A Beginner’s Guide To Flexbox CSS Properties

by | Sep 20, 2025 | Etcetera | 0 comments

Just right format begins with a transparent style for alignment and spacing. Flexbox supplies that style through organizing content material alongside a unmarried axis with predictable keep watch over over path, alignment, wrapping, and hole.

This publish covers the fundamentals of those CSS houses and the way they paintings in combination. After the basics, we display how the similar method is carried out visually in Divi 5 the use of the Flexbox Layout System. Let’s get to it!

What Is CSS Flexbox?

Cell visitors overtaking desktop modified internet design. Builders wanted layouts that paintings on telephones, drugs, and desktops. Previous strategies steadily failed.

Flexbox fastened this. CSS Flexbox makes components adapt. Upload show: flex to a container, and its direct youngsters transform versatile. They are able to develop, shrink, or keep fastened in keeping with area.

Flexbox lays goods in a instantly line, both rows left to appropriate or columns best to backside. You select the path.

The container controls the format. You place how goods align and area out, equivalent to unfold frivolously, targeted, or stacked. The space belongings provides constant area between goods with out further margins or padding. Older ways required difficult margin math and broke steadily.

A visual comparison of Traditional method compared to Gap properties

The standard way makes random spacing alternatives: 10px right here, 20px there, 40px in other places. Those scattered values reason inconsistencies and make it onerous to grasp which spacing applies. Hole houses take away guesswork through the use of one constant rule for all components.

A Fast Information To Flexbox And Its Homes

Flexbox splits into two camps: houses for boxes and houses for goods. Container houses impact the entire workforce, whilst merchandise houses permit you to tweak particular person components. Maximum layouts want only a handful of those houses, equivalent to:

show: flex

Flip any part right into a flex container through including show: flex. Its direct youngsters transform flex goods. Pieces line up in a row through default as an alternative of stacking like usual block components. Your spacing complications disappear as a result of flex goods observe other laws than common components. The container now controls how its youngsters (or goods) behave, and also you get predictable effects as an alternative of the standard CSS surprises.

An visual representation of what Display:Flex does

flex-direction

Pick out which path goods float. Use a row for the left-to-right association.

An visual representation of what row direction does

and a column to stack goods vertically.

An visual representation of what column direction does

Upload opposite to both one, and goods turn their order totally.

An visual representation of reverse direction does

This selection units your central axis, which impacts how different houses paintings.

Switching from row to column adjustments how justify-content and align-items behave, so path comes first for your making plans.

justify-content

This belongings distributes leftover area alongside your central axis. Pieces take what they want, after which this belongings handles the rest. Use flex-start to bunch the whole thing initially, heart to cluster goods within the heart, and flex-end to position the whole thing in opposition to the tip. On the identical time, space-between is used to unfold goods aside with equivalent gaps. The distance-around price offers every merchandise equivalent area on each side, whilst space-evenly creates equivalent gaps all over the place.

An visual representation of various justify-content properties

align-items

It handles alignment at the cross-axis. For horizontal layouts, this implies vertical alignment. For vertical layouts, it controls horizontal positioning. It helps values like flex-start, heart, flex-end, stretch, and baseline (now not the space-* values). Set it to heart, and goods align to the center irrespective of their heights. The default price is stretch: goods stretch to fill the container’s cross-size. If the container’s cross-size is auto, it steadily equals the tallest merchandise so goods seem equivalent in peak.

An visual representation of various align-items properties

flex-wrap

Makes a decision what occurs when goods run out of room. The default nowrap assists in keeping the whole thing on one line through shrinking goods. Transfer to wrap and goods that don’t are compatible drop to new traces whilst keeping up their most popular sizes. You’ll opposite the wrapping path, too. Wrapping turns your unmarried line into a number of traces, growing layouts that resemble grids.

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An visual representation how flex wrap works when space runs out

hole

It provides area between goods with out messing with margins. Set hole: 20px, and each merchandise will get constant spacing. You’ll set other horizontal and vertical gaps if wanted. The distance handiest seems between goods, now not across the edges. This beats calculating margins that damage whilst you alternate layouts later.

