Centre floating div

Question

Hi, I have a surrounding div called #footer and then 4 divs
in that called .snippetts
At the moment the 4 divs are floated:left to make them stack
beside each other and have margin:10px to split them up. However, i
would like the 4 divs to position them selves beside each other,
but centred within the #footer. can't seem to work out how to do
this.....? my code for html and css is attached
Thanks in advance for any help

Answer 1

kim wrote:
>>> Absolutely... but does that mean we should stop
looking for better
>>> alternatives.
>>
>> If 'you' believe that the solution offered IS a
better alternative
>> then yes BUT everyone has different opinions as to
what is better now
>> don't they? Its up to the individual to decide which
method they find
>> easiest to understand/implement.
>
> To me it looked as the OP wanted to follow best
practice...
In the senario we were discussing there are 'no' best
practices.
> /> Thanks osGood, it is difficult, i consider myself
to be a reasonable web
>> designer and think that I am doing things the most
appropiate way, and
>> this place is invaluable for advice or help with
niggles but sometimes
>> I end up going away with more questions than I came
with! and I know
>> people are just trying to help and guide using the
best practices, and
>> I do appreciate that/
>
> IMO you should follow the recommendation from w3C along
with a lot of
> "best practice" advices. That does not necessarily
include /easiest to
> understand/implement/ way.
Point out where the WC3 says you should use padding instead
of margin to
solve the issue being discussed.
>> There are several different ways of writing css to
arrive at the same
>> results. Saying one is better than the other is just
a personal opinion.
>
> No. There are certain ways of doing things.
Saying one solution is better than the other in this case is
NOT true.
If I had to say one solution was the most viable in my
opinion it would
have been the first-child selector but that turned out not to
be
non-functional in IE, so unfortunately it proved not to be.
>> You can say 'I' don't like that and I wouldn't use
it' but if someone
>> else finds that method easier to understand and it
does more or less
>> the same job surely its not a big issue is it?
>
> Not if you don't care. But that's not my impression
that's what the OP
> wanted in the first place. He/she was not just looking
for a quick fix.
The solution provided was not a quick fix. How do you think
it was a
quick fix?
Its not going to fail at a later stage, so I don't exactly
know what
your exact definition of a 'quick fix' is?
>>>> After that its merely fine tuning, which
wont really improve
>>>> anything to the extent that it really
matters.
>
> You guessed it... I don't agree.
Youre entitled to your opinion of course.
>>> If you're gonna do it anyway why not do best as
you possibly can?
>>> That must give a better stomach feeling?
>>
>> To be honest as long as the code is reasonably
clean/near valid and
>> the exterior looks professional I personally don't
care if someone
>> uses two extra <div> tags, or uses <p>
tags instead of <li> tags to
>> create a menu, a table instead of a <div>.
>
> And this is exactly where you and I collide... I think
it makes a huge
> difference.
In most cases it wont make the slightest difference to the
'majority' of
users.
>> As long as it works in the browsers they want to
entertain that's good
>> enough.
>
> If that's the measure... then anything goes.
Thats not what I'm saying thats unfortunately what you're
hearing though.
>> I also respect those web developers who do wish to
take it further
>> than is really necessary but to 'pretend' it will
have a devastating
>> effect if others don't follow their beliefs is pure
>
> But do you know all of that? have you deep insight how
things work
> across the board. I don't!
I have enough insight to know where you can safely draw the
line without
compromising anything to the point where it is really going
to make any
difference.
>> I'm not against writing good code at all, as
witnessed in my many
>> replies on this forum. What I am against is people
who become obsessed
>> by it to the point where they don't give unbiased
opinion/suggestions.
>
> But what if they are their believes?.. is your approach
then better?
As I said each to his/her own. I can't make people follow
what I believe
and that's not the objective. The objective is to remain
impartial and
that's what I am doing by offering a 'different' side to the
story.
>> I can write valid code along with the rest of the
band of regulars on
>> this forum. I'm probably better at trouble-shooting
a lot of css
>> issues than many of them but I don't pretend its the
be all and end
>> all of web design.
>
> Neither am I. I'm not saying your advices are not
better/worse than
> anyone else's. I'm just saying we see things
differently, we understand
> it differently and we passes on our own views based upon
that. I don't
> think it's because anyone /pretends/ but I also believe
there are some
> people with much deeper insight and a bigger picture
than I'll ever get.
I don't disagree but the most important aspect is finding
your own level
where you are comfortable. Some go beyond what is strictly
necessary to
get things working when there are simpler solutions.
As an experimental exercise this is ok but to some how try
and convince
people they should be using methods which are some way off
being
supported in todays browsers without the necessity of a lot
more complex
css and hacks to boot I'm not in favour of. For the most it
only goes to
confuse.
I think its ok in certain forums but generally not this one
for
obviously reasons.
>> I'd rather have a good visual design which fails to
validate because
>> of a few minor code problems that wouldn't matter
anyway.
>
> I would rather fix those errors :)
Fine, I'm not against that if it personally makes you feel a
happier
person for doing so.
I'm happy to let them go so long as I know why they are there
and that
they aren't going to make a difference.
> A good visual
>> design that uses <p> tags for the menu, rather
than some anemic
>> looking design which ticked all the right boxes as
far as the coding
>> was concerned.
>
> I don't care if people uses P tags for a menu... but
why. There is not
> one single thing you can do with a p tag that doesn't
can be replicated
> with lists afaik!
Because it makes not a slight bit of difference to the
majority of users
who will be using the website. I would rather them use a
<li> of course
but its not a big issue for me to be honest and so I don't
push the point.
>> I look at the overall picture, not just one aspect
of it ;)
>
> So do I... but we see different things.
Different strokes for different folks.
>> Who said anything about ******/poor code writing?
>
> I did! IMO being sloppy (that my private opinion) is
writing ****** code.
I don't think using a margin-left is sloppy code do you. Its
just an
individual preference?
>> Just because you might use alternative methods
doesn't mean its
>> ******/poor code. You can write ******/poor code and
get a page to
>> validate.....what the does that tell you about
validation?
>
> Ehhh... I don't know! You can also write code that
validates but does
> not display in a browser... what does that tell you
about the browser?
Correct. It tells me validation is quite meaningless. The
only thing
that counts is testing in those specific browsers you wish to
entertain.
>> Sure I've never advocated writing poor code. But
just because I choose
>> to use a table or I say to people 'its perfectly ok
to use a table' or
>> I use one or two more <divs> or a different
valid approach than other
>> people it doesn't make it ******/poor code?
>
> Not necessarily! But when you say to someone "It's not
important" then I
> have to argue against that!
Somethings, in my eyes, are not important to worry about. If
you on the
other hand want to worry I cant stop you doing that.
> They just cant accept it for
>> some reason which frankly escapes me :)
>
> Welcome to the club ;) That's exactly my thoughts on you
I'm glad because you know how I feel too ;)
>> I'm not sure how we arrived at few simple solutions
for the original
>> OPs suggestion to you thinking I don't care about
how the code is
>> written.
>
> Well... the OP just have to decide and pick. 3-4
different options. Not
> bad IMO... and he/she did ask what would be best.
In my opinion there wasn't a 'best' one. Only 'best' in the
mind of the
person who offered the suggestion.
>> All I'm saying is there are different approaches to
writing valid/near
>> valid code. People must determine which one is the
best for them in
>> terms of their ability at the time and what they
personally want to
>> achieve at the time.
>
> And now they have a few options to choose from.
Sure......I don't really care which one they choose/chose.