Adding z-index

Adding `z-index`

The first example, Stacking without z-index, explains how stacking is arranged by default. If you want to specify a different stacking order, you have to position an element and use the z-index property.

This property is assigned with an integer value (positive or negative), which represents the position of the element along the z-axis. If you are not familiar with the z-axis, imagine the page has several layers one above the other. Each layer is numbered. A layer with a greater number is rendered above layers with smaller numbers.

Warning: z-index only has an effect if an element is positioned.

bottom: furthest from the observer
...
Layer -3
Layer -2
Layer -1
Layer 0 default rendering layer
Layer 1
Layer 2
Layer 3
...
top: closest to the observer

Notes:

When no z-index property is specified, elements are rendered on the default rendering layer 0 (zero).
If several elements share the same z-index value (i.e. they are placed on the same layer), stacking rules explained in the section Stacking without z-index apply.

In the next example, the layers' stacking order is rearranged using z-index. The z-index of DIV#5 has no effect since it is not a positioned element.

Example source code

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8">
    <title>Adding z-index</title>
    <style type="text/css">

    div {
        opacity: 0.7;
        font: 12px Arial;
    }

    span.bold { font-weight: bold; }

    #normdiv {
        z-index: 8;
        height: 70px;
        border: 1px dashed #999966;
        background-color: #ffffcc;
        margin: 0px 50px 0px 50px;
        text-align: center;
    }

    #reldiv1 {
        z-index: 3;
        height: 100px;
        position: relative;
        top: 30px;
        border: 1px dashed #669966;
        background-color: #ccffcc;
        margin: 0px 50px 0px 50px;
        text-align: center;
    }

    #reldiv2 {
        z-index: 2;
        height: 100px;
        position: relative;
        top: 15px;
        left: 20px;
        border: 1px dashed #669966;
        background-color: #ccffcc;
        margin: 0px 50px 0px 50px;
        text-align: center;
    }

    #absdiv1 {
        z-index: 5;
        position: absolute;
        width: 150px;
        height: 350px;
        top: 10px;
        left: 10px;
        border: 1px dashed #990000;
        background-color: #ffdddd;
        text-align: center;
    }

    #absdiv2 {
        z-index: 1;
        position: absolute;
        width: 150px;
        height: 350px;
        top: 10px;
        right: 10px;
        border: 1px dashed #990000;
        background-color: #ffdddd;
        text-align: center;
    }

    </style>
</head>

<body>

    <br /><br />

    <div id="absdiv1">
        <br /><span class="bold">DIV #1</span>
        <br />position: absolute;
        <br />z-index: 5;
    </div>

    <div id="reldiv1">
        <br /><span class="bold">DIV #2</span>
        <br />position: relative;
        <br />z-index: 3;
    </div>

    <div id="reldiv2">
        <br /><span class="bold">DIV #3</span>
        <br />position: relative;
        <br />z-index: 2;
    </div>

    <div id="absdiv2">
        <br /><span class="bold">DIV #4</span>
        <br />position: absolute;
        <br />z-index: 1;
    </div>

    <div id="normdiv">
        <br /><span class="bold">DIV #5</span>
        <br />no positioning
        <br />z-index: 8;
    </div>

</body>
</html>

Original Document Information

Author(s): Paolo Lombardi
This article is the english translation of an article I wrote in italian for YappY. I grant the right to share all the content under Creative Commons: Attribution-Sharealike license
Last Updated Date: November 3rd, 2014

Adding z-index

Adding `z-index`

Example source code

See also

Original Document Information

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