Assign "active" class to navbar item based on current page URL with jQuery

footer.js

$(document).ready(function() {
	// get current URL path and assign 'active' class
	var pathname = window.location.pathname;
	$('.nav > li > a[href="'+pathname+'"]').parent().addClass('active');
})

header.html

<!-- your average Bootstrap navbar component, in this case placed in an include called header.html -->
<div class="navbar">
	<div class="navbar-inner">
		<ul class="nav">
			<li><a href="/">Home</a></li>
			<li><a href="/about.php">About</a></li>
			<li><a href="/contact.php">Contact</a></li>
		</ul>
	</div>
</div>