CSSThe display Property
The CSS display Property
Thedisplay property is an important CSS property for controlling layout. It specifies whether an HTML element is treated as a block or an inline element.
Every HTML element has a default display value, depending on what type of element it is. The default display value for most elements isblock orinline.
Thedisplay property is used to change the default display behavior of HTML elements.
Block-level Elements
A block-level element ALWAYS starts on a new line and takes up the full width available (stretches out to the left and right as far as it can).
Examples of block-level elements:
- <div>
- <h1> - <h6>
- <p>
- <form>
- <header>
- <footer>
- <section>
Inline Elements
An inline element DOES NOT start on a new line and only takes up as much width as necessary.
This isan inline <span> element inside a paragraph.
Examples of inline elements:
- <span>
- <a>
- <img>
Common display Values
The CSSdisplay property has many values. The following table lists the most commonly used:
| Value | Description |
|---|---|
| inline | Displays an element as an inline element |
| block | Displays an element as a block element |
| contents | Makes the container disappear, making its child elements children of the element the next level up in the DOM |
| flex | Displays an element as a block-level flex container |
| grid | Displays an element as a block-level grid container |
| inline-block | Displays an element as an inline-level block container. The element itself is formatted as an inline element, but you can apply height, width, padding, and margin values |
| none | The element is completely hidden from the document flow (does not take up any space). |
CSS display: none;
When usingdisplay: none; the element is completely hidden from the document flow and does not take up any space.
It is commonly used with JavaScript to hide or show elements without deleting and recreating them.
Click to show hidden panel
This panel contains a <div> element, which is hidden by default, with display: none.
We use JavaScript to show it (change it to display: block).
Example
How to use CSS and JavaScript to show a hidden element on a click event:
#panel {
display: none;
}
</style>
<script>
function myFunction() {
document.getElementById("panel").style.display = "block";
}
</script>
Example
How to use CSS and JavaScript to toggle between show and hide on a click event:
#panel {
display: none;
}
</style>
<script>
function myFunction() {
var x = document.getElementById("panel");
if (x.style.display === "none") {
x.style.display = "block";
} else {
x.style.display = "none";
}
}
</script>
Override the Default Display Value
Thedisplay property is used to change the default display behavior of HTML elements.
Changing an inline element to a block element, or vice versa, can be useful for making the page look a specific way, and still follow the web standards.
A common example is to change<li> elements to inline, to create a horizontal menu:
Note: Setting the display property of an element only changeshow the element is displayed, NOT what kind of element it is. So, an inline element withdisplay: block; is not allowedto have other block elements inside it.
The following example displays <span> elements as block elements:
The following example displays <a> elements as block elements:
Example of More Display Values
The following example demonstrates some more display values:
Example
p.ex2 {display: inline;}
p.ex3 {display: block;}
p.ex4 {display: inline-block;}
p.ex5 {display: flex;}
p.ex6 {display: grid;}
Hide an Element - Use display:none or visibility:hidden?
display:none
visibility:hidden
Reset
Hiding an element can be done by setting thedisplay property tonone. The element will be hidden, and the page will be displayed as if the element is not there:
You can also usevisibility:hidden; to hide an element.
However, with this property, the element will be hidden, but it will still take up the same space as if it was visible:
CSS Display/Visibility Properties
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
| display | Specifies how an element should be displayed |
| visibility | Specifies whether or not an element should be visible |
