– Controlling How Elements Appear and Move on Your Webpage
CSS gives you powerful tools to control the visibility, layout, and positioning of elements on your webpage. Understanding these properties helps you create dynamic, interactive, and well-structured designs.
In this blog, we’ll explore key concepts like CSS visibility, display, scrollbars, positioning, and layers.
CSS Visibility
The visibility property controls whether an element is visible or hidden without removing it from the page layout.
- visible (default): Element is shown
- hidden: Element is invisible but still takes up space
css
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p.hidden-text {
visibility: hidden;
}
CSS Display
The display property defines how an element is displayed on the page. Common values include:
- block: Element takes full width, starts on a new line (e.g., <div>)
- inline: Element takes only as much width as necessary (e.g., <span>)
- inline-block: Like inline but can have width and height
- none: Element is removed from the layout and not visible
css
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span {
display: inline-block;
width: 100px;
}
CSS Scrollbars
Scrollbars appear when content overflows its container. You can control scrollbar behavior with overflow:
- visible: Content spills outside container (default)
- hidden: Content is clipped, no scrollbars
- scroll: Scrollbars always visible
- auto: Scrollbars appear only when necessary
css
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div.scrollable {
width: 300px;
height: 150px;
overflow: auto;
}
CSS Positioning
Positioning determines how elements are placed on the page relative to their normal position or other elements. The main types are:
- static (default): Normal flow, no special positioning
- relative: Positioned relative to its normal position
- absolute: Positioned relative to the nearest positioned ancestor
- fixed: Positioned relative to the viewport, stays in place when scrolling
- sticky: Toggles between relative and fixed depending on scroll position
Example of relative positioning:
css
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div.relative-box {
position: relative;
top: 20px;
left: 10px;
}
CSS Layers (Z-Index)
The z-index property controls the stacking order of overlapping elements. Higher values appear on top.
css
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div.layer1 {
position: absolute;
z-index: 1;
}
div.layer2 {
position: absolute;
z-index: 5; /* appears above layer1 */
}
Note: z-index only works on positioned elements (relative, absolute, fixed, or sticky).
Summary
- Use visibility to hide elements without affecting layout
- Control element display types with display property
- Manage overflowing content and scrollbars with overflow
- Position elements precisely using different position values
- Arrange overlapping elements with z-index layers
“Mastering display and positioning unlocks full control over your webpage layout and user experience.”
