Make child div stretch across width of page - html

Question

Suppose I have the following HTML code:
<div id="container" style="width: 960px">
<div id="help_panel" style="width: 100%; margin: 0 auto;">
Content goes here.
</div>
</div>
If I want the help_panel div to stretch across the width of the page/broswer, even if the width of the page/browser is wider than 960px (which is the width set for the container div), is it possible to do it with the above structure? I want to get the help panel div to expand beyond the width limits set in the container div if the page is wider than 960px.
I am curious if this can be accomplished with the above structure. Or will I have to put the help_panel div outside of the container div to make it work?
Thanks!

Answer 1

Yes it can be done. You need to use
position:absolute;
left:0;
right:0;
Check working example at http://jsfiddle.net/bJbgJ/3/

Answer 2

With current browsers (this question is dating a bit now), you can use the much simpler vw (viewport width) unit:
#help_panel {
margin-left: calc(50% - 50vw);
width: 100vw;
}
(usage data: http://caniuse.com/#feat=viewport-units)
From my tests, this should not break your flow while being easy to use.

Answer 3

Yes you can, set the position: relative for the container and position: absolute for the help_panel

Answer 4

you can pull it out of the flow by setting position:absolute on it, but you'll have different display issues to deal with. Or you can explicitly set the width to > 960.

Answer 5

You could do it with jQuery...
$("#help_panel").width($(window).width());
Otherwise, as far as css goes, I'm fairly sure you would have to sit the help_panel div on the outside of container using position:absolute styling: http://css-tricks.com/forums/discussion/2318/give-child-div-width%3A100-of-page-width-inside-parent./p1

Answer 6

You could take it out of the flow with position:absolute. But the helper_panel will oberlap with other stuff. (I added orders, to see the divs)
<div id="container" style="width: 960px; border:1px solid #f00;">
Text before<br>
<div id="help_panel" style="width: 100%; position:absolute; margin: 0 auto; border:1px solid #0f0;">
Content goes here.
</div>
This is behind the help_penal
</div>

Answer 7

Just set the width to 100vw like this:
<div id="container" style="width: 100vw">
<div id="help_panel" style="width: 100%; margin: 0 auto;">
Content goes here.
</div>
</div>

Answer 8

You can use 100vw (viewport width). 100vw means 100% of the viewport. vw is supported by all major browsers, including IE9+.
<div id="container" style="width: 960px">
<div id="help_panel" style="width: 100vw; margin: 0 auto;">
Content goes here.
</div>
</div>

Answer 9

Since position: absolute; and viewport width were no options in my special case, there is another quick solution to solve the problem. The only condition is, that overflow in x-direction is not necessary for your website.
You can define negative margins for your element:
#help_panel {
margin-left: -9999px;
margin-right: -9999px;
}
But since we get overflow doing this, we have to avoid overflow in x-direction globally e.g. for body:
body {
overflow-x: hidden;
}
You can set padding to choose the size of your content.
Note that this solution does not bring 100% width for content, but it is helpful in cases where you need e.g. a background color which has full width with a content still depending on container.

Answer 10

...............In HTML Format
<div id="a">Full Width</div>
...............In CSS Format
#a { background-color: green;width: 100%;height: 80px;border: 1px solid;margin: 0 auto;}
body { padding: 0;margin: 0}

Answer 11

Try this: it will use all of the screen width:
min-width: 100vw;

Answer 12

I know this post is old, in case someone stumbles upon it in 2019, this would work try it.
//html
<div id="container">
<div id="help_panel">
<div class="help_panel_extra_if_you_want"> //then if you want to add some height and width if you want, do this.
</div>
</div>
</div>
//css
#container{
left: 0px;
top: 0px;
right: 0px;
z-index: 100;
display: -webkit-box;
display: -webkit-flex;
display: -ms-flexbox;
display: flex;
-webkit-box-orient: vertical;
-webkit-box-direction: normal;
-webkit-flex-direction: column;
-ms-flex-direction: column;
flex-direction: column;
-webkit-box-pack: start;
-webkit-justify-content: flex-start;
-ms-flex-pack: start;
justify-content: flex-start;
position: relative;
height:650px;
margin-top:55px;
margin-bottom:-20px;
}
#help_panel {
display: -webkit-box;
display: -webkit-flex;
display: -ms-flexbox;
display: flex;
padding-right: 24px;
padding-left: 18px;
-webkit-box-orient: vertical;
-webkit-box-direction: normal;
-webkit-flex-direction: column;
-ms-flex-direction: column;
flex-direction: column;
-webkit-box-align: center;
-webkit-align-items: center;
-ms-flex-align: center;
align-items: center;
.help_panel_extra_if_you_want{
height:650px;
position: relative;
-webkit-box-orient: horizontal;
-webkit-box-direction: normal;
-webkit-flex-direction: row;
-ms-flex-direction: row;
flex-direction: row;
-webkit-box-pack: justify;
-webkit-justify-content: space-between;
-ms-flex-pack: justify;
justify-content: space-between;
align-items: center;
display: flex;
width: 95%;
max-width: 1200px;
}
SHOULD GIVE YOU SOMETHING LIKE THIS

Answer 13

You can do:
margin-left: -50%;
margin-right: -50%;