Position fixed with variable height - css

I'm looking for a way to make sure the height of a scrollable, fixed element adapts to fit all the whitespace down until the footer.
Please see the following fiddle which is the layout I'm working on.
Been stuck on this for 2 days, it's about time to move on.
Better to see the fiddle in firefox, sidebar scrollbar not scrolling in chrome for some reason but that's a different issue.
<header></header>
<div id="platformContainer">
<section id="platformContent">
<div id="platformBody">
<ul class="mainList">
...
</ul>
</div>
</section>
<section id="toolBarContainer">
<div id="toolBarContent">
<ul id="toolBarList">
...
</ul>
</div>
</section>
<footer></footer>

Assuming you want the toolBarList container 100% height - this is what you already have. The sidebar is 100% height. The list within, however, is only set at 200px:
#platformContainer #toolBarContainer #toolBarContent ul#toolBarList{
height: 200px;
...
}
Changing that to height:100%; makes it fill the entire height of the document. The problem now is accounting for the header and footer. This is a common question, however, and I've answered it myself here: https://stackoverflow.com/a/14892331/1317805 as have many other people. You'll need to ensure that the header and footer aren't hidden by or covering the content area.
I think you might need javascript to do this – 9edge
Not at all!
Also, please note when using section tags:
Use of the element is not to be thought of as outlining content that needs to be styled visually in a particular way. If this is the case the author may be best advised to just use a semantically neutral div.
Your #platformContent and #toolBarContainer styling may yield unexpected results.
http://www.w3.org/WAI/GL/wiki/Using_HTML5_section_elements
In fact, your styling of those sections can be completely replaced with:
#platformBody, #toolBarContent {
position:relative;
height:100%;
top: 70px;
width: 100%;
}

Related

CSS: Absolute element keeps jumping in Google Chrome

I have an absolutely positioned form that appears roughly 200px below where it should be on the page load. If I open up Chrome Dev Tools and disable and re-enable any CSS image it goes where it should be.
This only happens in Google Chrome.
I've tried using the chrome specific CSS rules below but it doesn't work.
-webkit-backface-visibility: hidden;
-webkit-transform: translateZ(0);
How can I fix this?
Here is the page in question: http://info.iconixx.com/Iconixx-Incentives_imc_incentives1.html
It's likely nested in a different element then your wanting it to be. Make note of the parent element.
Find the element in which that header image is coming from. Likely <header></header>
Then make sure that element is defined as position: relative;
Within those tags have the relevant mark-up of the element you are trying to position within this area.
<header>
<div id="absoluteelement">
</div>
</header>
Now when you do:
#absoluteelement {
position:absolute;
top:50px;
left: 200px;
// more
}
It will be positioned top and left coordinates from the parent element, so top and left from the top and side of <header> just double check your code and nesting. Also, make sure you have all widths and heights defined for that area. Hope this helps.
I think you should really take a look how your markup is structured and consider reformatting it. For 1 the left box in the banner comes after the Form which is on the right. Just like anything else you should build left to right.
<div id="banner">
<div id="left_content"></div>
<div id="right_form"></div>
</div>
You could then....
#left_content{ float:left; }
#right_form{ float:right; }
This isn't going to give you the exact look you want... but using this approach will really help eliminate thse types of issues to begin with.

100% height responsive sidebar

How do i go about setting up a full height side bar using a responsive grid system, that is similar to bootstrap?
The issues I am running it to is the .main wrapper div collapses to the height of the .primarycol div.
I 'm using pull and push classes to adjust the visual layout so the .secondarycol div looks like its on the left hand side, even though it is after the .primarycol div in the code.
<div id="main" class="main content">
<div class="row">
<div id="primarycolumn" class="primarycol col12 col9-768 col3-768-push" role="main"></div>
<div id="secondary" class="secondarycol col12 col3-768 col9-768-pull col7-1024-pull" role="complementary"></div>
</div>
</div>
Normally the without the .secondarycol` class, the div would and look like this.
I have tried adding min-height:100% to the .main div and height:100% to the body tag, but that makes the main div height only ever be the height of the browser window and not the content.
Any suggestions on how I can remedy this would be really welcome.
This is the codepen of my base structure.
http://codepen.io/onebitrocket/pen/ZYQLMm/
I've added in the third column as well as some pages require one.
The column system is based on bootstraps, but i think it's an improved version:
The column classes are declared from smallest size to largest size.
I've also changed the class names to indicate the breakpoint size rather then xs,sm,md,lr etc..
Thanks
At least on chrome you need to set the height on the html tag too. Try it - http://jsfiddle.net/27kze60s/
html, body { height: 100%; }
Fixed, thanks to everyone for the suggestions
I've added the following to the css
height:100% to body
min-height:100% to .main
overflow:-y: auto to .secondarycol
I've updated the codepen - http://codepen.io/onebitrocket/pen/ZYQLMm/

