CSS Flex Container
Posted: Fri Oct 27, 2023 8:25 am
CSS Flex Container
Parent Element (Container)
Like we specified in the previous chapter, this is a flex container
(the blue area) with three flex items:
1
2
3
The flex container becomes flexible by setting the display property to
flex:
Example
.flex-container {
display: flex;}
Try it Yourself »
The flex container properties are:
flex-direction
flex-wrap
flex-flow
justify-content
align-items
align-content
The flex-direction Property
The flex-direction property defines in which direction the container
wants to stack the flex items.
1
2
3
Example
The column value stacks the flex items vertically (from top to bottom):
.flex-container {
display: flex;
flex-direction: column;}
Try it Yourself »
Example
The column-reverse value stacks the flex items vertically (but from bottom to top):
.flex-container {
display: flex;
flex-direction: column-reverse;}
Try it Yourself »
Example
The row value stacks the flex items horizontally (from left to right):
.flex-container {
display: flex;
flex-direction: row;}
Try it Yourself »
Example
The row-reverse value stacks the flex items horizontally (but from right to left):
.flex-container {
display: flex;
flex-direction: row-reverse;}
Try it Yourself »
The flex-wrap Property
The flex-wrap property specifies whether the
flex items should wrap or not.
The examples below have 12 flex items, to better demonstrate the
flex-wrap property.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Example
The wrap value specifies that the flex items will wrap if necessary:
.flex-container {
display: flex;
flex-wrap: wrap;}
Try it Yourself »
Example
The nowrap value specifies that the flex items will not wrap (this
is default):
.flex-container {
display: flex;
flex-wrap: nowrap;}
Try it Yourself »
Example
The wrap-reverse value specifies that the flexible items will wrap
if necessary, in reverse order:
.flex-container {
display: flex;
flex-wrap: wrap-reverse;}
Try it Yourself »
The flex-flow Property
The flex-flow property is a shorthand property for setting both the
flex-direction and
flex-wrap properties.
Example
.flex-container {
display: flex;
flex-flow: row wrap;}
Try it Yourself »
The justify-content Property
The justify-content property is used to
align the flex items:
1
2
3
Example
The center value aligns the flex items at the center of the container:
.flex-container {
display: flex;
justify-content: center;}
Try it Yourself »
Example
The flex-start value aligns the flex items at the beginning of the container
(this is default):
.flex-container {
display: flex;
justify-content: flex-start;}
Try it Yourself »
Example
The flex-end value aligns the flex items at the end of the container:
.flex-container {
display: flex;
justify-content: flex-end;}
Try it Yourself »
Example
The space-around value displays the flex items with space before, between,
and after the lines:
.flex-container {
display: flex;
justify-content: space-around;}
Try it Yourself »
Example
The space-between value displays the flex items with space between the
lines:
.flex-container {
display: flex;
justify-content: space-between;}
Try it Yourself »
The align-items Property
The align-items property is used to align
the flex items.
1
2
3
In these examples we use a 200 pixels high container, to better demonstrate the
align-items property.
Example
The center value aligns the flex items in the middle of the
container:
.flex-container {
display: flex; height: 200px;
align-items: center;}
Try it Yourself »
Example
The flex-start value aligns the flex items at the top of the container:
.flex-container {
display: flex; height: 200px;
align-items: flex-start;}
Try it Yourself »
Example
The flex-end value aligns the flex items at the bottom of the container:
.flex-container {
display: flex; height: 200px;
align-items: flex-end;}
Try it Yourself »
Example
The stretch value stretches the flex items to fill the container
(this is default):
.flex-container {
display: flex; height: 200px;
align-items: stretch;}
Try it Yourself »
Example
The baseline value aligns the flex items such as their baselines aligns:
.flex-container {
display: flex; height: 200px;
align-items: baseline;}
Note: the example uses different font-size to demonstrate that the items gets aligned by the text baseline:
1
2
3
4
Try it Yourself »
The align-content Property
The align-content property is used to align the flex lines.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
In these examples we use a 600 pixels high container, with the
flex-wrap property set to wrap, to better demonstrate the align-content property.
