css float doesn't resize to fit new content

Question

I have a form I'm floating. When there is an error, via jquery, I'm adding some content to a p within the form. However, the form doesn't vertically resize to fit the new content. Is there something I have to do to get a floated element to resize when the content within it changes?

Answer 1

Is there a height set on the content? When float is on, the default is to fix height to line height. It is possible that your width on the form is set too low, and the text is trailing off through the block element containing your form Try messing with the line-height property and see what you get. Also, position absolute will mess with you (as Richard mentions below)

Also, consider min-height. This won't work in IE6, but you can substitute with a height in IE6 which acts like min-height in certain circumstances.

Post you code so I can be more specific.