Possible to create an inline-block that isn't actually inline? - html

Question

I often find that I want an element to adjust its width to the size of the elements it contains. inline-block acheives this. However, I do NOT want the inline part of inline-block -- i.e., I still want the next inline-block element to appear below it.
Is there a simple way to achieve this in CSS? I know I can't always but <br> tags after the element in my HTML, but that's annoying.

Answer 1

You can do that with two elements:
<div>
<div class="element">
content...
</div>
</div>
With the CSS rule:
.element { display: inline-block; }
Treat .element as the "real" element that you're adjusting the width of. The enclosing <div> is just there to force each element into its own inline flow.

Answer 2

there are many solutions, the most common one is to use float
<div class="float">
<div class="child">here is content</div>
</div>
.float{float: left;}
if you want enforce that an element is in the new line you add clear: both (or left or right, depending on your needs)
please take into account, that display: inline-block does not work in IE7. The only problem with float is when you want this div to adjust to the width of a child AND to position it at the middle of the page horizontaly
one more note, remember that overflow: hidden property is your best friend whenever you encounter any issues with floated divs :)

Answer 3

Here is a fiddle that achieves what you describe: http://jsfiddle.net/PhilippeVay/VwCgJ/
It uses floating elements (thus width is ajusted to content), a class on the last element you want on a line and the clear property on the next element, with the help of the adjacent selector .rightmost + span
HTML:
<p>
<span>lorem</span>
<span class="rightmost">ipsum</span>
<span>third item: below please</span>
<span>fourth and last</span>
</p>
CSS:
span {
display: block;
float: left;
padding: 20px;
background: lightblue;
border-right: 2px solid white;
}
.rightmost {
background: red;
color: white;
}
.rightmost + span {
clear: both;
}
Inline content (as for inline-block) will occupy the whole width of its container and you've to force a new line with the br element.
On the other side, floating elements can be cleared (and with adjacent selector, you can clear the element after a particular one).