Revision 926107 of writing-mode

<div>{{CSSRef}}{{SeeCompatTable}}</div>

<h2 id="Summary">Summary</h2>

<p>The <strong><code>writing-mode</code></strong> property defines whether lines of text are laid out horizontally or vertically and the direction in which blocks progress.</p>

<p>The property specifies the <em>block flow direction</em>, which is the direction in which block-level containers are stacked, and the direction in which inline-level content flows within a block container. Thus the <code>writing-mode</code> property also determines the ordering of block-level content.</p>

<p>{{cssinfo}}</p>

<h2 id="Syntax">Syntax</h2>

<pre class="brush:css">
/* Keyword values */
writing-mode: horizontal-tb;
writing-mode: vertical-rl;
writing-mode: vertical-lr;

/* Global values */
writing-mode: inherit;
writing-mode: initial;
writing-mode: unset;
</pre>

<h3 id="Values">Values</h3>

<dl>
 <dt><code>horizontal-tb</code></dt>
 <dd>Content flows horizontally from left to right, vertically from top to bottom. The next horizontal line is positioned below the previous line.</dd>
 <dt><code>vertical-rl</code></dt>
 <dd>Content flows vertically from top to bottom, horizontally from right to left. The next vertical line is positioned to the left of the previous line.</dd>
 <dt><code>vertical-lr</code></dt>
 <dd>Content flows vertically from top to bottom, horizontally from left to right. The next vertical line is positioned to the right of the previous line.</dd>
 <dt><code>sideways-rl</code></dt>
 <dd>Content flows vertically from top to bottom and all the glyphs, even those in vertical scripts, are set sideways toward the right.</dd>
</dl>

<dl>
 <dt><code>sideways-lr</code></dt>
 <dd>Content flows vertically from top to bottom and all the glyphs, even those in vertical scripts, are set sideways toward the left.</dd>
 <dt><code>lr</code> {{deprecated_inline}}</dt>
 <dd>Deprecated except for SVG1 documents. For CSS, use <code>horizontal-tb</code>.</dd>
 <dt><code>lr-tb</code> {{deprecated_inline}}</dt>
 <dd>Deprecated except for SVG1 documents. For CSS, use <code>horizontal-tb</code>.</dd>
 <dt><code>rl</code> {{deprecated_inline}}</dt>
 <dd>Deprecated except for SVG1 documents. For CSS, use <code>horizontal-tb</code>.</dd>
 <dt><code>tb</code> {{deprecated_inline}}</dt>
 <dd>Deprecated except for SVG1 documents. For CSS, use <code>vertical-rl</code>.</dd>
 <dt><code>tb-rl</code> {{deprecated_inline}}</dt>
 <dd>Deprecated except for SVG1 documents. For CSS, use <code>vertical-rl</code>.</dd>
</dl>

<h3 id="Formal_syntax">Formal syntax</h3>

<pre class="syntaxbox">
{{csssyntax}}</pre>

<h2 id="Example">Example</h2>

<div class="hidden">
<pre class="brush: html">
&lt;table&gt;
    &lt;tr&gt;
        &lt;th&gt;value&lt;/th&gt;
        &lt;th&gt;Vertical script&lt;/th&gt;
        &lt;th&gt;Horizontal script&lt;/th&gt;
        &lt;th&gt;Mixed script&lt;/th&gt;
    &lt;/tr&gt;
    &lt;tr&gt;
        &lt;td&gt;horizontal-tb&lt;/td&gt;
        &lt;td class="exampleText1"&gt;我家没有电脑。&lt;/td&gt;
        &lt;td class="exampleText1"&gt;Example text&lt;/td&gt;
        &lt;td class="exampleText1"&gt;1994年に至っては&lt;/td&gt;
    &lt;/tr&gt;
    &lt;tr&gt;
        &lt;td&gt;vertical-lr&lt;/td&gt;
        &lt;td class="exampleText2"&gt;我家没有电脑。&lt;/td&gt;
        &lt;td class="exampleText2"&gt;Example text&lt;/td&gt;
        &lt;td class="exampleText2"&gt;1994年に至っては&lt;/td&gt;
    &lt;/tr&gt;
    &lt;tr&gt;
        &lt;td&gt;vertical-rl&lt;/td&gt;
        &lt;td class="exampleText3"&gt;我家没有电脑。&lt;/td&gt;
        &lt;td class="exampleText3"&gt;Example text&lt;/td&gt;
        &lt;td class="exampleText3"&gt;1994年に至っては&lt;/td&gt;
    &lt;/tr&gt;
    &lt;tr&gt;
        &lt;td&gt;sideways-lr&lt;/td&gt;
        &lt;td class="exampleText4"&gt;我家没有电脑。&lt;/td&gt;
        &lt;td class="exampleText4"&gt;Example text&lt;/td&gt;
        &lt;td class="exampleText4"&gt;1994年に至っては&lt;/td&gt;
    &lt;/tr&gt;
    &lt;tr&gt;
        &lt;td&gt;sideways-rl&lt;/td&gt;
        &lt;td class="exampleText5"&gt;我家没有电脑。&lt;/td&gt;
        &lt;td class="exampleText5"&gt;Example text&lt;/td&gt;
        &lt;td class="exampleText5"&gt;1994年に至っては&lt;/td&gt;
    &lt;/tr&gt;
</pre>

