CSS order Property

Posted in CSS Tutorial

Updated on Oct 07, 2024

By Mari Selvan

👁️ 15 - Views

⏳ 4 mins

💬 1 Comment

Photo Credit to CodeToFun

🙋 Introduction

The order property in CSS is a part of the Flexible Box Layout Module, commonly known as Flexbox. It allows developers to control the order in which flex items appear within a flex container.

By default, flex items are displayed in the order they appear in the source code. However, the order property enables you to rearrange these items without altering the HTML structure, providing greater flexibility in layout design.

💡 Syntax

The syntax for the order property is simple. It accepts a single integer value, which determines the item's position among its siblings within the flex container.

Syntax

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.item {
  order: integer;
}

integer: The integer value can be positive, negative, or zero. The default value is 0.

🎛️ Default Value

The default value of the order property is 0. All items have the same order value by default, so they are displayed in the order they appear in the HTML source.

🏠 Property Values

Value	Description
Positive Integer	Items with higher positive values will appear later in the order.
Negative Integer	Items with negative values will appear earlier in the order.
Zero	This is the default value, indicating that the item should appear in its original order in the source code.

📄 Example

In this example, we'll rearrange the order of three items within a flex container using the order property.

index.html

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<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="UTF-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
  <title>CSS order Property Example</title>
  <style>
    .container {
      display: flex;
    }
    .item {
      padding: 10px;
      margin: 5px;
      background-color: lightblue;
      border: 1px solid #000;
    }
    .item1 {
      order: 2;
    }
    .item2 {
      order: -1;
    }
    .item3 {
      order: 0;
    }
  </style>
</head>
<body>
  <h1>Flexbox Order Property Example</h1>
  <div class="container">
    <div class="item item1">Item 1</div>
    <div class="item item2">Item 2</div>
    <div class="item item3">Item 3</div>
  </div>
</body>
</html>

In this example:

Item 1 has an order value of 2, so it appears last.
Item 2 has an order value of -1, so it appears first.
Item 3 has an order value of 0, so it appears in the middle.

🖥️ Browser Compatibility

The order property is widely supported in modern browsers, including the latest versions of Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, and Opera. As always, it's recommended to test your layout across different browsers to ensure consistent behavior.

🎉 Conclusion

The order property is a powerful feature of Flexbox, enabling developers to control the visual arrangement of elements without modifying the underlying HTML structure.

This property is particularly useful for responsive designs, where the layout needs to adapt to different screen sizes and orientations. By using the order property, you can create more flexible and dynamic layouts for your web projects.