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CSS CSS Basics (2014) Basic Layout Width and Height Properties

James Estrada
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James Estrada
Full Stack JavaScript Techdegree Student 25,866 Points
Posted by James Estrada
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James Estrada
Full Stack JavaScript Techdegree Student 25,866 Points

What's Included in the Box?

Guil Hernandez mentions: "Keep in mind that when a width or height is defined on a element, we're not exactly defining the entire area of the box, meaning the content, padding and borders. We're actually just defining the width for the content area itself".

What about margins? Aren't they included in the area of the box?

1 Answer

Steven Parker
Steven Parker
231,275 Points
Steven Parker
Steven Parker
231,275 Points

No, margins are never included in box dimensions. However, padding and borders might be.

There's a setting called "box-sizing" that allows you to change the box model a bit. By default, it is "content-box", which is the situation described above where the dimensions include only the content area.

But you can set it to "border-box", and then the dimensions will include content, padding, and borders.

But, alas, there is no "margin-box" setting.