HTML Form Layout CSS

The HTML form element does nothing to arrange its subordinates in an appropriate layout. We must do it ourselves.
Such layout expectations could be specified as:

• Fields and Sets:
  
  
  • A form can contain a mix of fields and field-sets, where a field-set is a titled vertically arranged group of fields.


• Horizontal Layout:
  
  
  • Portrait-format (mobile): one-column table, label on top, input field below, both in same table-cell.
    • Exception checkbox: label right, box left.
  
  
  • Landscape-format (desktop): two columns, label in left column, input field in right.
    • Label is right aligned, so that it is near to the field it describes.
    • Exception checkbox: label right, box left.
    • Newspaper layout: to exploit width, distribute fields across several horizontally ordered boxes.


• Vertical Layout:
  
  
  • A left-side label should be on same height as its right-side input field, vertically aligned "middle".
  • In case the field or field-set is much higher than its left-side label, the label should be aligned to the upper edge of the field or field-set.


• Nested Layouts:
  
  
  • A field can be organized as several fields with its own layout, examples are "Date of Birth" with "Age" output, or "Year", "Month" and "Day" input fields in a row.

In this article I will introduce CSS implementing this. I won't yet cover the checkbox case, and also I won't think about "newspaper layout" (distributing label/field pairs across several columns when having a restricted height). You can visit the current state of this project on my homepage.

Form Sample

Here is a HTML form example that contains all fields available from HTML-5 browsers, so that we can examine whether the layout works for all types of fields. This is also to try out the field-features your browser provides.

E.g. Firefox doesn't support datetime-local, week, month fields by now.
Chrome supports all, but paints box-shadow for radio-buttons badly, and the default shape of fields is ugly.

Use the ☞ button to toggle the layout from desktop ("left-label") to mobile ("top-label").
Use the ↔ button to stretch the form to full width.

HTML Form Layout Example

Single Line

Password

Number

More Text

E-Mail

Telephone

URL

Auto-Suggest

Search

Multiple Lines Default value in text area

Date

  Years Since

Date / Time

Time

Date / Time Local

Month

Week

Other Inputs

Radiobuttons

Male Female Other

More Radiobuttons

Red

Green

Blue

Single Select Java C++ EcmaScript Python

Multiple Select Use Shift and Control Keys with Mouse

Range

Color

File

License Read

Notice that required field labels are also bold for field-sets, in case the set contains at least one required field. Example is the "More Text" group. On the other hand there is no required field in the "Date / Time" group, thus its label is not bold.

Core Form Layout CSS

I will present this in small doses. You can find the entire source code of the example on bottom of the article.

Most important to know is that I used line-height to get rid of vertical alignment problems (still open problems!), and box-sizing: border-box; to stop fields hanging out at right side.

About CSS coding:
I recommend to write comments on any CSS line, at least one per rule-set. Only this keeps CSS code maintainable! Remember that a rule like position: relative; can serve several purposes, so we need to make explicit why we apply it.

Basic Label Styling

      /* Smaller sans-serif font. */
      form label
      {
        font-size: 76%;
        font-family: sans-serif;
      }

      /* Add colon after any label. */
      form label::after
      {
        content: ":";
      }
      /* But not on label after radio. */
      form input[type = 'radio'] + label::after
      {
        content: "";
      }

The label should have a smaller font than the field. This also will uncover vertical alignment problems in the layout.
Further this CSS sets a colon after the label, and avoids it for radio buttons where the label is right of the button.

Labels of Required Fields

The JavaScript I introduced in my recent Blog copies the attribute required from field to label, the CSS below relies on that.

      /* Set asterisk before required fields. */
      form label[required]::before
      {
        content: "* ";
      }
      
      /* Make labels for required fields better visible. */
      form label[required]
      {
        font-weight: bold;
      }

This is for setting an asterisk (*) before any label of a required field, and displaying it in a bold font.

