background on ul to wrap the height of the tallest child? - html

Question

I know there have been a lot of similar questions but none of the solutions worked for me. the predominant answer was to have overflow: hidden; on the ul but that's no good for me because the way i have overflow coded is essential for the menu and its transitions.
essentially i have a 2 column drop-down menu. the left column is the submenu list, the right column is an image. each main menu item has a different number of submenu items and sometimes even less than the height of the img. i want to fill the background of the ul class="twinsub" but i can't get it to pick up same as the height of the tallest list whether that be the image or the submenu list. i have tried everything i can think of with no success.
here are a couple of images to illustrate what i am trying to do:
here is the code:
Updated JS FIDDLE
HTML:
<section id="menuWrapper">
<nav id="menu" class="cf" role="navigation">
<!-- Main Nav Start -->
<ul id="main-nav" class="clearfix">
<!----------------------------------------- Solutions ------------------>
<li id="technology" class="parent menu-item">Solutions
<ul class="twinsub">
<li class="twinmultisub twinleft">
<ul>
<li id="solutions-turnkey" class="menu-item">Turnkey Development
</li>
<li id="solutions-financing" class="menu-item">Financial Modeling
</li>
<li id="solutions-execution" class="menu-item">World-Class Execution
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="twinmultisub twinimg">
<section>
<img class="menuimage" src="http://milkytech.com/images/industry.png" />
</section>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li id="technology" class="parent menu-item">Services
<ul class="twinsub">
<li class="twinmultisub twinleft">
<ul>
<li id="services-devlopment" class="menu-item">Development & Financing
</li>
<li id="services-design" class="menu-item">Design & Engineering
</li>
<li id="services-construction" class="menu-item">Construction & Procurement
</li>
<li id="services-operations" class="menu-item">Operations & Maintenance
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="twinmultisub twinimg">
<section>
<img class="menuimage" src="http://milkytech.com/images/industry.png" />
</section>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</nav>
CSS:
#menu {
display:inline-block;
clear:both;
height:auto;
}
#menu ul {
margin:0;
}
#menu li {
float:left;
position:relative;
}
#menu > ul > li > a {
display:block;
line-height: .4em;
}
/* Submenu (second level) */
#menu li > ul {
position:absolute;
top:auto;
left:0;
width:180px;
max-height:0;
visibility: hidden;
z-index:99999;
overflow:hidden;
}
#menu ul li:hover ul {
visibility: visible;
max-height: 330px;
width: 204px;
overflow: visible;
}
#menu ul li > ul:hover {
overflow:visible;
}
#menu li > ul li {
height:36px;
width:100%;
}
#menu li > ul li:last-child {
height: 35px;
}
#menu li > ul li a {
padding: 11px 15px;
height: 35px;
color: #FFF;
width: 100%;
display: block;
}
ul.twinsub {
clear: both;
display: inline-block;
width:408px !important;
border-right: none !important;
background-color: #5d6f82 !important;
overflow: hidden;
}
ul.twinsub > li {
display: inline-block;
border-top: none !important;
background: #FFF;
line-height: 38px;
}
li.twinmultisub {
display: block;
width: 50% !important;
}
.menuimage {
width: 100% !important;
margin-left: 1px;
border-right: none;
}
li.twinimg {
float: left;
border: none;
}
li.twinleft {
clear: both;
float: left;
border-right: none !important;
}
li.twinheader {
width: 50% !important;
text-align: left;
padding-left: 14px;
font-size: .9em;
background-color: #5d6f82 !important;
color: #FFF;
opacity: 1;
}