An visual representation of gaps work in flexbox

Those houses paintings neatly if you get the hold of them. The difficult section is remembering what every one does and typing out all that CSS. You write some code, refresh your browser, see it’s now not fairly appropriate, then return and regulate. Visible developers like Divi turn this round through letting you click on buttons as an alternative of typing belongings names.

Divi 5 Makes Flexbox Visible

As we established, finding out Flexbox is something; remembering what justify-content: space-between does is some other. You spend extra time typing houses than designing. As a substitute of writing CSS, you employ buttons and sliders that display precisely what every possibility does within the Divi builder. Divi 5 brings this to Flexbox, turning summary ideas into easy, clickable controls.

Prior to we dive deeper, let’s in short have a look at what Divi is.

What Is Divi?

Divi is a web page builder that makes WordPress paintings for individuals who need handsome websites with out the effort.

A screenshot of Divi's new home page

You’ll drag any 200+ modules round your web page and alter the textual content the place it sits. Pick out colours and watch them seem in an instant whilst you paintings on the true website, now not some preview that may mislead you later.

The theme comprises 2000+ layouts for eating places, photographers, specialists, and different companies, so you’ll to find one you prefer and tweak it till it really works completely on your wishes.

A screenshot of some of Divi's available layouts

The Theme Builder will give you keep watch over over each a part of your website. You’ll design headers that stand out as an alternative of searching like everybody else’s, construct weblog pages folks need to learn, or even make your 404 pages fascinating sufficient that guests stick round as an alternative of leaving.

A screenshot of what can be made using Divi's theme builder

Divi AI Is helping You Construct Fast

As soon as, making subject matters and templates intended juggling other apps for replica, photographs, and design concepts. Divi AI gathers the whole thing you want into one unified interface: appropriate the place you construct your web sites.

Inform it you want textual content, and it writes it.

Ask for customized photographs, and it creates them. You’ll even describe photograph edits and watch it make the adjustments.

Plus, it handles code and builds new sections whilst you ask.

Divi Quick Sites saves you from observing a clean web page with out understanding the place to start out. You’ll choose from the starter websites our group designed, with authentic photographs and art work that glance nice.

You’ll additionally describe your small business to Divi Fast Websites and let it construct one thing from scratch the use of AI. Those AI-built websites include actual headlines, replica, and photographs matching your description.

Generate the whole thing with AI, snatch footage from Unsplash, or drop in placeholders on your photographs. Set your fonts and colours first, then let AI paintings round your logo alternatives whilst retaining the whole thing editable later on.

Divi 5: The Long run-Evidence Web site Builder

Divi 5 rebuilds all of the framework from the bottom up.

A screenshot of Divi 5's new home page

The Visible Builder runs smoother, pages render sooner, and the codebase can extra successfully strengthen fashionable internet requirements. You get cleaner markup, higher efficiency, and a basis able for the prevailing and long term.

The interface additionally will get streamlined. Settings seem extra logically arranged, and on a regular basis duties require fewer clicks. The whole revel in feels extra responsive, regardless of if you happen to’re construction easy pages or advanced layouts.

You get the similar visible construction method you recognize, simply with a far more potent basis beneath.

What’s New In Divi 5

The brand new structure opens doorways for options that weren’t imaginable sooner than. Those 18+ additions alternate the way you construct and organize web sites.

Right here’s an instance of what you get:

