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CSS Layout - display: inline-block


The display: inline-block Value

Compared to display: inline, the major difference is that display: inline-block allows to set a width and height on the element.

Also, with display: inline-block, the top and bottom margins/paddings are respected, but with display: inline they are not.

Compared to display: block, the major difference is that display: inline-block does not add a line-break after the element, so the element can sit next to other elements.

The following example shows the different behavior of display: inline, display: inline-block and display: block:

Example

span.a {
    display: inline; /* the default for span */
    width: 100px;
    height: 100px;
    padding: 5px;
    border: 1px solid blue;
    background-color: yellow;
}

span.b {
    display: inline-block;
    width: 100px;
    height: 100px;
    padding: 5px;
    border: 1px solid blue;
    background-color: yellow;
}

span.c {
    display: block;
    width: 100px;
    height: 100px;
    padding: 5px;
    border: 1px solid blue;
    background-color: yellow;
}
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Using inline-block to Create Navigation Links

One common use for display: inline-block is to display list items horizontally instead of vertically. The following example creates horizontal navigation links:

Example

.nav {
    background-color: yellow;
    list-style-type: none;
    text-align: center; 
    padding: 0;
    margin: 0;
}

.nav li {
    display: inline-block;
    font-size: 20px;
    padding: 20px;
}
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