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![Will Macleod](https://uploads.teamtreehouse.com/production/profile-photos/123490/micro_tiger.jpg)
Will Macleod
Courses Plus Student 18,780 Pointsz-index question
Hi, z-index makes alot of sense to me, however i just have one question.
Is it possible to have a z-index lower than another element with a higher z-index YET have the lower z-index show ABOVE, however they do NOT share the same relative positioning parent?
1 Answer
![Steven Parker](https://uploads.teamtreehouse.com/production/profile-photos/969492/micro_tool_chess_set_2.jpg)
Steven Parker
230,688 PointsSure. It's easy to do because they do not share the same parent. Just give the parent of the element you want to appear on top a higher z-index than the other elements. Then every child of that parent will appear on top of the other elements, no matter what the child z-index is.
This is because giving an element (the parent, in this case) a position and z-index creates what is called a stacking context. Elements within a stacking context can be ordered with z-index relative to each other, but they can never appear above an element in a higher stacking context, and never below one in a lower stacking context.
Stacking contexts are created in other ways as well. CSS properties like opacity, transform, filter, and a few others cause stacking contexts to be created. This can cause some confusion if you're not aware of them.