CSS position for sliding upward div - css

Question

I would like to position a dynamically generated div directly above a button (higher in the page, not Z-index). When the button is clicked, I want to reveal the div with a reverse jQuery slideToggle().
I have set up an example in the fiddle: http://jsfiddle.net/sablefoste/YWnJE/30/
I am close, but I can't seem to position the reveal to appear directly above the button. I am able to get it to slide upward with by using my CSS position:absolute; left:0;bottom:0; following the first example in http://www.learningjquery.com/2009/02/slide-elements-in-different-directions/.
If I change the left:0; bottom:0; to something else, I can position it correctly until the browser window is resized.
Is there a way to do this without brute force (specifically, identifying the top of the #storiesbutton, and jQuery to reposition the bottom of the #storylist)?
I appreciate any ideas! Thank you!

Answer 1

I'm going on pure guesswork here, but my thing is that you want the menu to appear above the button. I've tried it using
var list = $('#storylist'),
button = $('#storiesbutton'),
speed = 500;
list.hide().css('bottom', button.css('top'))
.css('margin-top', list.outerHeight() * -1);
So the position of the stories is set on load based on the position of the button and the height of the list.
Fiddle: http://jsfiddle.net/qt3LE/
Like I said though, I'm not 100% on what you are after. This may help with the positioning.
Also I used $.toggle(function(){}, function(){}) rather that toggleSlide as you have more control over the individual toggles.

Answer 2

So when you put position: absolute on that element, what you are doing it is positioning it as a fixed set of pixels according it's first non-static ancestor. In most cases and this case, that would be the body itself, which is why it was stuck at the bottom. What you want to do is constrain that absolutely positioned element inside another div so that it does not get positioned at the bottom of the page, but instead where you want it. So you would just wrap that element:
<div id="wrapper">
<div id="storylist" style="display:none;">
<ul>
<li>
Title 1 goes here.
</li>
<li>
Title 2 goes here.
</li>
<li>
Maybe a Title 3 goes here, but it is dynamically generated.
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
inside another div, and give that new div
#wrapper{
position: relative;
}
Here's the example in a fiddle.

Answer 3

I am not sure but if you're looking for the information to be above the button you might try removing position:absolute
Like this
http://jsfiddle.net/cjds/AnpzK/

Answer 4

Put the buttonbar and the storyline in a container like this:
<div id="container">
<div id="storylist">
<ul>
<li>
Title 1 goes here.
</li>
<li>
Title 2 goes here.
</li>
<li>
Maybe a Title 3 goes here, but it is dynamically generated.
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class= "buttonbar">
<div>
<span class="navbutton" id="librarybutton" >
<a href ="#" title="Information">
Information
</a>
</span>
<span class="navbutton" id="storiesbutton" >
<a href ="#">
Stories
</a>
</span>
</div>
</div>
​
and here are the css for them:
#container {
position:relative;
background:#efefef;
}
#storylist{
height:60px;
position:absolute;
left:0;
bottom:0;
}
.buttonbar{
margin:20px 50px 20px 0;
text-align:center;
width:100%;
position:absolute;
bottom:-60px;
}
I have absolute positioned the button bar AND the storyline so you could get that desired "upward sliding" action. Hope this is what you want. Here's fiddle of what i did. http://jsfiddle.net/YWnJE/41/