Using LESS css in Codeigniter - php

Question

Is there a way to implement a LESS stylesheet in a codeigniter project without having to rely on sparks and Carabiner?
In the of my view in CI, I place the link to the LESS file, and the LESS.js file directly underneath, however when I view the site, CI doesn't recognize the .LESS file. I've tried using relative paths as well as hardcoding the the file directories directly, however nothing changes. Is there something I should try adding to my config file to load the LESS files properly?
My file structure for the CI project is as follows
application
controllers
views
system
js
less-1.2.2.min.js
plugins.js
css
style.css
style.less
As for my header, its based off of the html5 boilerplate, to save space I'll only include the relevant info.
application -> views -> layout.php
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width">
<link rel="shortcut icon" href="favicon.ico" type="image/x-icon" />
<link rel="stylesheet/less" type="text/css" media="screen" href="css/style.less">
<script src="js/less-1.2.2.min.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="screen" href="css/style.css">
<!-- end CSS-->

Answer 1

Are you using mod_rewrite in httpd.conf? If so, you need to make sure that .less files are exempted.
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !(^alocalfarmCI/index\.php|\.png$|\.gif$|\.less$|\.js$|\.css$|/robots
One way to easily tell if this is your problem, type in a non-existent url within your site that ends in .less. If you see CI's error page, that means /index.php/ was inserted in the url.

Answer 2

If you're running with client-side (javascript) LESS, Codeigniter won't be involved in how LESS operates. Be sure that you've set the rel attribute appropriately when you're linking your LESS file in your views and that the less.js file is being loaded correctly.
<link rel="stylesheet/less" type="text/css" href="styles.less">
<script src="less.js" type="text/javascript"></script>