Sticky header & internal links

I have used css to make a "sticky header" that is always visible at the top of the page and the other content placed below it.
In the header I have some internal links. The problem is that when a link is clicked then the page is scrolled so that the target is positioned at the top of the page - hidden by my sticky header - instead of just below it.
Any suggestions on how to solve this problem?
css:
#header {
position: fixed;
top: 0;
left: 0;
width: 100%;
height: 3.5em;
padding:0;
margin: 0;
}
#container {
width: 100%;
margin: 3.5em 0 0 0;
padding: 0;
overflow:auto;
}
#content {
padding: 0 4em;
margin: 0;
}
html:
<body>
<div id="header">
<div id="content">
<p>
XYZ
</p>
</div> <!--end content-->
</div> <!--end header-->
<div id="container">
<div id="content">
<p>A lot of text.</p>
<a name="xyz"></a>
<p>A lot of text</p>
</div><!--end content-->
</div><!--end container-->
</body>
At first, it's better to use blocks with id instead of name — it's more standard way.
Then, add class to an anchor and then make it have absolute position + move it with a negative top margin equal to the header's height.
Look at this fiddle: http://jsfiddle.net/kizu/gfXJJ/
Or, alternatively, for browsers that support pseudo-elements, you can add one with the desired height and compensate it's height by negative top margin, so it would amount as the start of the block to which you'd make a link. Doing so you can add ids to already existent elements rather than creating extra ones.
Here is a version with pseudo-element: http://jsfiddle.net/kizu/gfXJJ/2/
Or you can add top padding and negative margin to an element with id itself: http://jsfiddle.net/kizu/gfXJJ/2/ — but in that case there can be problems with backgrounds on it, 'cause the block is physically extended at the top.
A little bit of javascript (jQuery used here) can do it:
$('#header a').click(function (e) {
e.preventDefault();
var offset = $('a[name=' + $(this).attr('href').substr(1) + ']').offset();
$('html, body').animate({ scrollTop: offset.top - $('#header').outerHeight() }, 'fast');
});
This finds the element with a name attribute that matches the href attribute of the link clicked, and then animates a scroll to that element's position less the height of the header.
http://jsfiddle.net/blineberry/bTa8b/
I believe this question overlaps the one in this link: offsetting an html anchor to adjust for fixed header which offers even more possible solutions. I believe the questions could be merged, but I don't have the priviliges to do that. (Which is the same reason I'm entering this as an answer allthough I know it should have been a comment. But I'm not allowed to comment.)
You could also set a top-margin as high as the sticky header for your xyz-fragment in your CSS file. That might result in an empty gap in your result HTML-page though...
One simple thing to do is to place the <a name="xyz"></a> slightly higher up the text.
This would require some trial and error, but it might be the quickest/easiest thing to do.
Another thing you could do is to dynamically add margin or padding when the link is clicked.
Start with getting unique ID's for the content part in the header and inside the container.
Maybe you can put an ul inside the header for the internal links.
Set the position of the content inside the wrapper absolute, et voila!
Is there any place we can get a look at your problem?
Pseudo elements don't appear to work in all scenarios. I had luck just applying a negative top margin and a positive top padding to offset to negative margin.
eg. <a id="xyz" style="margin-top:-50px; padding-top:50px">Title</a>

