How can I set the element to have a width of 100% to allow the background to flow, while keeping the children centered at 960px

Question

How can I set the element to have a width of 100% to allow the background to flow, while keeping the children centered at 960px

Edit 2: It seems like there is some confusion about my question, so let me clarify with an example;

The area in the middle has an ID of #navigation. Here are its CSS properties,

width: 960px;
margin: auto;
background: #e4bd04;

The width of 960px is set to keep the links in my navigation bar within a limit. I want them centered, hence the margin: auto. However, this setup means that the background only extends for 960px. I actually want the background to cover the entire width of the window (100% of the page) to avoid large white spaces on larger screens.

To address this issue, I nested #navigation inside another ID, #navouter, with width: 100% and background: #e4bd04, giving the appearance of a full-width background.

Now, my question is, can this be achieved without using two elements as I have done?

html css

Answer 1

Answer №1

It appears that you prefer not to use two div elements to center another div with a fixed width, am I correct?

Although it may not be your favorite solution, here is one option:

.nav {
    width:960px;
    position:absolute;
    left:50%;
    margin-left:-480px; // half of the width
}

<body>
 <div class="nav">Test content</div>
</body>

Result for a 300px div: http://jsfiddle.net/7GTCc/1/

Alternatively, here's another somewhat unattractive (ha!) method:

.nav {width:960px;}

<center>
     <div class="nav">Test content</div>
</center>

In response to your illustration inquiry

"Can this be achieved without using two elements like I did?"

Not quite :-)

However, if you only need the background to stretch 100%, avoid specifying a background color or URL for your #navigation.

One final suggestion to consider, give this code a try:

#navigation {
    min-width:960px;
    text-align:center;
}

See a demo here: http://jsfiddle.net/7GTCc/3/

Answer 2

It appears that you prefer not to use two div elements to center another div with a fixed width, am I correct?

Although it may not be your favorite solution, here is one option:

.nav {
    width:960px;
    position:absolute;
    left:50%;
    margin-left:-480px; // half of the width
}

<body>
 <div class="nav">Test content</div>
</body>

Result for a 300px div: http://jsfiddle.net/7GTCc/1/

Alternatively, here's another somewhat unattractive (ha!) method:

.nav {width:960px;}

<center>
     <div class="nav">Test content</div>
</center>

In response to your illustration inquiry

"Can this be achieved without using two elements like I did?"

Not quite :-)

However, if you only need the background to stretch 100%, avoid specifying a background color or URL for your #navigation.

One final suggestion to consider, give this code a try:

#navigation {
    min-width:960px;
    text-align:center;
}

See a demo here: http://jsfiddle.net/7GTCc/3/

Answer 3

Answer №2

One option is to utilize the min-width CSS property. However, without more specific details on your requirements, it's hard to provide a precise solution.

<div style="min-width:960px; width:100%"></div>

Answer 4

One option is to utilize the min-width CSS property. However, without more specific details on your requirements, it's hard to provide a precise solution.

<div style="min-width:960px; width:100%"></div>

Answer 5

Answer №3

A simple way to achieve this without extra markup is by using the ::before pseudo-element for the expanding section of your navigation.

Check out the live demo: http://jsfiddle.net/ThinkingStiff/eAf7w/

Here's the HTML code:

<div id="nav">navigation</div>

And here's the CSS code:

#nav {
    background: #6D7B8D;
    height: 40px;
    margin: 0 auto;       
    width: 400px;   
}

#nav::before {
    background-color: lightblue;
    content: '\00a0';
    display: block;
    height: 40px;
    left: 0;
    position: absolute;
    width: 100%;
    z-index: -1;
}

Answer 6

A simple way to achieve this without extra markup is by using the ::before pseudo-element for the expanding section of your navigation.

Check out the live demo: http://jsfiddle.net/ThinkingStiff/eAf7w/

Here's the HTML code:

<div id="nav">navigation</div>

And here's the CSS code:

#nav {
    background: #6D7B8D;
    height: 40px;
    margin: 0 auto;       
    width: 400px;   
}

#nav::before {
    background-color: lightblue;
    content: '\00a0';
    display: block;
    height: 40px;
    left: 0;
    position: absolute;
    width: 100%;
    z-index: -1;
}

How can I set the element to have a width of 100% to allow the background to flow, while keeping the children centered at 960px

Answer №1

Answer №2

Answer №3

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