DIV Table Layout

      form .table
      {
        display: table;
        width: 100%;  /* if parent is 100%, go with it */
      }
      
      form .table > div
      {
        display: table-row;
        line-height: 2em;  /* needed for vertical line-alignment */
      }

This defines the table-layout inside the form, not including the "Submit" and "Reset" buttons. It will always fill its parent's width fully, so you should wrap it into either a display: inline-block; (natural width) or a display: block; (full width) DIV container.

The table-row receives its line-height here, important to avoid vertical alignment problems. The table-cell is not yet defined, it will be set specifically later for either mobile or desktop.

Layout of Fields Inside Tables

      /* Stretch fields to full cell width, except checkboxes and radios. */
      form .table > div > input:not([type = 'radio']):not([type = 'checkbox']),
      form .table > div > textarea,
      form .table > div > select
      {
        width: 100%;
      }

      /* Avoid text fields hanging out at right due to content-box sizing. */
      form .table input,
      form .table textarea,
      form .table select
      {
        box-sizing: border-box;
      }
      
      /* Let the user resize big fields vertically. */
      form .table select[multiple],
      form .table textarea
      {
        resize: vertical;
      }

Fields should fill their cell's full width, not keep their "natural" width which is browser-specific.
Force the browser to calculate their border-box, not content-box, else they will hang out at right side.
Optionally we should allow the user to resize choosers that may contain lots of rows, like <textarea> and <select multiple>.

Left Label for Desktop

      form .left-label > div > label,
      form .left-label > div > input,
      form .left-label > div > select,
      form .left-label > div > textarea,
      form .left-label > div > div,
      form .left-label > div > fieldset
      {
        display: table-cell;  /* display elements horizontally */
        vertical-align: middle;  /* avoid vertical alignment problems */
        
        margin-top: 0.2em;  /* vertical line distance */
        margin-bottom: 0.2em;
      }
    
      form .table.left-label > div label
      {
        text-align: right;
        padding-right: 0.2em;  /* distance to right field */
        
        vertical-align: top;   /* necessary for labels of nested fieldsets */
      }

So here is a list of element names that can be inside a table-cell. For a desktop-suited table with two columns, all these elements should behave as table-cell. We allow beside input, select and textarea also fieldset and div elements.
Their vertical alignment should be "middle" by default.
To create a little space between layout rows there is margin at bottom.

Labels should be aligned right in left-label variant, to be as near as possible to the field, but nevertheless keep a little padding-distance.
For labels we overwrite the default vertical alignment with "top" here, because in case a whole fieldset (high) is on right side, we want the label to stay in a visible range.

---

Mind that there are no further rules for the top-label layout variant. As any input field has been stretched to 100%, its preceding label will automatically go to top. As a side-effect top-label will be the default, unless you put a CSS class="left-label" onto the DIV table root-element.

---

Optional Additions

Following introduces useful code to style initial validation, button bars and nested right-side containers (horizontal bars).

Visible Initial Validation

      form :not(output):not(fieldset):invalid /* fieldset would also be red */
      {
        box-shadow: 1px 1px 1px red;
      }

If you want to make the validation markers already visible on document-load, add this rule-set. By default HTML forms would be validated by the browser only on a submit-event, and only then you would see the browser-made validation markers and tips.

Buttons and Toolbar

      form input[type = 'submit'],
      form input[type = 'reset']
      {
        margin-top: 0.4em;  /* space to form above */
        font-size: 140%;  /* using Unicode character as icon */
        width: 33%;  /* take a third of available space */
      }
      
      form input[type = 'submit']
      {
        color: green;
      }
      form input[type = 'reset']
      {
        color: red;
      }
      
      /* Variant label-top: put "Ok" to very right, "Cancel" will be at very left. */
      form :not(.left-label) + .button-container input[type = 'submit']
      {
        float: right;
      }
      
      /* Variant label-left: align "Cancel" and "Ok" to middle. */
      form .left-label + .button-container
      {
        text-align: center;
      }

Try out of you like this appearance of buttons and their bar. It is different for top-label and left-label variants. Such things depend on ergonomics, current fashion, company-rules, and last not least customer wishes. The "Submit" button right now establishes slowly, but still buttons top or bottom is undecided.

