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HTML

Posted by Jackson Monk
Jackson Monk
4,527 Points

Why do these elements not appear beside each other?

Here is my code:

<html>
<head>
<style>
nav {
   padding: 25px;
   background-color: firebrick;
   border-radius: 5px;
}
.rantHeader {
   font-size: 25px;
   font-family: "Chalkduster", fantasy;
}
.homeButton {
   float: left;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<nav>
<div>
<h3 class = rantHeader>Rant.com</h3>
<button class = homeButton>Home</button>
</div>
</nav>
</body>
</html>

In the div, why does the home button appear under the h3 header? They are siblings, so shouldn't they appear side by side?

1 Answer

andren
andren
28,558 Points
andren
andren
28,558 Points

The h3 element is a block level element. Block level elements take up the entire space of their container, or put more simply they will always occupy a line all by themselves, regardless of the width of the element.

The button element is an inline element, which essentially means that it only occupies the space of the element itself.

You can use CSS to change whether an element is treated as a block level element or an inline one by setting its display property. With this code for example:

<html>
<head>
    <style>
        nav {
            padding: 25px;
            background-color: firebrick;
            border-radius: 5px;
        }
        .rantHeader {
            font-size: 25px;
            font-family: "Chalkduster", fantasy;
            display: inline;
        }
        .homeButton {
            float: left;
        }
    </style>
</head>
<body>
    <nav>
        <div>
            <h3 class=rantHeader>Rant.com</h3>
            <button class=homeButton>Home</button>
        </div>
    </nav>
</body>
</html>

The h3 and button will appear next to each other.

Edit: Cleaned up the code a bit.

Jackson Monk
Jackson Monk
4,527 Points

Was not aware of this, thanks Andren!