I am facing a challenge in grasping the interaction between flexbox containers and other elements on a webpage. When I have only a flexbox on my page, everything works smoothly. However, when I introduce other elements, things start acting strangely. It seems that the issue lies in space allocation.
It appears that my flexbox container requires an explicit height to achieve the wrapping behavior. Without specifying this height, the desired wrapping does not occur. The dilemma is how to define the height of the flexbox container.
If I set the height of the flexbox container to 100%, it wraps correctly but results in an unnecessary scrollbar since I've allocated more than 100% of the height. Ideally, I would like to allocate 100px above the flexbox container, so something like height: 100% - 100px. Unfortunately, mixing absolute and relative measurements is not an option. Moreover, having to perform this calculation regularly could lead to maintenance issues down the line.
Below is an instance where I encounter problems. I aim to have instructional content at the top of the page spanning its width. Beneath that, I wish to display a series of buttons that can wrap into multiple columns as needed.
I tried placing the instructions within the flexbox container to make it work. However, this method disrupts the desired 100% width for the instructions and causes them to mix with the buttons.
<html>
<head>
<style>
* {
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
border: 1px solid #A00;
}
.instructions {
height: 100px;
background: linear-gradient(to bottom, #ffffff 0%, #999 100%);
}
.container {
display: flex;
flex-direction: column;
flex-wrap: wrap;
height: 80%;
}
.button {
width: 200px;
height: 50px;
margin: 10px;
background: linear-gradient(to bottom, #ffffff 0%, #BBB 100%);
border: 1px solid #CCC;
text-align: center;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<div class="instructions">Instructions go here.</div>
<div class="container">
<div class="button">This is Button 1</div>
<div class="button">Thar be Button 2</div>
<div class="button">Yarr, button 3</div>
<div class="button">Hey that is a nice looking button.</div>
<div class="button">Click Me!</div>
</div>
</body>
</html>