Horizontal Layout

      .horizontal-bar  /* flex-direction row */
      {
        display: flex !important;  /* else overwritten by table-cell! */
        align-items: center;  /* do not stretch vertically */
      }
    
      .horizontal-bar-natural  /* natural size */
      {
        flex: initial;
      }
      .horizontal-bar-stretch  /* takes all available space */
      {
        flex: auto;
      }

This is a general purpose layout done through flexbox. Look at the "Date" - "Years Since" fields above for an example. It is a frequent case that you have several fields in a line, and one of them should take the most available space. Put a CSS class="horizontal-bar" onto the container DIV, and one of class="horizontal-bar-natural" (just once!) or class="horizontal-bar-stretch" onto the elements in row.

General Purpose CSS

      /* Enable a fluid responsive display of forms and fieldsets. */
      div.responsive
      {
        display: inline-block; /* take just the space needed */
        vertical-align: top; /* align to top if any peer DIV is present */
      }
      
      /* Keep label and radio-button always on same layout row. */
      .sameline
      {
        white-space: nowrap;
      }

      /** Round border for fieldset. */
      fieldset
      {
        border-radius: 0.5em;
      }

If you want DIV containers to arrange themselves responsively side-by-side, you can set a CSS class="responsive" into it.

The CSS class="sameline" is necessary to tie radio buttons to their label in a way that never the label is in a different layout row than the button. This could be quite misleading! Look at this example:

Long label Another long label

The same when <span class="sameline"> was wrapped around label and input:

Long label Another long label

Entire Source Code

Press the arrow-button to see HTML and CSS source code of this example.

Click to see example source.

