HTML5 and vertical-align? Fixed now? - html

I come from the world, and have been looking at resources on google about doing multiple wrappers to vertically align content -- however it seems like it's really ugly.
Is there an easier way now with HTML5? Is there some sort of implementation that uses something like the HBox/VBox mentality? I saw there are examples for non-ie browsers -- is there a compliant way?
How the heck does anyone in their right mind do HTML now? It's a mess!
//// EDIT
I've finally figured out how to vertically align an entire box over a screen, how I'm figuring out how to vertically center list items.
I've tried two methods to align this html:
<nav>
<ul>
<li>Home</li>
<li>Link #1</li>
</ul>
</nav>
one using display:inline, the other using float:left (within a container). When using inline, it seems the list items ignore the height: css, and when using float:, the links within the li do not vertically align. Do I need to place div's within the li's to get them to vertically center as well?

Why don't you try using display: box with box-align:center, this is CSS3, so not every browser supports it yet (only Chrome, FireFox, and Safari)
http://www.w3schools.com/cssref/css3_pr_box-align.asp

You can make the line-height property equal to the height of the LIs with display:inline-block for the LIs. When you do this the text will be in the middle of the line, the line being the same height of the LI, the text will be vertically in the middle.

HTML5 really doesn't have anything to do with element layout, such as vertically aligning content. As before, the markup is styled by CSS.
CSS is a totally different spec from HTML5, so no, nothing has changed.
If you're having trouble implementing a specific layout, then ask a specific question, and we can probably help out.

you can set an outer element to display:table and an inner element to display:table-cell. then, on the table-cell element, set vertical-align:middle; all its contents will be vertically centered.
It won't work on IE7 and earlier though, but hey, who cares??

Related

CSS method instead of display:run-in; to position a block inline?

Since I am having trouble with Firefox about positioning a block element by nature (header) to be inline by using display:run-in; i'm asking you for your help ! been searching for quite some time now and I cant find which CSS method could be used instead of just applying display:run-in; to the element, which is supported in all the major browsers. It is crucial that i position the element this way.
Anyone knows a method how to do this ?
If you'd like to display your element as a block element, but would position it inline, then
display: inline-block;
will do the trick for you.
The MDN still lists run-in as an experimental value, so we shouldn't be too surprised if it doesn't fully function in Firefox at this time.
As for options, there are at least two you could use: display: inline and display: inline-block.
Inline might suffice if you don't need the properties of a block element on your header. Inline-block keeps it as a block element, so you can still do nice things like give it width, height, margin and so on.
View them on JSFiddle.
Alright i found a solution ! :) Using display:inline; in a combination with float:left; will make a block element by nature use space only as much as he needs, not full 100% of its parent element.
There is just one problem with this tecnhique if you are using bigger font for lets say a heading and want to add a paragraph right after it (on the same line). If the headings font-size is a bit bigger, heading could take 2 or even more lines of space in height where paragraphs text should be,and you will have a small gap between header and another row of paragraph under it. The solution is to add display:block; and margin-top:Xpx; to the paragraph element to align it as needed.

What is vertical-align used for in CSS?