  • Flexbox Layout System: Visible controls for alignment, spacing, and positioning. Components can develop, shrink, or wrap to new traces mechanically. Works with Nested Rows and Module Groups for advanced layouts with out code.
  • Nested Rows: Put rows inside of different rows with endless nesting. Construct advanced format constructions with out code workarounds.
  • 17 WooCommerce Modules: Entire product web page developers together with Product Gallery, Upload to Cart, Critiques, Rankings, Inventory notices, Breadcrumbs, Product Meta, Upsells, and extra. Cart and checkout modules coming quickly.
  • Interactions System: Create pop-ups, toggles, scroll animations, mouse-movement results, and viewport triggers. Combine a number of triggers for advanced behaviors like promotional banners that fade in after scrolling.
  • Responsive Editor: Permits you to view, edit, and reset responsive hover and sticky states for any surroundings concurrently with out switching view modes for sooner, extra actual, and not more cluttered enhancing.>
  • Loop Builder: Construct dynamic content material that attracts out of your database. Create customized publish layouts, product grids, and repeating sections. Works with WooCommerce merchandise.
  • Option Group Presets: Create reusable kinds for typography, borders, shadows, and backgrounds. Follow those throughout any appropriate part, now not simply unmarried modules.
  • Design Variables: Set international values for colours, fonts, spacing, numbers, photographs, and textual content. Exchange your number one colour as soon as, and it’s going to replace all over the place mechanically.
  • Advanced CSS Units: Use clamp(), calc(), min(), and max() purposes via visible controls. No code required for responsive typography and spacing calculations.
  • Relative Colors and HSL: Create mathematically gorgeous colour methods. Construct colour diversifications that mechanically handle unity when the bottom colour is modified.
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And extra is coming! Our building group continues including options ~each two weeks as they get ready for the Public Beta unencumber.

A Fast Review Of Divi 5’s Flexbox Setup

Divi 5’s visible method eliminates the guesswork from Flexbox implementation. As a substitute of memorizing belongings names and typing CSS, you get buttons and sliders that display precisely what every keep watch over does. Take a look at how simple it’s.

1. Surroundings Up Your First Flex Row

Get started through choosing your row construction from the expanded template variety. Divi 5 provides many extra format choices, together with equivalent columns, multi-row grids, and multi-column setups.

A screenshot of various flexbox ready layouts available in Divi 5

New sections in Divi 5 birth with Flexbox mechanically. Whilst you upload a contemporary row, it comes able with flex houses grew to become on. However if you happen to’re running with current sections from older Divi variations, you’ll wish to transfer them manually from the default block format to flex through clicking the settings icon in your row, navigating to the Design tab > Structure, and converting “Block” to “Flex.”

A screenshot of various flexbox ready layouts available in Divi 5

2. Working out Route, Float, Alignment

Your Structure Route box determines the place goods finally end up. Row is the default surroundings, which makes goods line up horizontally.

A screenshot of what the row option does

Transfer to column, and goods stack components vertically like common internet layouts.

A screenshot of what the column option does

Each choices include opposite variations that turn the order totally.

In the meantime, Justify Content material makes a decision what occurs with leftover area alongside your major axis. For rows, birth way left, heart facilities horizontally, and finish aligns appropriate.

A screenshot of what justify content options are available

For columns, birth way best, heart facilities the whole thing, and finish pushes goods to the ground.

A screenshot of what justify content options are available for columns

Past the usual birth, heart, and finish alignment, you even have area between spreads goods aside with equivalent gaps, best possible for navigation menus or card layouts.

House round offers every merchandise equivalent respiring room on each side, which turns out to be useful when you need constant margins. And, area frivolously creates equivalent gaps all over the place, splendid for balanced visible spacing.

Align Pieces works perpendicular on your float path. If you select row format, this controls the vertical positioning of things.

A screenshot of what alignment options are available for row direction

For those who picked column format, it handles horizontal alignment.

A screenshot of what alignment options are available for column direction

The middle assists in keeping the whole thing aligned to the center, the beginning positions goods initially edge, the tip pushes them to the some distance edge, and the stretch makes goods fill the to be had area.

Those controls clear up commonplace format complications with out customized CSS calculations.

3. Spacing Issues Out With Hole Controls

Hole controls upload area between flex goods for your container: columns, modules, and any content material kind paintings. Gaps create respiring room with out messy padding or margin math. The space seems handiest between goods, now not across the outer edges.

Set your horizontal hole to 20px, and each column may have that specific spacing.

A screenshot of horizontal gap does between columns

Exchange the vertical hole to 20px, and all gaps will replace in an instant.

A screenshot of vertical gap does between columns

Divi 5 helps complicated CSS gadgets like viewport lengths and percentages. Chances are you’ll use clamp() for responsive gaps that scale between display screen sizes. The calc() serve as, which mixes gadgets like calc(2rem + 10px), could also be supported.