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<!DOCTYPE HTML> <html> <head> <meta charset="UTF-8"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"/> <title>HTML Form Test</title> <!-- Core form layout --> <style> /** Style labels of fields. */ /* Smaller sans-serif font. */ form label { font-size: 76%; font-family: sans-serif; } /* Add colon after any label. */ form label::after { content: ":"; } /* But not on label after radio. */ form input[type = 'radio'] + label::after { content: ""; } </style> <style> /** Style labels of required fields. */ /* Set asterisk before required fields. */ form label[required]::before { content: "* "; } /* Make labels for required fields better visible. */ form label[required] { font-weight: bold; } </style> <style> /** DIV table layout. */ form .table { display: table; width: 100%; /* if parent is 100%, go with it */ } form .table > div { display: table-row; line-height: 2em; /* needed for vertical line-alignment */ } </style> <style> /** Layout fields inside tables. */ /* Stretch fields to full cell width, except checkboxes and radios. */ form .table > div > input:not([type = 'radio']):not([type = 'checkbox']), form .table > div > textarea, form .table > div > select { width: 100%; } /* Avoid text fields hanging out at right due to content-box sizing. */ form .table input, form .table textarea, form .table select { box-sizing: border-box; } /* Let the user resize big fields vertically. */ form .table select[multiple], form .table textarea { resize: vertical; } </style> <style> /** Layout for left-label variant */ form .left-label > div > label, form .left-label > div > input, form .left-label > div > select, form .left-label > div > textarea, form .left-label > div > div, form .left-label > div > fieldset { display: table-cell; /* display elements horizontally */ vertical-align: middle; /* avoid vertical alignment problems */ margin-top: 0.2em; margin-bottom: 0.2em; /* vertical line distance */ } form .table.left-label > div label { text-align: right; padding-right: 0.2em; /* distance to right field */ vertical-align: top; /* necessary for labels of nested fieldsets */ } </style> <style> /* Layout for label-above variant. */ /* * Because any input field has been stretched to 100%, the * preceding label will automatically go to top. Nothing to do! */ </style> <!-- Optional additions --> <style> /** Make validation visible initially. */ form :not(output):not(fieldset):invalid /* fieldset would also be red */ { box-shadow: 1px 1px 1px red; } </style> <style> /* Button and toolbar styles. */ form input[type = 'submit'], form input[type = 'reset'] { margin-top: 0.4em; /* space to form above */ font-size: 140%; /* using Unicode character as icon */ width: 33%; /* take a third of available space */ } form input[type = 'submit'] { color: green; } form input[type = 'reset'] { color: red; } /* Variant label-top: put "Ok" to very right, "Cancel" will be at very left. */ form :not(.left-label) + .button-container input[type = 'submit'] { float: right; } /* Variant label-left: align "Cancel" and "Ok" to middle. */ form .left-label + .button-container { text-align: center; } </style> <style> /** General purpose horizontal bar. */ .horizontal-bar /* flex-direction row */ { display: flex !important; /* else overwritten by table-cell! */ align-items: center; /* do not stretch vertically */ } .horizontal-bar-natural /* natural size */ { flex: initial; } .horizontal-bar-stretch /* takes all available space */ { flex: auto; } </style> <style> /** General purpose layout styles. */ /* Enable a fluid responsive display of forms and fieldsets. */ div.responsive { display: inline-block; /* take just the space needed */ vertical-align: top; /* align to top if any peer DIV is present */ } /* Keep label and radio-button always on same layout row. */ .sameline { white-space: nowrap; } /** Round border for fieldset. */ fieldset { border-radius: 0.5em; } </style> <!-- Script to copy required and ids --> <script> /** * Avoid duplication of "required" and "id" attributes in HTML forms. * Any LABEL before an INPUT must get the INPUT's "id" value into its "for" attribute. * Any LABEL before an INPUT must copy the INPUT's "required" if it exists. * Sometimes the "required" attribute is not in the next element but in its sub-DOM. */ function manageIdAndRequired() { var count = 1; /* sequence number for unique ids */ /** Searches for "required" in given element and all sub-elements. */ function containsRequired(element) { if (element.getAttribute("required") !== null) return true; var children = element.children; for (var i = 0; i < children.length; i++) if (containsRequired(children[i])) return true; return false; } /* end containsRequired() */ /** Copies the optional "required" attribute to LABEL, chains it with INPUT's id. */ function chainLabelToIdAndCopyRequired(label) { var nextSibling = label.nextElementSibling; var nextTagName = nextSibling ? nextSibling.tagName : undefined; /* previous is just for radio-buttons */ var previousSibling = label.previousElementSibling; var previousTagName = previousSibling ? previousSibling.tagName : undefined; var isRadioLabel = (previousTagName === "INPUT"); if (isRadioLabel || nextTagName === "INPUT" || nextTagName === "SELECT" || nextTagName === "TEXTAREA" || nextTagName === "DIV" || nextTagName === "FIELDSET") { if ( ! isRadioLabel && containsRequired(nextSibling)) label.setAttribute("required", ""); /* copy attribute to