Can a horizontal navigation bar be designed to span the full width of the page without relying on a table?

I'm trying to create a horizontal navigation menu with variable width buttons that spans the full width of the containing div. I was successful in achieving this by using a table, as demonstrated in this example. The table cells adjust their size based on the number of buttons and the text inside them.

Is there a way to accomplish this without relying on a table layout?

Edit: Just to clarify, the goal is to have flexible button widths that can be updated by the client through the cms without requiring any changes to the css code.

Answer №1

Utilize list elements to enhance your website layout

<ul>
  <li><a href="...">item 1</a></li>
  <li><a href="...">item 2</a></li>

   ... and so on

</ul>

Add a 'float:left;' style and assign a percentage-based width to each 'li' element. The specific width will vary based on the number of items you have. To ensure proper alignment, apply an 'overflow: hidden' property to the parent ('ul') element.

UPDATE:

In certain scenarios, equal distribution of horizontal space may not be suitable for all designs.

  • With a small number of elements, the appearance will differ from a full navigation bar.
  • At some point, you may need to limit the maximum number of elements that can be included.

An alternative to the previous method could involve right aligning the last 'li' element - resulting in a fixed-width navigation bar.

Answer №2

From my perspective, there's absolutely nothing incorrect about utilizing tables in this situation. I believe that individuals who criticize those of us who use tables are simply narrow-minded.

Alternatively, you could achieve the same layout using CSS by having multiple DIVs aligned next to each other with the float property, each with a width set as a specific percentage of the total width.

Answer №3

Hey Ken,

I'm not sure about your expertise in creating web elements and CSS, but there are several open-source solutions available that do not rely on tables (although some may still use them).

Check out these examples: This example showcases both an "inline" version and a "block" version for added flexibility. The "inline" version has a specified width, while the "block" version expands to fill the parent element.

https://web.archive.org/web/1/http://articles.techrepublic%2ecom%2ecom/5100-10878_11-5153115.html

It's important to ensure IE compatibility (with versions 5.5-7) if you're developing for a commercial project or business. Most good solutions already offer this compatibility, but some may lack it. If you need assistance with this, don't hesitate to seek help from the community—I'll be glad to assist as well.

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