Vertical spacing on elements utilizing a position of absolute

Looking to create vertical space for elements with position:absolute and changing heights using just CSS. Any clever techniques involving containers or display properties that could be helpful?

Answer №1

Unfortunately, when you use absolute positioning, your element stops taking up space by definition. So, no, it's not possible to achieve this effect only through CSS.

One way to solve this issue is by using jQuery or plain JavaScript. My approach would be to include a space element alongside each vertically positioned element. Wrap both the space element and the absolutely positioned vertical element within a relatively positioned div. Upon page load, adjust the height of the space element to match the height of the vertical element.

Answer №2

When using the CSS property position: absolute
, the elements do not take up space in the flow. However, you have other options for animating without relying on margins. One alternative is to use float to allow the elements to occupy space, while setting each element's position:relative.

div.animate-me {
   width: 300px;
   margin: 20px;
   float: left;
   left: -1000px; // Start offscreen
   position: relative;
   border: 1px solid red;
   visibility: hidden
}​

$('div').css().animate({
    left: 0
});

EXAMPLE http://jsfiddle.net/qxzzX/1/

Answer №3

While not a universal solution, in cases where the position: absolute element maintains a fixed aspect ratio (like an image or video resizing responsively with height: auto), you can leverage the padding-bottom technique to create a spacer element that mirrors the same aspect ratio. This allows it to adjust its size proportionally alongside the absolute element:

.spacer {
  height: 0;
  padding-bottom: 125%; /* for a 1.25 height/width ratio */
}

The reason this works is that padding-bottom using a percentage is interpreted relative to the element's width.

It is important for your specific layout to properly position the spacer so that it aligns perfectly with or beneath the position: absolute element, filling the space that may have been occupied by the absolute element if it were not positioned absolutely.

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