Example
The space-between value displays the flex lines with equal space between them:
.flex-container {
display: flex; height: 600px;
flex-wrap: wrap;
align-content: space-between;
}
Try it Yourself »
Example
The space-around value displays the flex lines with space before,
between, and after them:
.flex-container {
display: flex; height: 600px;
flex-wrap: wrap;
align-content: space-around;
}
Try it Yourself »
Example
The stretch value stretches the flex lines to take up the remaining
space (this is default):
.flex-container {
display: flex; height: 600px;
flex-wrap: wrap;
align-content: stretch;
}
Try it Yourself »
Example
The center value displays the flex lines in the middle of the container:
.flex-container {
display: flex; height: 600px;
flex-wrap: wrap;
align-content: center;
}
Try it Yourself »
Example
The flex-start value displays the flex lines at the start of the container:
.flex-container {
display: flex; height: 600px;
flex-wrap: wrap;
align-content: flex-start;
}
Try it Yourself »
Example
The flex-end value displays the flex lines at the end of the container:
.flex-container {
display: flex; height: 600px;
flex-wrap: wrap;
align-content: flex-end;
}
Try it Yourself »
Perfect Centering
In the following example we will solve a very common style problem: perfect
centering.
SOLUTION: Set both the justify-content and align-items properties to
center, and the flex item will be perfectly centered:
Example
.flex-container { display: flex; height: 300px; justify-content:
center; align-items: center;}
Try it Yourself »
The CSS Flexbox Container Properties
The following table lists all the CSS Flexbox Container properties:
Property
Description
align-content
Modifies the behavior of the flex-wrap property. It is similar to align-items, but instead of aligning flex items, it aligns flex lines
align-items
Vertically aligns the flex items when the items do not use all available space on the cross-axis
display
Specifies the type of box used for an HTML element
flex-direction
Specifies the direction of the flexible items inside a flex container
flex-flow
A shorthand property for flex-direction and flex-wrap
flex-wrap
Specifies whether the flex items should wrap or not, if there is not enough room for them on one flex line
justify-content
Horizontally aligns the flex items when the items do not use all available space on the main-axis
★
+1
Reference: https://www.w3schools.com/css/css3_flex ... tainer.asp
Parent Element (Container)
Like we specified in the previous chapter, this is a flex container
(the blue area) with three flex items:
1
2
3
The flex container becomes flexible by setting the display property to
flex:
Example
.flex-container {
display: flex;}
Try it Yourself »
The flex container properties are:
flex-direction
flex-wrap
flex-flow
justify-content
align-items
align-content
The flex-direction Property
The flex-direction property defines in which direction the container
wants to stack the flex items.
1
2
3
Example
The column value stacks the flex items vertically (from top to bottom):
.flex-container {
display: flex;
flex-direction: column;}
Try it Yourself »
Example
The column-reverse value stacks the flex items vertically (but from bottom to top):
.flex-container {
display: flex;
flex-direction: column-reverse;}
Try it Yourself »
Example
The row value stacks the flex items horizontally (from left to right):
.flex-container {
display: flex;
flex-direction: row;}
Try it Yourself »
Example
The row-reverse value stacks the flex items horizontally (but from right to left):
.flex-container {
display: flex;
flex-direction: row-reverse;}
Try it Yourself »
The flex-wrap Property
The flex-wrap property specifies whether the
flex items should wrap or not.
The examples below have 12 flex items, to better demonstrate the
flex-wrap property.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Example
The wrap value specifies that the flex items will wrap if necessary:
.flex-container {
display: flex;
flex-wrap: wrap;}
Try it Yourself »
Example
The nowrap value specifies that the flex items will not wrap (this
is default):
.flex-container {
display: flex;
flex-wrap: nowrap;}
Try it Yourself »
Example
The wrap-reverse value specifies that the flexible items will wrap
if necessary, in reverse order:
.flex-container {
display: flex;
flex-wrap: wrap-reverse;}
Try it Yourself »
The flex-flow Property
The flex-flow property is a shorthand property for setting both the
flex-direction and
flex-wrap properties.