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A screenshot of the gaps supporting advanced units like calc

Hole controls right here additionally strengthen Design Variables. Upload a host variable known as “Horizontal Column Hole” with clamp(16px, 2vw, 32px) as the worth. Follow that variable to hole controls throughout your website.

A screenshot of the gaps supports global number design variables

When you need tighter spacing later, edit the variable; each hole will replace in an instant.

4. Controlling How Pieces Wrap

Structure wrapping controls what occurs when goods run out of horizontal area. The default no wrap surroundings assists in keeping the whole thing on one line through shrinking goods to suit the container. Transfer to wrap and goods that don’t are compatible drop to new traces whilst keeping up their herbal sizes.

Wrap opposite does the similar factor as common wrap, however flips the path. New traces seem above the former ones as an alternative of underneath.

This will give you keep watch over over visible hierarchy when goods overflow. The wrapping conduct remains constant throughout other display screen sizes, so your format adapts predictably from desktop to cell with out breaking.

Divi 5 additionally will give you Wrapping Alignment controls. This selection seems mechanically whilst you allow flex wrapping and multiple-line paperwork. When the path is about to row, the wrapping alignment is to be had for vertical alignment.

A screenshot of the wrapping alignment options available in row direction

Likewise, for column path, the choices are for horizontal alignment.

A screenshot of the wrapping alignment options available in column direction

Stretch makes all traces enlarge to fill the to be had vertical area. Get started bunches of traces initially, heart clusters within the heart, and finish through pushing them towards the other edge.

House between spreads traces aside with equivalent gaps, area round offers every line equivalent respiring room on each side, and area frivolously creates equivalent gaps between all traces.

This works nice for card layouts, symbol galleries, or any content material that should float naturally throughout a number of rows. Pieces handle their proportions and spacing whilst rearranging in keeping with to be had width. You get blank breaks with out goods getting overwhelmed in combination on small displays.

5. Operating Throughout Other Display screen Sizes

Divi 5’s seven breakpoints come up with granular keep watch over over how your layouts adapt.

A screenshot of the customization breakpoints available in Divi 5

Each and every breakpoint works independently, so you’ll transfer your Structure Route to column on cell whilst your desktop row format remains untouched. You may heart the whole thing on telephones, however stay that area between alignment on higher displays.

Your desktop three-column setup can transform a single-column stack on cell with out affecting the center breakpoints. Each and every display screen length will get precisely what works best possible for that viewing revel in.

The brand new Responsive Editor makes this procedure a lot smoother. Click on the responsive editor icon subsequent to any surroundings to view and regulate values for all display screen sizes immediately.

On the other hand, if you’re the use of clamp() values to hole your rows and columns, that might mechanically scale between breakpoints with out requiring handbook adjustments.

6. Growing Possibility Staff Presets

After you get your Flexbox format running the way in which you need it, you’ll save the ones settings as an Possibility Staff Preset through clicking at the Possibility Staff Presets possibility and labeling it aptly.

A screenshot of where to find the option group preset icon

Your hole values, alignment alternatives, and wrap settings are bundled in combination. Whilst you click on save, that specific format configuration turns into reusable throughout your website. When you need to make use of the stored preset, click on at the preset icon at the new row and choose the preset you simply stored.

The preset assists in keeping your complicated gadgets intact. Your responsive spacing transfers with the entire math you place up, and the adjustments had been even made on other breakpoints.

Get Began With Divi 5’s Flexbox As of late

Flexbox gets rid of the margin and padding math that breaks whilst you alternate layouts. You prevent twiddling with responsive design with media queries and customized sections.

Divi 5 turns those summary CSS houses into visible controls. You’ll click on buttons to set path, drag sliders to regulate gaps, and toggle wrapping off and on. The Responsive Editor handles all seven breakpoints from one panel, so you spot effects in an instant as an alternative of guessing at code.

Save a hit mixtures as presets and reuse them anyplace. You spend time designing as an alternative of debugging CSS syntax.

The publish A Beginner’s Guide To Flexbox CSS Properties seemed first on Elegant Themes Blog.

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