Can a child element be shown even when the parent element is hidden?

Is it possible to have a hidden parent and a visible child using CSS or jQuery?

I'm attempting to make a child element visible on certain pages even if the parent is hidden.

var bodyClass = jQuery('body').attr('class');
    //alert (bodyClass);
    var searchTerm = 'category-mens';
    var searchTerm2 = 'category-ladies';
    if((bodyClass.search(searchTerm) || bodyClass.search(searchTerm2)) != -1) {
        jQuery('.nav-container ul.level0 li.level1 ul.level1 li.level2 ul.level2 li.first a span').css({
             'display':'block',
             'position':'absolute',
             'top':'500px',
             'left':'500px'
        }); 
    } 

Currently, I am facing issues as the li.level2 is hidden.

Thank you for your assistance.

Answer №1

Imagine you have a scenario like this:

<div style="visibility:hidden">
     <div style="visibility:visible">
          This example text won't be visible
     </div>
</div>

In this case, the sample text won't be displayed at all. This is because if the parent element is hidden, any child elements inside it will also remain hidden even if their visibility property is explicitly set to visible.

It's similar to Harry Potter wearing a shirt underneath his cloak of invisibility - even if the shirt is technically visible, since it's hidden within the cloak, it can't actually be seen.

UPDATE:

It's worth noting that this answer may now be outdated. While it was tested and verified to work in past versions of browsers like IE and Chrome, it's important to acknowledge that technology evolves. For a more up-to-date solution tailored to current browsers, check out this thread discussing visible children in hidden parents. As mentioned in that discussion, utilizing display:hidden instead of visibility might be a better choice. Additionally, since methods like .show(), .hide(), and .toggle() alter the display rather than visibility, opting for display properties can help maintain consistency in your code.

Answer №2

The provided answer is inaccurate. The specifications clearly outline:

The box that is generated remains invisible (completely transparent, nothing visible), but still impacts the layout. Additionally, descendants of the element will be visible if they possess 'visibility: visible'
.

Source: http://www.w3.org/wiki/CSS/Properties/visibility

Hence, it is indeed possible to make a child element visible even when the parent is hidden by utilizing the visibility property. This behavior may seem illogical, but it aligns with the specifications set forth. It's important to note that the display property operates differently.

Answer №3

There is a way to achieve this, however, it will involve adjusting the positioning of the element to absolute. Additional adjustments using various display types may be necessary as well. Feel free to share a sample for further assistance.

Answer №4

A method to show child elements even when the parent element is hidden is by using the "visibility" attribute in CSS (unlike the "display" attribute). However, a drawback of setting the visibility attribute to "hidden" is that the element still occupies space as if it were visible. To address this, you can set the height of hidden elements to 0, but this may lead to issues with positioning child elements. Additionally, if you hide the parent element and set its height to 0, you also need to hide all sibling elements for consistency.

Here is an example code snippet:

<ul>
    <li class="hide">Item 1</li>
    <li class="hide">
        Item 2
        <ul>
            <li class="show">Item 2.1</li>
            <li class="show">Item 2.2
                <ul>
                    <li class="hide">Item 2.2.1</li>
                    <li class="show">Item 2.2.2</li>
                    <li class="hide">Item 2.2.3</li>                     
                </ul>
            </li>
            <li class="show">Item 2.3</li>        
        </ul>
    </li>
    <li class="hide">Item 3</li>
</ul>

CSS:

.hide {visibility: hidden; height: 0}
.show {visibility: visible;}

An example illustrating the positioning issue with this approach can be seen here.

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