Centering elements in CSS can seem complex, especially when you want to place a specific element precisely in the center of a particular container. Fortunately, Flexbox is one of the best and simplest solutions for this type of layout. Flexbox allows you to easily center elements using basic CSS properties. Here you'll find a method that shows you how to center an element with the class cycle inside a container with the class game-area.
Initially, it’s important to change the container (.game-area) into a Flex container. This is accomplished by using the display: flex property. With this action, all direct child elements of this container become Flex items, and you can easily use Flexbox rules to adjust their layout.
To center the .cycle element, you need to utilize two key properties: justify-content and align-items. The justify-content property centers elements along the main axis (usually horizontal), and align-items centers elements along the cross axis (usually vertical).
For .cycle to be centered both horizontally and vertically, you can set both properties to center. This method is not only simple but also makes your code cleaner and easier to maintain. Let's review the code example.
Code explanation for centering the element
.game-area {
display: flex;
justify-content: center;
align-items: center;
height: 100vh; /* or any height you need */
}
.cycle {
width: 100px;
height: 100px;
background-color: lightblue;
}
Line by line explanation of the code
.game-area {
Creates a container for Flexbox to control its children.
display: flex;
This property converts the .game-area container into a Flexbox container.
justify-content: center;
This property centers the flex items in the main axis (horizontally).
align-items: center;
This property centers the flex items in the cross axis (vertically).
height: 100vh;
Sets the height of the container to occupy the entire viewport height or any other height you require.
}
.cycle {
Defines the styles for the cycle element with its size and color.
width: 100px;
Sets the width of the cycle element to a specific size.
height: 100px;
Sets the height of the cycle element to match its width.
background-color: lightblue;
Sets the background color for the cycle element.
}