Configuring a Flexbox Scroller

Flexbox is one of the popular features of CSS that is used for designing user-friendly and responsive layouts. However, in some cases, we may need to create a scrollable containment for the content that resides within the flexbox. Reaching a user-friendly design considering the content volume can be challenging.

Now, let’s see how we can easily accomplish this task. Suppose we have a list of items that should be placed in a container using flexbox, and if these items exceed the container's height, we can make them scrollable.

To do this, we typically need to initially define the dimensions or restrictions for the container. By setting the overflow property to auto, we can easily add scrolling functionality to the scroller. This feature automatically provides scrolling when the container’s content exceeds its size.

Additionally, we can also configure additional properties, such as limiting the height or width, to ensure that the flexbox looks good alongside other design elements. For example, if we set the flexbox to occupy only a specific part of the page and not all of it, the user experience will improve.

For instance, refer to the code below which shows how to configure a flexbox container with scrollable capability:

    <div class="container">
      <div class="item">Item 1</div>
      <div class="item">Item 2</div>
      <div class="item">Item 3</div>
      <div class="item">Item 4</div>
    </div>

    <style>
    .container {
      display: flex;
      flex-direction: column;
      overflow: auto;
      max-height: 200px;
      border: 1px solid #ccc;
    }
    .item {
      padding: 10px;
      border-bottom: 1px solid #ddd;
    }
    </style>
  

In the code above, we have a div named container that has the display: flex; property set. We have also configured the flex-direction to column, which makes the items display in a vertical arrangement. The overflow: auto; property ensures that as the content gets larger than the available space, a scrollbar will appear.

Moreover, we can specify max-height: 200px; to set a maximum height for the container, meaning that if the items exceed this height, the scrolling will come into effect. Additionally, we incorporate border and border-bottom for aesthetic purposes to separate the items visually.