Escape the bounds of a div container

Alright, I understand that the purpose of a DIV is to contain its inner elements - I didn't want to upset anyone by saying otherwise. However, please consider the following scenario:
My web page (which only takes up a width of 70% of the entire page) is surrounded by a container (a div). However, under my navigation bar which is at the top of the page, I would like to create w banner that takes up 100% of the width of the entire page (which means it will have to extend outside the bounds of its container as the container is only taking up 70% of the page's width).
This is the basic idea that I am trying to accomplish: http://www.petersonassociates.biz/
Does anyone have any suggestions for how I could accomplish this? I'd appreciate any help.
Evan
If you just want the background of the element to extend across the whole page this can also be achieved with negative margins.
In a nutshell (correction from comment):
.bleed {
padding-left: 3000px;
margin-left: -3000px;
padding-right: 3000px;
margin-right: -3000px;
}
That gives you horizontal scroll bars which you remove with:
body {overflow-x: hidden; }
There is a guide at http://www.sitepoint.com/css-extend-full-width-bars/.
It might be more semantic to do this with psuedo elements: http://css-tricks.com/full-browser-width-bars/
EDIT (2019):
There is a new trick to get a full bleed using this CSS utility:
width: 100vw;
margin-left: 50%;
transform: translateX(-50%);
I guess all solutions are kind of outdated.
The easiest way to escape the bounds of an element is by adding:
margin-left: calc(~"-50vw + 50%");
margin-right: calc(~"-50vw + 50%");
discussion can be found here and here. There is also a nice solution for the upcoming grid-layouts.
If I understood correctly,
style="width: 100%; position:absolute;"
should achieve what you're going for.
There are a couple of ways you could do this.
Absolute Positioning
Like others have suggested, if you give the element that you want to stretch across the page CSS properties of 100% width and absolute position, it will span the entire width of the page.
However, it will also be situated at the top of the page, probably obscuring your other content, which won't make room for your now 100% content. Absolute positioning removes the element from the document flow, so it will act as though your newly positioned content doesn't exist. Unless you're prepared to calculate exactly where your new element should be and make room for it, this is probably not the best way.
Images: you can also use a collection of images to get at what you want, but good luck updating it or making changes to the height of any part of your page, etc. Again, not great for maintainability.
Nested DIVs
This is how I would suggest you do it. Before we worry about any of the 100% width stuff, I'll first show you how to set up the 70% centered look.
<div class="header">
<div class="center">
// Header content
</div>
</div>
<div class="mainContent">
<div class="center">
// Main content
</div>
</div>
<div class="footer">
<div class="center">
// Footer content
</div>
</div>
With CSS like this:
.center {
width: 70%;
margin: 0 auto;
}
Now you have what appears to be a container around your centered content, when in reality each row of content moving down the page is made up of a containing div, with a semantic and descriptive class (like header, mainContent, etc.), with a "center" class inside of it.
With that set up, making the header appear to "break out of the container div" is as easy as:
.header {
background-color: navy;
}
And the color reaches to the edges of the page. If for some reason you want the content itself to stretch across the page, you could do:
.header .center {
width: auto;
}
And that style would override the .center style, and make the header's content extend to the edges of the page.
Good luck!
The more semantically correct way of doing this is to put your header outside of your main container, avoiding the position:absolute.
Example:
<html>
<head>
<title>A title</title>
<style type="text/css">
.main-content {
width: 70%;
margin: 0 auto;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<header><!-- Some header stuff --></header>
<section class="main-content"><!-- Content you already have that takes up 70% --></section>
<body>
</html>
The other method (keeping it in <section class="main-content">) is as you said, incorrect, as a div (or section) is supposed to contain elements, not have them extend out of bounds of their parent div/section. You'll also face problems in IE (I believe anything 7 or below, this might just be IE6 or less though) if your child div extends outside the parent div.

When doing equal height columns in CSS, is there a way to get internal anchor links to still function correctly?

I've used the last example on this page for equal height columns.
http://www.ejeliot.com/blog/61
The problem is, when you click an internal anchor link, the content is shifted up, and the overflow is making the top part of the page disappear.
For example, click this link
http://www.noosanativeplants.com.au/~new/articles/botany-words/
Then click a letter to jump to that section. You will notice what I am describing.
Is there a way to combat this, or is this a short coming of the technique? Do you recommend I use the background image technique for faux equal height columns? I'd rather not use this, as one page has a different background, and would require a bit of reworking to do the background for this page.
Thanks
I really recommend you to use the fail-safe faux columns method. If you are not a layout expert (no offence, seriously), stay away from the padding/margin/overflow magic and the one true layout technique. The latter is elegant but it can cause unwanted side-effects if you are to do heavy JS/DOM manipulations and all (see the problems listing).
As slink said you have two overflow: hidden rules in your css:
#main-container {
overflow:hidden;
}
And
#content {
overflow:hidden;
}
If you disable/remove these you will able to use your scrollbars again. Unfortunately the padding / negative margin "hack" will be visible. I recommend you to completely remove this solution and use faux columns. Faux columns background can be added to your #main-content or even the #content div (not just like the example in the ALA article that sets the background image to the body tag).
Good luck!
Update: Sorry, let me correct myself: to use faux columns in your case it is better to set the current background to the html element and the faux background to body element.
Assuming your equal height columns are the left menu and right content in that example, you could just use a margin-left property on the right-column and set the background colour of the container to the desired left-column colour. This would assume your right content always has a greater height than the left, but there are other ways round this.
#container {
width: 960px;
background-color: #000;
}
#menu {
float:left;
width: 240px;
}
#content {
float:right:
margin-left: 240px;
background-color: #fff;
}
<div id="container">
<div id="menu">
<ul>
<li>Home</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div id="content">
stuff goes here
</div>
</div>
The problem is caused by two overflow: hidden; rules defined on elements #content and #main-contaniner.

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