<pre class="brush:css;">
table { border-collapse:collapse; }
td, th {border: 1px black solid; padding: 3px; }
th {background-color: lightgray; }
.exampleText1 { width:75px; writing-mode: horizontal-tb;}
.exampleText2 { height:75px; writing-mode: vertical-lr; }
.exampleText3 { height:75px; writing-mode: vertical-rl; }
.exampleText4 { height:75px; writing-mode: sideways-lr; }
.exampleText5 { height:75px; writing-mode: sideways-rl; }</pre>
</div>

<p>{{EmbedLiveSample("Example", 400, 430)}}</p>

<h2 id="Specification">Specification</h2>

<table class="standard-table">
 <thead>
  <tr>
   <th scope="col">Specification</th>
   <th scope="col">Status</th>
   <th scope="col">Comment</th>
  </tr>
 </thead>
 <tbody>
  <tr>
   <td>{{SpecName("CSS3 Writing Modes", "#block-flow", "writing-mode")}}</td>
   <td>{{Spec2("CSS3 Writing Modes")}}</td>
   <td>Initial definition</td>
  </tr>
 </tbody>
</table>

<h2 id="Browser_compatibility">Browser compatibility</h2>

<p>{{CompatibilityTable}}</p>

<div id="compat-desktop">
<table class="compat-table">
 <tbody>
  <tr>
   <th>Feature</th>
   <th>Chrome</th>
   <th>Firefox (Gecko)</th>
   <th>Internet Explorer</th>
   <th>Opera</th>
   <th>Safari</th>
  </tr>
  <tr>
   <td>Basic support</td>
   <td>{{CompatVersionUnknown}} {{property_prefix("-webkit")}}</td>
   <td>{{CompatGeckoDesktop(41)}}<sup>[1][3]</sup></td>
   <td>9.0 {{property_prefix("-ms")}}<sup>[2]</sup></td>
   <td>{{CompatVersionUnknown}} {{property_prefix("-webkit")}}</td>
   <td>8.0 {{property_prefix("-webkit")}}</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
   <td>SVG 1.1 values <code>lr</code>, <code>lr-tb</code>, <code>rl</code>, <code>tb</code>, <code>tb-rl</code></td>
   <td>{{CompatVersionUnknown}}</td>
   <td>{{CompatGeckoDesktop(43)}}</td>
   <td>9.0 {{property_prefix("-ms")}}<sup>[2]</sup></td>
   <td>{{CompatVersionUnknown}}</td>
   <td>{{CompatUnknown}}</td>
  </tr>
 </tbody>
</table>
</div>

<div id="compat-mobile">
<table class="compat-table">
 <tbody>
  <tr>
   <th>Feature</th>
   <th>Android</th>
   <th>Chrome for Android</th>
   <th>Firefox Mobile (Gecko)</th>
   <th>IE Mobile</th>
   <th>Opera Mobile</th>
   <th>Safari Mobile</th>
  </tr>
  <tr>
   <td>Basic support</td>
   <td>{{CompatUnknown}}</td>
   <td>{{CompatVersionUnknown}}</td>
   <td>{{CompatGeckoMobile(41)}} <sup>[1][3]</sup></td>
   <td>{{CompatUnknown}}</td>
   <td>{{CompatUnknown}}</td>
   <td>8.0 {{property_prefix("-webkit")}}</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
   <td>SVG 1.1 values <code>lr</code>, <code>lr-tb</code>, <code>rl</code>, <code>tb</code>, <code>tb-rl</code></td>
   <td>{{CompatUnknown}}</td>
   <td>{{CompatUnknown}}</td>
   <td>{{CompatGeckoMobile(43)}}</td>
   <td>{{CompatUnknown}}</td>
   <td>{{CompatUnknown}}</td>
   <td>{{CompatUnknown}}</td>
  </tr>
 </tbody>
</table>
</div>

<p>[1] An experimental implementation was available since Gecko 36. It is governed by the preference <code>layout.css.vertical-text.enabled</code>, defaulting to <code>false</code> until Firefox 38. From Firefox 39 and Firefox 40, the preference was <code>true</code> for Nightly and DevTools editions only. Note that not all CSS widgets (e.g. tables) obey to it, yet.</p>

<p>[2] The implementation in Internet Explorer differs from the specification. See the <a href="https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ie/ms531187%28v=vs.85%29.aspx">related article in the Internet Explorer Dev Center</a>.</p>

<p>[3] Bidirectional and rtl scripts are supported in vertical modes only since Gecko 42.</p>

<h2 id="See_also">See also</h2>

<ul>
 <li>SVG <code><a href="/en-US/docs/Web/SVG/Attribute/writing-mode">writing-mode</a></code> attribute</li>
 <li>{{Cssxref("direction")}}</li>
 <li>{{Cssxref("unicode-bidi")}}</li>
</ul>