Question

I am trying to float some elements and apply clearfix so that the parent element can expand to the height and width of the children.

So, I simply set up the layout as per this fiddle: http://jsfiddle.net/fMjEx/

I then wanted to float the elements inside .bar. This is usually quite straight forward:

1. Float the elements.
2. Clear fix the parent using pie-clearfix or overflow: auto.

However, I ran into these problems:

• If I use pie-clearfix, the element .picture which is next to .bar is also included in the clearing: http://jsfiddle.net/6C7WD/

• If I use overflow: auto or overflow: hidden, the width of the .bar no longer spans the width of the document: http://jsfiddle.net/fv2gA/

Initially, one solution I had was to make .picture position: absolute. However, the problem with this approach is that the element is taken out of the flow.

In the layout, the height of .bar is variable depending on the content inside. I would like to give .bar and .picture a margin-bottom so that anything that comes after them is pushed downwards by that amount depending on whether .bar or .picture has a greater height.

This rules out using position: absolute on .picture as a solution.

Are there any solutions that satisfy the following?

• Clear only floats within .bar.
• Does not remove any elements from the flow.

Answer 1

This is the solution I ended up with:

Added a wrapper to the markup:

<div class="container">

<div class="group"> <-------------------------- This is the wrapper
    <div class="picture"></div>
    <div class="bar">
        <div class="info"> some text goes here</div>
        <div class="buttons">some other content goes here</div>
    </div>
</div>
</div>

And the CSS:

.picture{
    width: 100px;
    height: 100px;
    float: left;
    background: green;
    margin-left: 100px;
    margin-top: 10px;
    z-index: 2;
    position: relative;
}

.bar{
    background: blue;
    margin-top: -80px;
    overflow: auto;
    width: 100%;
    float: left;
    z-index: 1;
    position: relative;
}

.group{
    margin-bottom: 10px;
}

.group:after {
    clear: both;
    content: "";
    display: table;
}

.info, .button{
    float: left;
    margin-left: 200px;
}

.container{
    overflow: auto;
}

Fiddle of the above: http://jsfiddle.net/c6Lng/