How can I center the contents of a div that float: left? - css

Question

I found this article and I decided that I liked the way they styled links and buttons.
So I took the CSS from the article...
.buttons a, .buttons button{
display:block;
float:left;
margin:0 7px 0 0;
background-color:#f5f5f5;
border:1px solid #dedede;
border-top:1px solid #eee;
border-left:1px solid #eee;
font-family:"Lucida Grande", Tahoma, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif;
font-size:100%;
line-height:130%;
text-decoration:none;
font-weight:bold;
color:#565656;
cursor:pointer;
padding:5px 10px 6px 7px; /* Links */
}
.buttons button{
width:auto;
overflow:visible;
padding:4px 10px 3px 7px; /* IE6 */
}
.buttons button[type]{
padding:5px 10px 5px 7px; /* Firefox */
line-height:17px; /* Safari */
}
*:first-child+html button[type]{
padding:4px 10px 3px 7px; /* IE7 */
}
.buttons button img, .buttons a img{
margin:0 3px -3px 0 !important;
padding:0;
border:none;
width:16px;
height:16px;
}
Then I have several buttons in a row I want to use like this...
<div class="buttons">
<img src="pict1.png" class="positive" alt=""/>Button 1
<img src="pict2.png" alt=""/>Button 2
<img src="pict3.png" class="negative" alt=""/>Button 3
</div>
See this example: http://reljac.com/csstest.php
But that row of buttons may need to be aligned center, not all to the right or left. If I change the CSS to...
.buttons a, .buttons button{
/*display:block;
float:left;*/
margin:0 7px 0 0;
The buttons no longer appear correctly when there is an image, specifically in IE 6,7 & 8.
See this example: http://reljac.com/csstest_wo.php
I can change the float to right to get the buttons to align right but I can't figure out what to do to get them centered (like in a <td></td>).
So the short of it is I want to use the style as it is but I also need to be able to center justify the buttons if necessary.

Answer 1

Try adding this to the CSS:
.buttons
{
text-align:center;
margin: 0px auto 0px auto;
}
The auto makes the margins equal on each side. The text-align is a bodge for older browsers.
EDIT:
Add an extra div around the buttons called buttonwrapper. then apply this CSS
.buttonwrapper
{
position:relative;
float:left;
left:50%;
}
.buttons
{
position:relative;
float:left;
left:-50%;
}
Method taken (but not tested) from http://www.pmob.co.uk/temp/centred-float4.htm

Answer 2

I found that when you have a parent div float left and a child div you're trying to center, a lot of times people forget inheritance.
HTML:
<div class="parent">
<div class="child">
Text
</div>
</div>
CSS:
.parent {
float: left;
width: 300px;
}
.child {
float: none; /* <-- IMPORTANT! */
width: 200px;
margin-left: auto;
margin-right: auto;
}
IMPORTANT :
Inheritance states that the child div is also floated left. So, make sure that the child div has no float, then margin: auto like usual.