What is the use of CSS position
The CSS position property defines the position of an element in a document. This property works with the left, right, top, bottom and z-index properties to determine the final position of an element on a page.
There are five values the position property can take. They are:
- static
- relative
- absolute
- fixed
- sticky
static
This is the default value for elements. The element is positioned according to the normal flow of the document. The left, right, top, bottom and z-index properties do not affect an element with position: static.
<html>
<body>
<div class="parent-element">
<div class="sibling-element">
I'm the other sibling element.
</div>
<div class="main-element">
All eyes on me. I am the main element.
</div>
<div class="sibling-element">
I'm the other sibling element.
</div>
</div>
</body>
<html>
Let's add position: static to the div with the class main-element and left, top values to it. We also add some styles to the other divs to differentiate them from the element in focus.
.main-element {
position: static;
left: 10px;
bottom: 10px;
background-color: yellow;
padding: 10px;
}
.sibling-element {
padding: 10px;
background-color: #f2f2f2;
}
Now Output is
Relative
Elements with position: relative remain in the normal flow of the document. But, unlike static elements, the left, right, top, bottom and z-index properties affect the position of the element. An offset, based on the values of left, right, top and bottom properties, is applied to the element relative to itself.
Let's replace position: static with position: relative in our example.
.main-element {
position: relative;
left: 10px;
bottom: 10px;
background-color: yellow;
padding: 10px;
}
Now output is
Absolute
Elements with position: absolute are positioned relative to their parent elements. In this case, the element is removed from the normal document flow. The other elements will behave as if that element is not in the document. No space is created for the element in the page layout. The values of left, top, bottom and right determine the final position of the element.
.main-element {
position: absolute;
left: 10px;
bottom: 10px;
background-color: yellow;
padding: 10px;
}
.parent-element {
position: relative;
height: 100px;
padding: 10px;
background-color: #81adc8;
}
.sibling-element {
background: #f2f2f2;
padding: 10px;
border: 1px solid #81adc8;
}
Now output is
Fixed
Fixed position elements are similar to absolutely positioned elements. They are also removed from the normal flow of the document. But unlike absolutely positioned element, they are always positioned relative to the <html> element.
One thing to note is that fixed elements are not affected by scrolling. They always stay in the same position on the screen.
.main-element {
position: fixed;
bottom: 10px;
left: 10px;
background-color: yellow;
padding: 10px;
}
html {
height: 800px;
}
Now output is
Sticky
position: sticky is a mix of position: relative and position: fixed. It acts like a relatively positioned element until a certain scroll point and then it acts like a fixed element. Have no fear if you don't understand what this means, the example will help you to understand it better.
.main-element {
position: sticky;
top: 10px;
background-color: yellow;
padding: 10px;
}
.parent-element {
position: relative;
height: 800px;
padding: 50px 10px;
background-color: #81adc8;
}
Now output is