CSS Positioning: Understanding the Position Property and Its Related Properties with Examples

The CSS position property specifies the type of positioning method used for an element (static, relative, fixed, or absolute). The default value is static, which means that the element is positioned according to the normal flow of the document.

1. static: The default value. The element is positioned according to the normal flow of the document.

2. relative: The element is positioned relative to its normal position, but it can be moved using the top, bottom, left, and right properties.

3. absolute: The element is positioned relative to the nearest positioned ancestor, but it can be moved using the top, bottom, left, and right properties.

4. fixed: The element is positioned relative to the browser window, and it will not move when the page is scrolled.

5. sticky: The element is positioned according to the normal flow of the document, but it becomes fixed when the user scrolls past a certain point.

Introduction   Explain in Details  static relative absolute fixed sticky left-top-right-and-bottom  Final Lines

The "static" value for the position property in CSS sets an element's position to its default position in the document flow.

The "relative" value in CSS positions allows an element to be positioned relative to its normal position on the page. This means that it will maintain its original position in the layout, but can be moved horizontally or vertically using the "left", "right", "top", and "bottom" properties.

<div style="
    position: relative;
    color: red;
    background-color: black;
    ">
    Parent Div Element...
    <div style="
        position: relative;
        left: 50px;
        top: 25px;
        color: black;
        background-color: red;
        ">
        Chilled Div Element...</div>
</div>

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In this example, the "chilled div element" element will be positioned 50 pixels to the right and 25 pixels down from its original position within the "Parent div element" element. This allows for precise control over the placement of elements on the page without disrupting the overall layout.

.my-element{ position: absolute; top: 50px; left: 100px; }

This will position the div element 10 pixels from the top and 10 pixels from the right of the browser window, and it will remain in that position even when the page is scrolled.

We will also learn about CSS Properties left, top, right and bottom after discussing these values.

Note ```position: fixed``` is not supported in Internet Explorer 9 and earlier.

The main difference between an element with a fixed position and an element with an absolute position is that an element with a fixed position will stay in the same spot on the page, regardless of scrolling, while an element with an absolute position will move along with the rest of the page as the user scrolls.

CSS Property Positions with "sticky" value:

The "sticky" value for the CSS position property allows an element to remain in a fixed position as the user scrolls, until a certain point is reached, at which point the element will "stick" to a particular position on the page. This can be useful for creating fixed headers, sidebars, or other elements that should remain visible while the user scrolls. The element will remain "sticky" until it reaches the boundary of its containing element, at which point it will become a normal, static element again.

<style>
    #sticky-header {
        position: sticky; /* make the header sticky */
        top: 0; /* position the header at the top of the viewport */
        background-color: #f1f1f1; /* give the header a background color */
        z-index: 10; /* set the z-index to ensure the header appears above other elements */
    }
</style>

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Try it yourself...

This will make the header element with an id "sticky-header" to be fixed to the top of the viewport as the user scrolls.

You can also use the left, right, bottom properties to position the element from left, right and bottom respectively.

The CSS left, top, right, and bottom properties are used to position an element within a containing element, such as a parent div or the entire web page.

The left property specifies the distance of the left edge of an element from the left edge of its containing element.

The top property specifies the distance of the top edge of an element from the top edge of its containing element.

The right property specifies the distance of the right edge of an element from the right edge of its containing element.

The bottom property specifies the distance of the bottom edge of an element from the bottom edge of its containing element.

These properties can be used in combination with the position property, which can be set to absolute, relative, or fixed. The position property determines the positioning method used for an element.

For example, if an element's position is set to absolute and its left property is set to 10px, it will be positioned 10 pixels from the left edge of its containing element.

In summary, the CSS positioning properties allow you to control the position of an element within a containing element. The position property determines the positioning method used for an element, while the left, top, right, and bottom properties specify the distance of the element from the corresponding edge of its containing element. These properties can be used in combination to create more advanced layouts and position elements precisely on a web page. It's important to note that the positioning properties are used in combination with the box model properties (width, height, padding, margin) to create a more precise control over the layout of the web page.