Why is the dropdown ul in 'Menu Item 2' not aligned at the top of its parent li element?
Despite setting the dropdown ul CSS as:
position:absolute;
top:0;
left:0;
I expected it to cover the entire parent element from the top left corner.
Some puzzling observations:
My goal is for the parent menu to be clickable and feature a dropdown in certain scenarios. In cases where there is a dropdown, the parent menu <li> contains an <a> element with padding to increase the clickable area. This padding also extends to the containing <li>, as the li:hover effect also encompasses the padded area. This behavior functions as intended.
However, when the dropdown is displayed and aligned with the <li>, the <li> appears to occupy the position prior to being expanded by the <a>. Upon inspection in Chrome and Firefox, the <li> element does not completely fill the same space as the <a>, resulting in the dropdown being positioned slightly below my intended location.
While I understand that I could use top:SOME_NEGATIVE_OFFSET for the absolutely positioned dropdown, this approach feels somewhat inelegant and I am keen to comprehend the root cause of the issue.
This is my first post, so kindly bear with me :)
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>DropDownTest</title>
<style>
ul{
list-style:none;
margin:0;
padding:0;
}
li{
display:block;
position:relative;
}
li>a{
padding:1rem;
background-color:grey;
}
li>a:hover{
background-color:lightgray;
}
.mainbar>li{
float:left;
}
li.hasDrop:hover>ul{
display:block;
}
.dropContent{
display:none;
position:absolute;
top:0; /*not working as expected*/
left:0;
margin:0;/*thought this might have helped but no*/
padding:0;
z-index:1;
list-style:none;
min-width:100%;
}
.dropContent>li>a{
display:block;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<div>
<ul class="mainbar">
<li><a href="#">Menu Item 1</a></li>
<li class="hasDrop">
<a href="#">Menu Item 2</a>
<ul class="dropContent">
<li><a href="#">Sub 1</a></li>
<li><a href="#">Sub 2</a></li>
<li><a href="#">Sub 3</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a href="#">Menu Item 3</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
</body>
</html>