non-radios */ if (label.getAttribute("for") === null) { /* chain id */ var sibling = isRadioLabel ? previousSibling : nextSibling; var id = sibling.getAttribute("id"); if ( ! id && sibling.getAttribute("name")) { /* generate id from name */ var identity = "_"+count; count++; id = sibling.getAttribute("name")+identity; sibling.setAttribute("id", id); } if (id) label.setAttribute("for", id); } } } /* end chainLabelToIdAndCopyRequired() */ /* Iterate all forms on page */ var forms = document.getElementsByTagName("form"); for (var f = 0; f < forms.length; f++) { var elementsInForm = forms[f].getElementsByTagName("*"); for (var i = 0; i < elementsInForm.length; i++) { var element = elementsInForm[i]; if (element.tagName === "LABEL") chainLabelToIdAndCopyRequired(element); } } } /* Execute function on page-load */ window.addEventListener("load", manageIdAndRequired); </script> </head> <body> <form> <div class="responsive"> <fieldset> <legend>HTML Form Layout Example</legend> <div class="table"> <!-- <div class="table left-label"> --> <div> <label>Single Line</label> <input name="single-line-text" type="text" required value="Default value in text-field"> </div> <div> <label>Password</label> <input name="hidden-password" type="password" required> </div> <div> <label>Number</label> <input name="numeric" type="number" required> </div> <div> <label>More Text</label> <fieldset> <div class="table left-label"> <div> <label>E-Mail</label> <input name="e-mail" type="email" required value="a@b.c"> </div> <div> <label>Telephone</label> <input name="phone-number" type="tel" /> </div> <div> <label>URL</label> <input name="url-address" type="url" value="protocol://host"> </div> <div> <label>Auto-Suggest</label> <input list="browsers" name="auto-suggest"/> <datalist id="browsers"> <option value="Firefox"> <option value="Chrome"> <option value="Opera"> <option value="Safari"> <option value="Edge"> </datalist> </div> <div> <label>Search</label> <input name="search-pattern" type="search"> </div> <div> <label>Multiple Lines</label> <textarea name="multiline-text" required>Default value in text area</textarea> </div> </div> <!-- end table --> </fieldset> <!-- end cell --> </div> <!-- end row --> <div> <label>Date</label> <div class="horizontal-bar"> <script> function calculateYearsSince(date) { var millis = Date.now() - new Date(date).getTime(); var years = millis / 1000 / 60 / 60 / 24 / 365; var age = (years > 0) ? Math.floor(years) : Math.ceil(years); document.getElementById("yearsSince").value = age; } </script> <input class="horizontal-bar-stretch" name="day-only" type="date" required oninput="calculateYearsSince(this.value);"> &nbsp; <label class="horizontal-bar-natural" for="yearsSince">Years Since</label> <output name="yearsSince" id="yearsSince"></output> </div> </div> <div> <label>Date / Time</label> <fieldset> <div class="table left-label"> <div> <label>Time</label> <input name="time-only" type="time"> </div> <div> <label>Date / Time Local</label> <input name="date-and-time-local" type="datetime-local"> </div> <div> <label>Month</label> <input name="month-only" type="month"> </div> <div> <label>Week</label> <input name="week-only" type="week"> </div> </div> <!-- end table --> </fieldset> <!-- end cell --> </div> <!-- end row --> <div> <label>Other Inputs</label> <fieldset> <div class="table left-label"> <div> <label>Radiobuttons</label> <div> <!-- span.sameline: don't let the label and the button separate to different layout rows --> <span class="sameline"><input name="gender" type="radio" value="male" required><label>Male</label></span> <span class="sameline"><input name="gender" type="radio" value="female" required><label>Female</label></span> <span class="sameline"><input name="gender" type="radio" value="other" required><label>Other</label></span> </div> </div> <div> <label>More Radiobuttons</label> <div> <!-- div: display each radio-button on a new layout row --> <div><input name="RGB" type="radio" value="red" ><label>Red</label></div> <div><input name="RGB" type="radio" value="green"><label>Green</label></div> <div><input name="RGB" type="radio" value="blue" ><label>Blue</label></div> </div> </div> <div> <label>Single Select</label> <select name="single-select" required> <optgroup label="Compiled"> <option value="java">Java</option> <option value="c++">C++</option> </optgroup> <optgroup label="Interpreted"> <option value="es6">EcmaScript</option> <option value="python">Python</option> </optgroup> </select> </div> <div> <label>Multiple Select</label> <select name="multi-select" multiple required> <option value="one">Use</option> <option value="two">Shift</option> <option value="three">and</option> <option value="four">Control</option> <option value="five">Keys</option> <option value="six">with</option> <option value="seven">Mouse</option> </select> </div> <div> <label>Range</label> <input name="slider" type="range"> </div> <div> <label>Color</label> <input name="colour" type="color"> </div> <div> <label>File</label> <input name="file-upload" type="file"> </div> </div> <!-- end table --> </fieldset> <!-- end cell --> </div> <!-- end row --> <div> <label>License Read</label> <input name="boolean" type="checkbox" required> </div> </div> <!-- end table --> <div class="button-container"> <input title="Reset" type="reset" value="&#x2718;"> <input title="Submit" type="submit" value="&#x2714;"> </div> </fieldset> <!-- end top fieldset --> </div> <!-- end div.responsive --> </form> </body> </html>