Mnemonics for remembering the CSS order of top right bottom left
[2011-11-27]
css, dev, html, webdev
Whenever one specifies values for all directions in a single CSS property, one has to adhere to the standard order: top comes first, right second, bottom third, and left fourth. This post mentions three mnemonics for remembering that order.
Example: The four CSS properties
margin-top: 10;
margin-bottom: 9;
margin-left: 5;
margin-right: 4;
can be written as a single property:
margin: 10 4 9 5;
Other examples are border and padding. Three suggestions for remembering the order:
- tar ball: is a mnemonic for trbl, the first characters of top, right, bottom, left.
- trouble: an alternative to tar ball, suggested by Josh Feuerstein and Rick Waldron.
- clockwise: means that you enumerate the sides of a rectangle, starting at 12 o’clock, continuing clockwise. Suggested by Franz Graf.
Even with the mnemonics in my tool belt, I often add an explanatory comment:
margin: 10 4 9 5; /* trbl */