How can I align the items in my navbar to the center? - html

Question

How would you align the items in the navbar? I tried using text-align: center but to no avail
body {
font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
}
.navbar {
overflow: hidden;
background-color: #333;
}
.navbar a {
float: left;
font-size: 16px;
color: white;
text-align: center;
padding: 14px 16px;
text-decoration: none;
}
.dropdown {
float: left;
overflow: hidden;
}
.dropdown .dropbtn {
font-size: 16px;
border: none;
outline: none;
color: white;
padding: 14px 16px;
background-color: inherit;
font-family: inherit;
margin: 0;
}
.navbar a:hover,
.dropdown:hover .dropbtn {
background-color: red;
}
.dropdown-content {
display: none;
position: absolute;
background-color: #f9f9f9;
min-width: 160px;
box-shadow: 0px 8px 16px 0px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2);
z-index: 1;
}
.dropdown-content a {
float: none;
color: black;
padding: 12px 16px;
text-decoration: none;
display: block;
text-align: left;
}
.dropdown-content a:hover {
background-color: #ddd;
}
.dropdown:hover .dropdown-content {
display: block;
}
<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/font-awesome/6.2.1/css/all.min.css" integrity="sha512-MV7K8+y+gLIBoVD59lQIYicR65iaqukzvf/nwasF0nqhPay5w/9lJmVM2hMDcnK1OnMGCdVK+iQrJ7lzPJQd1w==" crossorigin="anonymous" referrerpolicy="no-referrer" />
<div class="navbar">
<div class="dropdown" id="one">
<button class="dropbtn">A
<i class="fa fa-caret-down"></i>
</button>
<div class="dropdown-content">
Link 1
Link 2
Link 3
</div>
</div>
<div class="dropdown" id="two">
<button class="dropbtn">B
<i class="fa fa-caret-down"></i>
</button>
<div class="dropdown-content">
Link 1
Link 2
Link 3
</div>
</div>
<div class="dropdown" id="three">
<button class="dropbtn">C
<i class="fa fa-caret-down"></i>
</button>
<div class="dropdown-content">
Link 1
Link 2
Link 3
</div>
</div>
</div>

Answer 1

Protip: Don't use floats. They're a dated and troublesome technique with very few legitimate modern uses.
Instead, use text alignment, automatic side margins, or flexbox.
See https://css-tricks.com/snippets/css/a-guide-to-flexbox.
body {
font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
}
.navbar {
overflow: hidden;
background-color: #333;
display: flex; /* <---------------------------------- HERE */
justify-content: center; /* <------------------------ HERE */
}
.navbar a {
font-size: 16px;
color: white;
text-align: center;
padding: 14px 16px;
text-decoration: none;
}
.dropdown {
overflow: hidden;
}
.dropdown .dropbtn {
font-size: 16px;
border: none;
outline: none;
color: white;
padding: 14px 16px;
background-color: inherit;
font-family: inherit;
margin: 0;
}
.navbar a:hover,
.dropdown:hover .dropbtn {
background-color: red;
}
.dropdown-content {
display: none;
position: absolute;
background-color: #f9f9f9;
min-width: 160px;
box-shadow: 0px 8px 16px 0px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2);
z-index: 1;
}
.dropdown-content a {
color: black;
padding: 12px 16px;
text-decoration: none;
display: block;
text-align: left;
}
.dropdown-content a:hover {
background-color: #ddd;
}
.dropdown:hover .dropdown-content {
display: block;
}
<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/font-awesome/6.2.1/css/all.min.css" integrity="sha512-MV7K8+y+gLIBoVD59lQIYicR65iaqukzvf/nwasF0nqhPay5w/9lJmVM2hMDcnK1OnMGCdVK+iQrJ7lzPJQd1w==" crossorigin="anonymous" referrerpolicy="no-referrer" />
<div class="navbar">
<div class="dropdown" id="one">
<button class="dropbtn">A
<i class="fa fa-caret-down"></i>
</button>
<div class="dropdown-content">
Link 1
Link 2
Link 3
</div>
</div>
<div class="dropdown" id="two">
<button class="dropbtn">B
<i class="fa fa-caret-down"></i>
</button>
<div class="dropdown-content">
Link 1
Link 2
Link 3
</div>
</div>
<div class="dropdown" id="three">
<button class="dropbtn">C
<i class="fa fa-caret-down"></i>
</button>
<div class="dropdown-content">
Link 1
Link 2
Link 3
</div>
</div>
</div>

Answer 2

Make a div named center
and make it an inline-block
.center{
display: inline-block;
}
Then cover all your drop downs with it like here bellow
<div class="center">
<div class="dropdown" id="one">
<button class="dropbtn">
A
<i class="fa fa-caret-down"></i>
</button>
<div class="dropdown-content">
Link 1
Link 2
Link 3
</div>
</div>
<div class="dropdown" id="two">
<button class="dropbtn">
B
<i class="fa fa-caret-down"></i>
</button>
<div class="dropdown-content">
Link 1
Link 2
Link 3
</div>
</div>
<div class="dropdown" id="three">
<button class="dropbtn">
C
<i class="fa fa-caret-down"></i>
</button>
<div class="dropdown-content">
Link 1
Link 2
Link 3
</div>
</div>
</div>
then add to your css text align center to .navbar
.navbar {
overflow: hidden;
background-color: #333;
text-align:center
}
now it will center the div class .center and your dropdown menu items wil always be centered
there are other ways to do it but this looks like the best if you dont declare the width of your div
Under here is the correct full code snippet
body {
font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
}
.center {
display: inline-block;
}
.navbar {
overflow: hidden;
background-color: #333;
text-align: center
}
.navbar a {
float: left;
font-size: 16px;
color: white;
text-align: center;
padding: 14px 16px;
text-decoration: none;
}
.dropdown {
float: left;
overflow: hidden;
}
.dropdown .dropbtn {
font-size: 16px;
border: none;
outline: none;
color: white;
padding: 14px 16px;
background-color: inherit;
font-family: inherit;
margin: 0;
}
.navbar a:hover,
.dropdown:hover .dropbtn {
background-color: red;
}
.dropdown-content {
display: none;
position: absolute;
background-color: #f9f9f9;
min-width: 160px;
box-shadow: 0px 8px 16px 0px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2);
z-index: 1;
}
.dropdown-content a {
float: none;
color: black;
padding: 12px 16px;
text-decoration: none;
display: block;
text-align: left;
}
.dropdown-content a:hover {
background-color: #ddd;
}
.dropdown:hover .dropdown-content {
display: block;
}
<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/font-awesome/6.2.1/css/all.min.css" integrity="sha512-MV7K8+y+gLIBoVD59lQIYicR65iaqukzvf/nwasF0nqhPay5w/9lJmVM2hMDcnK1OnMGCdVK+iQrJ7lzPJQd1w==" crossorigin="anonymous" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"
/>
<div class="navbar">
<div class="center">
<div class="dropdown" id="one">
<button class="dropbtn">
A
<i class="fa fa-caret-down"></i>
</button>
<div class="dropdown-content">
Link 1
Link 2
Link 3
</div>
</div>
<div class="dropdown" id="two">
<button class="dropbtn">
B
<i class="fa fa-caret-down"></i>
</button>
<div class="dropdown-content">
Link 1
Link 2
Link 3
</div>
</div>
<div class="dropdown" id="three">
<button class="dropbtn">
C
<i class="fa fa-caret-down"></i>
</button>
<div class="dropdown-content">
Link 1
Link 2
Link 3
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>