Assistance needed for adjusting margins and padding within the inner content box

Question

Assistance needed for adjusting margins and padding within the inner content box

I'm currently in the process of designing a new website layout using CSS, but I've encountered some challenges along the way. My main goal is to ensure that all elements stay within the boundaries of the browser window, with the scroll bar appearing only within the content area, not on the browser itself. To achieve this, I have created an outermost DIV that acts as the "wrapper" for the site. This wrapper is centered, has a set width, and takes up 100% of the height of the browser window. Inside this wrapper, I have included a header that displays correctly in various browsers.

However, when I try to add my actual content DIV inside the wrapper, I struggle to define its size properly. Adding margins or padding to account for the header causes the content to overflow, making it impossible to implement scroll functionality. On the other hand, directly setting the size of the content DIV poses a challenge as well. Any values I input end up being too large due to the additional margin and padding, causing the content to exceed the dimensions of the browser window and overflow.

Can anyone suggest CSS styles that could help me achieve the desired look for the wrapper and content DIVs? Here's a diagram illustrating the appearance I'm aiming for.

html css

Answer 1

Answer №1

Assuming you have a fixed height for your header (not a percentage), the example below uses pixel values for easier inspection with Firebug, but it works the same with em values.

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
    <title>Title</title>

    <style type="text/css">

        html, body {
            margin:0;
            height: 100%;
        }

        #wrapper {
            position:relative;
            width: 400px;
            height: 100%;
            margin: 0 auto 0 auto;
        }
        #header {
            position:absolute;
            margin-top:0;
            height: 70px;
            width: 400px;
            background-color: #ccc;
        }
        #content {
            position: absolute;
            top: 70px;
            bottom: 0;
            width: 400px;
            overflow: auto;
            background-color: #99c;
        }
    </style>

</head>
<body>
    <div id="wrapper">
        <div id="header">Header</div>
        <div id="content">
            Content<br/>
            Content<br/>
            Content<br/>
            Content<br/>
            Content<br/>
            Content
        </div>
    </div>
</body>
</html>

The key here is that #content does not have a set height - instead, it utilizes a combination of top and bottom properties.

Note: It may be necessary to make modifications for IE 6...

Answer 2

Assuming you have a fixed height for your header (not a percentage), the example below uses pixel values for easier inspection with Firebug, but it works the same with em values.

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
    <title>Title</title>

    <style type="text/css">

        html, body {
            margin:0;
            height: 100%;
        }

        #wrapper {
            position:relative;
            width: 400px;
            height: 100%;
            margin: 0 auto 0 auto;
        }
        #header {
            position:absolute;
            margin-top:0;
            height: 70px;
            width: 400px;
            background-color: #ccc;
        }
        #content {
            position: absolute;
            top: 70px;
            bottom: 0;
            width: 400px;
            overflow: auto;
            background-color: #99c;
        }
    </style>

</head>
<body>
    <div id="wrapper">
        <div id="header">Header</div>
        <div id="content">
            Content<br/>
            Content<br/>
            Content<br/>
            Content<br/>
            Content<br/>
            Content
        </div>
    </div>
</body>
</html>

The key here is that #content does not have a set height - instead, it utilizes a combination of top and bottom properties.

Note: It may be necessary to make modifications for IE 6...

Answer 3

Answer №2

<style>
html, body {
    margin: 0;
    padding: 0;
    text-align: center;
    overflow: hidden; // To prevent scroll bars in the browser window}
#content_wrap {
    width: 900px; // Adjust as needed
    margin: 0 auto; // To center the div
    text-align: left; 
    height: 100%; 
    position: relative; // Foundation for absolute positioning }
#header {
   position: absolute; 
    top: 0; 
    left: 30px; 
    width: 850px;}
#content {
    position: absolute; 
    left: 0; 
    top: 20%; 
    height: 80%; 
    overflow: scroll; 
    overflow-x: hidden;}
</style>

The issue here, and with any solution I can come up with, is that without CSS expressions, achieving a #content div height that reaches the bottom of the screen other than using a percentage is challenging. The problem lies in not having a fixed space allocated for your header to operate within. There isn't a CSS equivalent for setting attributes like "#content div should have a 200px top margin and extend to the bottom of the page."

However, this can easily be accomplished with JavaScript.

Answer 4

<style>
html, body {
    margin: 0;
    padding: 0;
    text-align: center;
    overflow: hidden; // To prevent scroll bars in the browser window}
#content_wrap {
    width: 900px; // Adjust as needed
    margin: 0 auto; // To center the div
    text-align: left; 
    height: 100%; 
    position: relative; // Foundation for absolute positioning }
#header {
   position: absolute; 
    top: 0; 
    left: 30px; 
    width: 850px;}
#content {
    position: absolute; 
    left: 0; 
    top: 20%; 
    height: 80%; 
    overflow: scroll; 
    overflow-x: hidden;}
</style>

The issue here, and with any solution I can come up with, is that without CSS expressions, achieving a #content div height that reaches the bottom of the screen other than using a percentage is challenging. The problem lies in not having a fixed space allocated for your header to operate within. There isn't a CSS equivalent for setting attributes like "#content div should have a 200px top margin and extend to the bottom of the page."

However, this can easily be accomplished with JavaScript.

Assistance needed for adjusting margins and padding within the inner content box

Answer №1

Answer №2

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