Answer 1

How about adding a wrapping div around the inner ul, and add a background color to that one.
This example should make a good beginning
.wrapp {
background: #13385F;
}
body {
margin: 0;
overflow-x: hidden;
}
article, aside, details, figcaption, figure, footer, header, hgroup, main, nav, section, summary {
display: block;
}
a {
background: transparent;
text-decoration: none;
}
a:active, a:hover {
outline: 0;
}
nav ul, nav ol {
list-style: none;
list-style-image: none;
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
}
h1, h2, h3, h4 {
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
border: 0;
vertical-align:baseline;
font-family:'Open Sans', sans-serif;
}
* {
box-sizing:border-box;
-moz-box-sizing:border-box;
}
#menu a {
text-decoration: none;
}
#menuWrapper {
display: block;
text-align: center;
margin: 15px auto 15px;
}
#menu {
display:inline-block;
clear:both;
height:auto;
-webkit-box-shadow: 0px 9px 10px -9px rgba(35, 35, 35, 0.8);
-moz-box-shadow: 0px 9px 10px -9px rgba(35, 35, 35, 0.8);
box-shadow: 0px 9px 10px -9px rgba(35, 35, 35, 0.8);
}
#menu ul {
margin:0;
}
#menu li {
float:left;
position:relative;
}
#menu > ul > li > a {
padding:25px 19px 20px;
border-bottom:3px solid transparent;
margin-right:0px;
color:#6D6E70;
font: 1em'Open Sans', sans-serif;
font-weight:bold;
text-align:center;
text-transform: uppercase;
display:block;
line-height: .4em;
}
#menu > ul > li:last-child > a {
font-size: 1em;
}
#menu > ul > li:hover > a {
color:#5999db;
border-bottom: 3px solid #5999db;
}
#menu > ul li.selected > a, #menu > ul li.selected:hover > a {
color:#3F9944;
border-color:#FFF100;
}
/* Submenu (second level) */
#menu li > .wrapp > ul {
position:absolute;
top:auto;
left:0;
width:180px;
max-height:0;
/* -webkit-box-shadow: 0px 2px 7px 1px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.4);
-moz-box-shadow: 0px 2px 7px 1px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.4);
box-shadow: 0px 2px 7px 1px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.4); */
visibility: none;
z-index:99999;
overflow:hidden;
-webkit-transition: max-height 0.2s ease, visibility 0s linear 0.5s;
-moz-transition: max-height 0.2s ease, visibility 0s linear 0.5s;
-o-transition: max-height 0.2s ease, visibility 0s linear 0.5s;
-ms-transition: max-height 0.2s ease, visibility 0s linear 0.5s;
transition: max-height 0.2s ease, visibility 0s linear 0.5s;
background: inherit !important;
}
#menu ul li:hover ul {
visibility: visible;
max-height: 330px;
width: 204px;
transition-delay: 0s;
overflow: visible;
border: 1px solid #EEE;
border-top: 0;
}
#menu ul li > ul:hover {
overflow:visible;
}
#menu li > ul li {
height:36px;
width:100%;
border-bottom: 1px solid #EEE;
padding-top:0;
font-weight: 600;
background-color: #13385F;
color: #FFF;
opacity: 1;
}
#menu li > ul li:last-child {
border-bottom:none;
height: 35px;
}
#menu li > ul li a {
background: rgba(19, 57, 95, 0.3);
padding: 11px 15px;
height: 35px;
color: #FFF;
width: 100%;
font: 10px'Open Sans', sans-serif;
font-weight: bold;
text-align: left;
text-transform: uppercase;
display: block;
opacity: 1;
}
#menu li > ul li:hover > a {
color: #3B3B3B;
background: #5999db;
}
#menu li > ul li.selected > a, #menu li > ul li.selected:hover > a {
color: #3B3B3B;
background: #FFF;
}
ul.twinsub {
clear: both;
display: inline-block;
width:408px !important;
border-right: none !important;
background-color: #5d6f82 !important;
overflow: hidden;
}
ul.twinsub > li {
display: inline-block;
border-top: none !important;
background: #FFF;
line-height: 38px;
}
li.twinmultisub {
display: block;
width: 50% !important;
}
.menuimage {
width: 100% !important;
margin-left: 1px;
border-right: none;
line-height: 0 !important;
font-size: 0 !important;
}
li.twinimg {
float: left;
border: none;
}
li.twinimg section {
line-height: 0;
}
.borderleft {
border-left: 1px solid #EEE;
}
li.twinleft {
clear: both;
float: left;
border-right: none !important;
}
li.twinheader {
width: 50% !important;
text-align: left;
padding-left: 14px;
font-size: .9em;
background-color: #5d6f82 !important;
color: #FFF;
opacity: 1;
}
<section id="menuWrapper">
<nav id="menu" class="cf" role="navigation">
<!-- Main Nav Start -->
<ul id="main-nav" class="clearfix">
<!----------------------------------------- Solutions ------------------>
<li id="technology" class="parent menu-item">Solutions
<div class="wrapp">
<ul class="twinsub">
<li class="twinmultisub twinleft">
<ul>
<li id="solutions-turnkey" class="menu-item">Turnkey Development
</li>
<li id="solutions-financing" class="menu-item">Financial Modeling
</li>
<li id="solutions-execution" class="menu-item">World-Class Execution
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="twinmultisub twinimg">
<section>
<img class="menuimage" src="http://milkytech.com/images/industry.png" />
</section>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</li>
<li id="technology" class="parent menu-item">Services
<div class="wrapp">
<ul class="twinsub">
<li class="twinmultisub twinleft">
<ul>
<li id="services-devlopment" class="menu-item">Development & Financing
</li>
<li id="services-design" class="menu-item">Design & Engineering
</li>
<li id="services-construction" class="menu-item">Construction & Procurement
</li>
<li id="services-operations" class="menu-item">Operations & Maintenance
</li>
<li id="services-construction" class="menu-item">Construction & Procurement
</li>
<li id="services-operations" class="menu-item">Operations & Maintenance
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="twinmultisub twinimg">
<section>
<img class="menuimage" src="http://milkytech.com/images/industry.png" />
</section>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</li>
</ul>
</nav>
</section>
Just remeber to fix the css on the menu. And the section around the image, and the image itself needs a line-height of 0.