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How to break a line without using br tag in HTML / CSS?
Introduction
Breaking a line without using the <br> tag in HTML / CSS can be useful in situations where you want to create space between elements, but don't want to add a new line of text. There are a few different ways to achieve this effect using CSS, which we'll explore in this article. Before HTML5 and CSS programmers often used the <br> tag. However, now we have much better techniques and in fact, the usage of <br> is obsolete nowadays.
In this article, we shall learn how to break lines without using the <br> tag in HTML and CSS
Using the CSS Content Property
One way to create a line break in CSS is to use the content property with the ::before or ::after pseudo-element. Here's an example −
Example
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<style>
.break::before {
content: "";
display: block;
margin-top: 20px;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<div class="first">This is the first text</div>
<div class="break">This is some text.</div>
<div class="third">This is the third text</div>
</body>
</html>
Explanation
The HTML/CSS code provided creates a basic HTML document with three <div> elements, each containing different textual content. The CSS code uses the .break class to target the second <div> element and adds a line break above it using the ::before pseudo-element, which has a content property with an empty string, display property set to block, and a margin-top value of 20px to create space. This results in the first and third <div> elements being on one line, and the second <div> element being on a new line with space above it.
Using the CSS Margin Property
Another way to create a line break is to use the margin property to add space around the elements. We can use the following properties −
margin-top: Margin along the top
margin-right: Margin from the right
margin-bottom: Margin from the bottom
margin-left: Margin from the left
If we only mention margin then the element will assume uniform margin along all the four directions.
Example
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<style>
.break {
margin-top: 20px;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<div class="first">This is the first text</div>
<div class="break">This is some text.</div>
<div class="third">This is the third text</div>
</body>
</html>
Explanation
This HTML/CSS code creates a basic HTML document with three <div> elements, each containing different textual content. The CSS code uses the .break class to target the second <div> element and adds a margin-top value of 20px to create space above it.
This results in the first and third <div> elements being on one line, and the second <div> element being on a new line with space above it. This approach does not use the::before pseudo-element like in the previous example, but simply adds a margin to the targeted <div> element
Using the CSS Padding Property
Similar to the margin property, you can also use the padding property to add space around the elements. Similar to the margin property too we can define four attributes for it.
padding-top: Padding along the top
padding-right: Padding from the right
padding-bottom: Padding from the bottom
padding-left: Padding from the left
If we only mention padding then by default it will assume uniform spacing from all the directions.
Example
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<style>
.break {
padding-top: 20px;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<div class="first">Hello world</div>
<div class="break">Hello world</div>
<div class="third">Hello world</div>
</body>
</html>
In this example, we've added a padding-top value to the <div> element with a class of break. This creates space above the element, effectively breaking the line.
Using the CSS Line-height Property
Another way to create space between elements without adding a new line of text is to adjust the line-height property. Here's an example −
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<style>
.break {
line-height: 5;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<div class="first">Hello world</div>
<div class="break">Hello world</div>
<div class="third">Hello world</div>
</body>
</html>
In this example, we've added a line-height value of 2 to the <p> element with a class of break. This doubles the height of the line, creating space between the lines of text.
Conclusion
Breaking a line without using the <br> tag in HTML/CSS is a useful technique for creating space between elements. There are several ways to achieve this effect using CSS, including using the content, margin, padding, and line-height properties. By experimenting with these techniques, you can create layouts with clean, precise spacing, and avoid cluttering your HTML with unnecessary line breaks.
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