whole <li> tag with both <a href> and <span> elements to create a clickable link

[RESOLVED] Solution found: I finally realized that the closing </a> tag comes before the <span> tags in the initial HTML code provided in the question, which was causing the issue! Thank you to everyone for your assistance!! This just goes to show that making changes to someone else's code when you're tired can lead to problems :) – dev101


I've searched high and low, tried numerous solutions, but this particular issue is really getting to me. I know how to make a standard li element clickable as a block hyperlink, but when I insert a <span> tag inside the li, only the area around the <a...> within the **div** displays as a link, not the entire li container. Any suggestions?

HTML code

<li>
<a class="category" href="http://link...">link_title</a> <span>(some text)</span>
</li>

After numerous attempts, the only acceptable design wise option I found was just a hover highlight effect (without link functionality) like this:

CSS code

div.category ol li,div.category ul li{
    display:inline-block;
    height: 100%;
    width: 100%;
}
div.category ol li:hover,div.category ul li:hover{
    display:inline-block;
    height: 100%;
    width: 100%;
    background-color:#EEE;
}

No matter what I try, the elements always break into a new row or behave unexpectedly, and only the portion behind the <a> tag is clickable inside the wrapper div (or ol/ul element). Any insights?

Thanks, dev101


Revised code by removing div.category, but the issue still persists:

.category ul,.category ol{
    list-style: none;
    border: none;
    margin: 0px;
}
.category ul li,.category ol li{
    display:inline-block;
    height: 100%;
    width: 100%;
}
.category ul li:hover,.category ol li:hover{
    background-color:#EEE;
}
.category ul li a,.category ul li a:visited,.category ol li a,.category ol li a:visited{
    display:block;
    height: 100%;
    width: 100%;
}
/* Attempted to align span to left/right - still breaks into new non-clickable line */
.category span{
float:left;
}

Answer №1

I'm a bit puzzled about your specific requirements here...

I believe I understand the gist of what you're aiming for. However, the HTML doesn't seem to align with the CSS. Where is the div with the class category?

It seems like you might want to place the span INSIDE the anchor tag so that it becomes part of the link. You can still style the span independently if needed since it's a separate element. If you prefer the span to be outside the link, you may need to use absolute positioning to prevent it from obstructing the anchor tag.

If you want the entire LI element to be clickable, you can add padding to the anchor tag to cover the dimensions of the li. The positioning of the link text also matters. For example, if your li element is 200x200 and the text should be at the top left, you can add padding like this...

a.category {
    padding: 0 100% 100% 0;
    // use a percentage of 100% to cover the area to the right and bottom
}

Alternatively, you could use JavaScript to make the LI itself the link without relying on an anchor tag in the HTML, although this may not be as efficient as using HTML and CSS.

Furthermore, it's often unnecessary to repeat attributes that do not change between pseudo-states. If the width and height remain constant across states, there's no need to redefine them in every state.

Answer №2

One effective way to add a click event to an li element without using an anchor tag is by employing a straightforward jQuery click event. This method offers enhanced flexibility for presentation and customization of the design.

Check out the live demo on jsFiddle

$(function() {
    $('li').css('cursor', 'pointer')
    
    .click(function() {
        window.location = $('a', this).attr('href');
        return false;
    });
});

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