CSS Position Properties

Instance

To locate the H2 element:

H2  {  position:absolute;  left:100px;  top:150px;  }

Try it yourself.

Browser support

IE	Firefox	Chrome	Safari	Opera

All major browsers support the Position property.

Note: The property value "Inherit" is not supported by any version of Internet Explorer (including IE8).

Definition and usage

The Position property specifies the positioning type of the element.

Description

This property defines the positioning mechanism used to create the element layout. Any element can be positioned, but an absolute or fixed element generates a block-level box, regardless of the type of the element itself. Relative positioning elements are offset relative to their default position in the normal flow.

Default value:	Static
Inheritance:	No
Version:	CSS2
JavaScript Syntax:	object. style.position= "Absolute"

Possible values

value	Description
Absolute	Creates an absolutely positioned element that is positioned relative to the first parent element other than the static anchor. The position of the element is defined by the "left", "Top", "right" and "bottom" attributes.
Fixed	Generates an absolutely positioned element that is positioned relative to the browser window. The position of the element is defined by the "left", "Top", "right" and "bottom" attributes.
Relative	Creates a relative positioned element, positioned relative to its normal position. Therefore, "left:20" adds 20 pixels to the left position of the element.
Static	The default value. No positioning, elements appear in the normal stream (ignoring top, bottom, left, right, or z-index declarations).
Inherit	Specifies that the value of the position property should be inherited from the parent element.

Tiy instances

Positioning: Relative positioning

This example shows how to position a element relative to its normal position.

Positioning: Absolute Positioning

This example demonstrates how to use an absolute value to position an element.

Positioning: Fixed positioning

This example demonstrates how to position an element relative to a browser window.

Set the shape of an element

This example shows how to set the shape of an element. This element is clipped into this shape and is displayed.

Z-index

Z-index can be used after one element is placed on another element.

Z-index

The

elements in the above example have changed the Z-index.

Related pages

CSS Tutorial: CSS Positioning

HTML DOM Reference manual: Position properties