverse navbar-custom">
  <div class="container-fluid">
    <!-- Brand and toggle get grouped for better mobile display -->
    <div class="navbar-header">
      <button type="button" class="navbar-toggle collapsed" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#bs-example-navbar-collapse-1" aria-expanded="false"> <span class="sr-only">Toggle navigation</span>
        <span class="icon-bar"></span>
        <span class="icon-bar"></span>
        <span class="icon-bar"></span>

      </button> <a class="navbar-brand" href="#">Brand</a>

    </div>
    <!-- Collect the nav links, forms, and other content for toggling -->
    <div class="collapse navbar-collapse" id="bs-example-navbar-collapse-1">
      <ul class="nav navbar-nav">
        <li class="active"><a href="#">Link <span class="sr-only">(current)</span></a>

        </li>
        <li><a href="#">Link</a>

        </li>
        <li class="dropdown"> <a href="#" class="dropdown-toggle" data-toggle="dropdown" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" aria-expanded="false">Dropdown <span class="caret"></span></a>

          <ul class="dropdown-menu">
            <li><a href="#">Action</a>

            </li>
            <li><a href="#">Another action</a>

            </li>
            <li><a href="#">Something else here</a>

            </li>
          </ul>
        </li>
      </ul>
    </div>
    <!-- /.navbar-collapse -->
  </div>
  <!-- /.container-fluid -->
</nav>

Answer 2

to customize use the below selectors...

(note, you won't need !important if your customizations are loaded after the bootstrap css, ie your <link href="..my-customizations.css" /> loaded after <link href="...cdn...bootstrap.min.css" />)

/* links */
.navbar-inverse .navbar-nav>li>a {
  color: red!important;
}

/* active, focus or hover links */
.navbar-inverse .navbar-nav>.active>a, 
.navbar-inverse .navbar-nav>.active>a:focus, 
.navbar-inverse .navbar-nav>.active>a:hover {
  color: red!important;
}

jsfiddle example

Answer 3

.navbar .nav > li > a 

that is the target you are seeking!