I am new to the world of coding as well as CSS and recently came across the property vertical-align. Having read a number of articles on what it is, I am still clueless on what it is for and when do you use it?
My understanding is that it is used for inline elements such as text, images, etc as well as text or other inline elements in a table. They cannot be used for block element such as div, h1, etc.
If my understanding is right, apart from aligning text vertically to say an image or using subscript or superscript, what other purpose does it serve?
It's used the vertical align inline elements indeed. Block level elements will ignore this property. So your understanding is right.
This blog gives some background information on vertical-align with some examples. It's mainly used to vertically position an image in a line of text. Or to replace the valign attribute on tablecells.
So it seems you are understanding it quite right. See w3schools for the details on the vertical-align property.
Just to be clear; do not try to use vertical-align to position a blocklevel element like a div. It will not work, as you already mentioned, it's for inline elements like images in a line of text. Using display: table-cell; and vertical-align on an element is a hack, please use other CSS techniques to vertically align stuff in an div whenever possible.
It's always worth reading the specs if you want to learn about a specific property:
http://www.w3.org/TR/CSS21/visudet.html#propdef-vertical-align
A common use case is vertical centering (in combination with display: table-cell):
http://jsfiddle.net/7eTb2/
div {
background: #ccc;
width: 200px;
height: 300px;
padding: 5px;
display: table-cell;
vertical-align: middle
}
It's somewhat difficult to vertically center without using this technique.
Another common use case is when it comes to elements that are inline or inline-block.
See here for examples of what happens with different vertical-align values:
http://www.brunildo.org/test/inline-block.html
Another good link to read: http://css-tricks.com/what-is-vertical-align/
However, it's real use is getting me upvotes, see:
https://stackoverflow.com/search?tab=votes&q=user%3a405015%20%22vertical-align%3a%20top%22
:)
Others have been mostly correct about vertical-align. The reality is that it works, just not how you think. It's for inline elements, not block elements.
In this case, a fiddle is worth a thousand words. :)
http://jsfiddle.net/JJfuj/
vertical align, by the W3C and by how most(tm) interpret it, is only used/takes affect in elements that are table-cells (<td>), and on some browsers, elements with the display: table-cell declaration.
The rest of the time, it is largely disregarded by browsers.
Vertical align is for just what it sounds like. It aligns the element vertically within the parent object; however, not all browsers interpret it the same.
Here's a little more in-depth information on the parameter values available.

align-middle question

What is my misunderstanding about the way that vertical-align:middle; works?
I have posted (http://jsfiddle.net/D6RwZ/) some code which I would expect to vertically align a red rectangle in a blue rectangle, but it doesn't look like that.
vertical-align:middle won't work on div (block element). You can refer here for details.
If you want to vertical align, I think the only option is using margin/padding with appropriate parameters.
Vertical-align only works on inline images and display: table-cell.
I've used this solution a few times and it works quite well but takes some work. If you're working with fixed size elements position absolute is by far the simplest. Dynamic sized elements and vertical centering can be very tricky, lots of browser quirks to deal with.
vertical-align can only be applied to elements with:
display:table-cell in order to vertically align the contents of the element.
display:inline or display:inline-block in order to vertically align the element within the text line that contains it
A cheap hack with the latter : http://jsfiddle.net/8bZQS/

Inline horizontal spacer in HTML

I am making a Web page with a slideshow, using the same technique used on http://zine.pocoo.org/. The person I'm making the site for wants the slideshow to be centered. However, some of the photos are portrait layout and some are landscape. (This was not my choice.) I need a position: absolute to get the li's containing the items in the right place, so centering them does not work. (At least, not by normal methods.)
So, I thought that it might work to insert a 124-pixel "spacer" before the image on the portrait pictures. I tried it with a <span style="width: 124px;"> </span>, but it only inserts a single space, not the full 124 pixels. The slideshow fades in and out OK, though, so I think that it would work if I could get the proper spacing.
My question is this: does anyone know a way to have 124px of space inline in HTML (preferably without using images), or another way to center the pictures in the li items?
This is way old, but I guess it's still worth answering. The reason your span isn't expanding is because it's still an inline element. set display:inline-block to get it to behave more like a block element
I think you need to add margin-left instead of padding-left, because the margin is outside an element, and the padding is inside.
Try to avoid putting large spacers on elements and especially on multiple elements. The only way to add a spacer on your element would be relative positioning or an inline-block element (use carefully.)
Your best bet for the slideshow is to have a relative positioned <ul>. Since the <ul> is relative positioned you can set the <li>s to be position:absolute; within the <ul>. At this point you can set the <li>s to width:100%; and text-align:center; so that anything inside is positioned in the horizontal center (vertical centering in CSS2 is tricky.) Check out http://jquery.malsup.com/cycle/ which outputs inline styling by default but is still really nice.

Vertical center an anchor tag within a fieldset

I am trying to vertically center an anchor within a fieldset using CSS but it always appears to align to bottom. Is there any tricks to this?
You are not giving too much detail here. Besides the line-height you might also want to tweak top and bottom padding. It all depends on how much stuff you have inside the fieldset.
Have you tried specifying a line-height for the text? It should help to align in both Firefox and IE.
Try setting the style vertical-align:middle;
google
If that doesn't work posting your HTML would be helpful