Example
.flex-container {
display: flex;
flex-flow: row wrap;}
Try it Yourself »
The justify-content Property
The justify-content property is used to
align the flex items:
1
2
3
Example
The center value aligns the flex items at the center of the container:
.flex-container {
display: flex;
justify-content: center;}
Try it Yourself »
Example
The flex-start value aligns the flex items at the beginning of the container
(this is default):
.flex-container {
display: flex;
justify-content: flex-start;}
Try it Yourself »
Example
The flex-end value aligns the flex items at the end of the container:
.flex-container {
display: flex;
justify-content: flex-end;}
Try it Yourself »
Example
The space-around value displays the flex items with space before, between,
and after the lines:
.flex-container {
display: flex;
justify-content: space-around;}
Try it Yourself »
Example
The space-between value displays the flex items with space between the
lines:
.flex-container {
display: flex;
justify-content: space-between;}
Try it Yourself »
The align-items Property
The align-items property is used to align
the flex items.
1
2
3
In these examples we use a 200 pixels high container, to better demonstrate the
align-items property.
Example
The center value aligns the flex items in the middle of the
container:
.flex-container {
display: flex; height: 200px;
align-items: center;}
Try it Yourself »
Example
The flex-start value aligns the flex items at the top of the container:
.flex-container {
display: flex; height: 200px;
align-items: flex-start;}
Try it Yourself »
Example
The flex-end value aligns the flex items at the bottom of the container:
.flex-container {
display: flex; height: 200px;
align-items: flex-end;}
Try it Yourself »
Example
The stretch value stretches the flex items to fill the container
(this is default):
.flex-container {
display: flex; height: 200px;
align-items: stretch;}
Try it Yourself »
Example
The baseline value aligns the flex items such as their baselines aligns:
.flex-container {
display: flex; height: 200px;
align-items: baseline;}
Note: the example uses different font-size to demonstrate that the items gets aligned by the text baseline:
1
2
3
4
Try it Yourself »
The align-content Property
The align-content property is used to align the flex lines.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
In these examples we use a 600 pixels high container, with the
flex-wrap property set to wrap, to better demonstrate the align-content property.
Example
The space-between value displays the flex lines with equal space between them:
.flex-container {
display: flex; height: 600px;
flex-wrap: wrap;
align-content: space-between;
}
Try it Yourself »
Example
The space-around value displays the flex lines with space before,
between, and after them:
.flex-container {
display: flex; height: 600px;
flex-wrap: wrap;
align-content: space-around;
}
Try it Yourself »
Example
The stretch value stretches the flex lines to take up the remaining
space (this is default):
.flex-container {
display: flex; height: 600px;
flex-wrap: wrap;
align-content: stretch;
}
Try it Yourself »
Example
The center value displays the flex lines in the middle of the container:
.flex-container {
display: flex; height: 600px;
flex-wrap: wrap;
align-content: center;
}
Try it Yourself »
Example
The flex-start value displays the flex lines at the start of the container:
.flex-container {
display: flex; height: 600px;
flex-wrap: wrap;
align-content: flex-start;
}
Try it Yourself »
Example
The flex-end value displays the flex lines at the end of the container:
.flex-container {
display: flex; height: 600px;
flex-wrap: wrap;
align-content: flex-end;
}
Try it Yourself »
Perfect Centering
In the following example we will solve a very common style problem: perfect
centering.
SOLUTION: Set both the justify-content and align-items properties to
center, and the flex item will be perfectly centered:
Example
.flex-container { display: flex; height: 300px; justify-content:
center; align-items: center;}
Try it Yourself »
The CSS Flexbox Container Properties
The following table lists all the CSS Flexbox Container properties:
Property
Description
align-content
Modifies the behavior of the flex-wrap property. It is similar to align-items, but instead of aligning flex items, it aligns flex lines
align-items
Vertically aligns the flex items when the items do not use all available space on the cross-axis
display
Specifies the type of box used for an HTML element
flex-direction
Specifies the direction of the flexible items inside a flex container
flex-flow
A shorthand property for flex-direction and flex-wrap
flex-wrap
Specifies whether the flex items should wrap or not, if there is not enough room for them on one flex line
justify-content
Horizontally aligns the flex items when the items do not use all available space on the main-axis
★
+1
Reference: https://www.w3schools.com/css/css3_flex ... tainer.asp