Side-by-side list items as icons within a div (css)

Question

I am looking for a way to create a <ul> of items that I can put within a <div> and have them show up side-by-side and wrap to the next line as the browser window is resized.

For example, if we have 10 items in the list that currently show 5 items on the first row and 5 items on the second row, as the user makes the browser window wider, it turns into 6 items on the first row and 4 items on the second row, etc.

I am looking for similar functionality to what Windows Explorer does when in tiles/icons/thumbnails view. I am able to create the <li>'s I want as far as the size, color, content, etc. I am just having trouble with the wrapping/clearing/etc. part.

Answer 1

give the LI float: left (or right)

They will all be in the same line until there will be no more room in the container (your case, a ul). (forgot): If you have a block element after the floating elements, he will also stick to them, unless you give him a clear:both, OR put an empty div before it with clear:both

Answer 2

Here's a good resource for wrapping columned lists. http://www.communitymx.com/content/article.cfm?cid=27f87

Answer 3

This can be a pure CSS solution. Given:

<ul class="tileMe">
    <li>item 1<li>
    <li>item 2<li>
    <li>item 3<li>
</ul>

The CSS would be:

.tileMe li {
    display: inline;
    float: left;
}

Now, since you've changed the display mode from 'block' (implied) to 'inline', any padding, margin, width, or height styles you applied to li elements will not work. You need to nest a block-level element inside the li:

<li><a class="tile" href="home">item 1</a></li>

and add the following CSS:

.tile a {
    display: block;
    padding: 10px;
    border: 1px solid red;
    margin-right: 5px;
}

The key concept behind this solution is that you are changing the display style of the li to 'inline', and nesting a block-level element inside to achieve the consistent tiling effect.

Answer 4

Use the following code to float the items and make sure they are displayed inline.

ul.myclass li{float:left;display:inline}

Also make sure that the container you put them in is floated with width 100% or some other technique to ensure the floated items are contained within it and following items below it.

Answer 5

Thanks! This helped a lot!

Answer 6

Thanks, this helped me as well!