Absolute Positioning

Archive for 'Taking position' Category

Taking position

Web pages have been around for some time now. Buttons, banners, text, audio, video, or animated gifs are elements that make up the pages. Presenting these elements in attractive and accessible manner is the intent behind every web page design. While the result looks attractive and simple, the reality is that the placement of elements [...]

Elements in a web page

The type of web page designed determines the elements placed on it. The content owners are the domain experts, and they have a role to play in the layout of pages and the elements that are set on the pages. Every website begins with a definition of a goal—a task analysis that will define the [...]

Conceptualizing positioning

The W3C published its first working draft on style sheet specifications for positioning HTML elements on the page in three-dimensional space in 1997. Web designers found that they could use these specifications for greater control over objects on a web page and for designing tight static page layouts or for tracking DHTML motion effects. Netscape [...]

The box model

At the top level the web page is a canvas—a container for other elements that have to be placed in it. It can be seen as a box, which has a specific dimension—x and y coordinate and a z-axis that flows away from the viewer into 3D space. Each element that is placed into the [...]

Understanding and determining positions

Many web designers are confused about the different positioning schemes that are available. An understanding of positioning schemes must begin with the concept of normal flow. This is the default behavior of the web browser. Each block-level element is stacked one after another with inline elements flowing into the available space on the page. The [...]

Normal flow versus static positioning

This is a process of placing a box in the normal flow. It is really a box that is not positioned and is the default position. No declaration with the position property is required for this type of positioning. However, the declaration position: static places the element within the normal flow of the document. The [...]

Absolute positioning

Absolute positioning takes its position from the top-lefthand corner of the browser pane with the x and y coordinates at (0,0). This positioning gives the designer tremendous control over the elements so positioned. The code for an absolutely positioned element can be placed anywhere in the code and still the element will display at the [...]

Relative positioning

A relatively positioned element on a web page is not positioned with reference to the containing block, but with reference to the normal flow. Therefore, the element disregards its containing block and relates to the browser. The relative tag helps the designer place the elements with reference to the positioning of other elements on the [...]

Fixed positioning

This type of positioning is similar to the absolute positioning attribute in that it is calculated with reference to its containing blocks, and it is pulled out of the normal flow. However, the reference is in the context of the browser viewport. The viewport is a fixed block that remains fixed; however, many of the [...]

Positioning considerations

So, what are the things we should take into consideration when we decide to position the elements on our web page? The layout of the content and the purpose of the document are important. Do we want the content to use the default flow and reflow when resizing the window? If so, then we should [...]