1.Flexbox properties
2.Example
Let’s start with a very very simple example, solving an almost daily problem: perfect centering. It couldn’t be any simpler if you use flexbox.
.parent {
display: flex;
height: 300px; /* Or whatever */
}
.child {
width: 100px; /* Or whatever */
height: 100px; /* Or whatever */
margin: auto; /* Magic! */
}
This relies on the fact a margin set to auto in a flex container absorb extra space. So setting a margin of auto will make the item perfectly centered in both axes.
Now let’s use some more properties. Consider a list of 6 items, all with fixed dimensions, but can be auto-sized. We want them to be evenly distributed on the horizontal axis so that when we resize the browser, everything scales nicely, and without media queries.
.flex-container {
/* We first create a flex layout context */
display: flex;
/* Then we define the flow direction
and if we allow the items to wrap
* Remember this is the same as:
* flex-direction: row;
* flex-wrap: wrap;
*/
flex-flow: row wrap;
/* Then we define how is distributed the remaining space */
justify-content: space-around;
}
Done. Everything else is just some styling concern. Below is a pen featuring this example. Be sure to go to CodePen and try resizing your windows to see what happens.
Let’s try something else. Imagine we have a right-aligned navigation element on the very top of our website, but we want it to be centered on medium-sized screens and single-columned on small devices. Easy enough.
/* Large */
.navigation {
display: flex;
flex-flow: row wrap;
/* This aligns items to the end line on main-axis */
justify-content: flex-end;
}
/* Medium screens */
@media all and (max-width: 800px) {
.navigation {
/* When on medium sized screens, we center it by evenly distributing empty space around items */
justify-content: space-around;
}
}
/* Small screens */
@media all and (max-width: 500px) {
.navigation {
/* On small screens, we are no longer using row direction but column */
flex-direction: column;
}
}
Let’s try something even better by playing with flex items flexibility! What about a mobile-first 3-columns layout with full-width header and footer. And independent from source order.
.wrapper {
display: flex;
flex-flow: row wrap;
}
/* We tell all items to be 100% width, via flex-basis */
.wrapper > * {
flex: 1 100%;
}
/* We rely on source order for mobile-first approach
* in this case:
* 1. header
* 2. article
* 3. aside 1
* 4. aside 2
* 5. footer
*/
/* Medium screens */
@media all and (min-width: 600px) {
/* We tell both sidebars to share a row */
.aside { flex: 1 auto; }
}
/* Large screens */
@media all and (min-width: 800px) {
/* We invert order of first sidebar and main
* And tell the main element to take twice as much width as the other two sidebars
*/
.main { flex: 3 0px; }
.aside-1 { order: 1; }
.main { order: 2; }
.aside-2 { order: 3; }
.footer { order: 4; }
}