description: Provide contextual feedback messages for typical user actions with the handful of available and flexible alert messages.
group: components
redirect_from:
- "/components/"
- "/docs/4.3/components/"
toc: true
---
## Examples
Alerts are available for any length of text, as well as an optional dismiss button. For proper styling, use one of the eight **required** contextual classes (e.g., `.alert-success`). For inline dismissal, use the [alerts jQuery plugin](#dismissing).
A simple {{ color.name }} alert with <a href="#" class="alert-link">an example link</a>. Give it a click if you like.
</div>{% endfor %}
{% endcapture %}
{% include example.html content=example %}
### Additional content
Alerts can also contain additional HTML elements like headings, paragraphs and dividers.
{% capture example %}
<div class="alert alert-success" role="alert">
<h4 class="alert-heading">Well done!</h4>
<p>Aww yeah, you successfully read this important alert message. This example text is going to run a bit longer so that you can see how spacing within an alert works with this kind of content.</p>
<hr>
<p class="mb-0">Whenever you need to, be sure to use margin utilities to keep things nice and tidy.</p>
</div>
{% endcapture %}
{% include example.html content=example %}
### Dismissing
Using the alert JavaScript plugin, it's possible to dismiss any alert inline. Here's how:
- Be sure you've loaded the alert plugin, or the compiled Bootstrap JavaScript.
- If you're building our JavaScript from source, it [requires `util.js`]({{ site.baseurl }}/docs/{{ site.docs_version }}/getting-started/javascript/#util). The compiled version includes this.
- Add a dismiss button and the `.alert-dismissible` class, which adds extra padding to the right of the alert and positions the `.close` button.
- On the dismiss button, add the `data-dismiss="alert"` attribute, which triggers the JavaScript functionality. Be sure to use the `<button>` element with it for proper behavior across all devices.
- To animate alerts when dismissing them, be sure to add the `.fade` and `.show` classes.
Note that closing an alert will remove it from the DOM.
### Methods
| Method | Description |
| --- | --- |
| `$().alert()` | Makes an alert listen for click events on descendant elements which have the `data-dismiss="alert"` attribute. (Not necessary when using the data-api's auto-initialization.) |
| `$().alert('close')` | Closes an alert by removing it from the DOM. If the `.fade` and `.show` classes are present on the element, the alert will fade out before it is removed. |
| `$().alert('dispose')` | Destroys an element's alert. |