Trouble aligning CSS UL/LI menu in the center

Could someone help me with centering my CSS UL menu? I've posted the code below, as I'm still learning CSS and would appreciate any guidance.

I've only been able to center it by setting a fixed width and using HTML center tags, but I need the menu to expand to 100% and automatically center.

The CSS

#menu{
    width:100%;
    margin: 0;
    padding: 5px 0 0 0;
    list-style: none;
    background-color:#333333;
    text-align:center;
}

#menu li{
    float: left;
    padding: 0 0 5px 0;
    position: relative;
    list-style:none;
    margin:auto;
}

#menu ul{
        list-style:none;
        display:inline;
        margin: 0;
        padding: 0;
        text-align: center;
}

#menu a{
    float: left;
    height: 15px;
    padding: 0 25px;
    color:#FFF;
    text-transform: uppercase;
    font: 10px/25px Arial, Helvetica;
    text-decoration: none;
    text-shadow: 0 0px 0 #000;
}


#menu li:hover > a{
    color:#F90;

    font: bold 10px/25px Arial, Helvetica;
}

*html #menu li a:hover{ /* IE6 */
    color: #F06;
}

#menu li:hover > ul{
    display: block;
}

Your assistance is much appreciated!

html-listscss

Answer №1

To properly style your menu, make sure to set the width and use margin: auto;

#menu{
    width:300px; <--------Specify width here
    margin: 0 auto; <-----Center the menu
    padding: 5px 0 0 0;
    list-style: none;
    background-color:#333333;
    text-align:center;
}

Questioning the reasoning behind this:

#menu li:hover > ul{
    display: block;
}

Also consider:

#menu a{
    float: left;
    ....
}

Update: Reorganize the styles for clarity, use the following syntax

#menu { /* Assuming this ID is applied to <ul> element */
    width:/*Define width*/;
    margin: 0 auto; <---Adjust Here
    padding: 5px 0 0 0;
    list-style-type: none;  <---Modify Here
    background-color:#333333;
    text-align:center;
}

#menu li{
    float: left; <---Remove unnecessary styling
    padding: 0 0 5px 0;
    position: relative; <---Unnecessary styling
    list-style:none; <---No need for this
    margin:auto; <---Avoid unneeded styling
}

/* Remove this section completely */
#menu ul{
        list-style:none;
        display:inline;
        margin: 0;
        padding: 0;
        text-align: center;
}
/* up to here */

#menu a{
    float: left; <---No need for this
    height: 15px;
    padding: 0 25px;
    color:#FFF;
    text-transform: uppercase;
    font: 10px/25px Arial, Helvetica;
    text-decoration: none;
    text-shadow: 0 0px 0 #000;
}


#menu li:hover > a{
    color:#F90;

    font: bold 10px/25px Arial, Helvetica;
}

*html #menu li a:hover{ /* Target IE6 */
    color: #F06;
}

#menu li:hover > ul{
    display: block;
}

If you desire the links within the menu to be centered, add the following:

HTML

<ul id="#menu">
  <li></li>
</ul>

CSS

#menu li {
  text-align: center;
}

Answer №2

By including the line of code below in your ul element, you will center the text within it:

text-align:center;

To ensure compatibility with most browsers, it is also recommended to add the following lines of code:

margin-left:auto;
margin-right:auto;

However, please note that these additional lines may not work for Internet Explorer. For IE compatibility, make sure to include the line of code below in the tag containing the ul element: 

text-align:center;

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