[css] Add space between HTML elements only using CSS

I have several same HTML elements going one after another:

<span>1</span>
<span>2</span>
<span>3</span>

I'm looking for the best way of adding space BETWEEN the elements using CSS only

[no space]  [1]  [space 10px]  [2]  [space 10px]  [3]  [no space]

Additionally:

  • Please write down browser compatibility of your receipts

UPDATE

It looks like I was unclear. I don't want to use ANY ADDITIONAL HTML MARKUP like

<span></span>  <span></span>  <span class="last_span"></span>

I don't want to use tables

I want the first and last span to be targeted automatically by CSS

I don't want to use javascript

Optional requirement: last span can be NOT LAST CHILD of the parent tag, but it will be the LAST SPAN of the parent tag. Spans do not have any other tags between them.

This question is related to css layout receipt

The answer is


Or, instead of setting margin and than overriding it, you can just set it properly right away with the following combo:

span:not(:first-of-type) {
    margin-left:  5px;
}

span:not(:last-of-type) {
    margin-right: 5px;
}

You should wrap your elements inside a container, then use new CSS3 features like css grid, free course, and then use grid-gap:value that was created for your specific problem

_x000D_
_x000D_
span{_x000D_
  border:1px solid red;_x000D_
}_x000D_
.inRow{_x000D_
  display:grid;_x000D_
  grid-template-columns:repeat(auto-fill,auto);_x000D_
  grid-gap:10px /*This add space between elements, only works on grid items*/_x000D_
}_x000D_
.inColumn{_x000D_
  display:grid;_x000D_
  grid-template-rows:repeat(auto-fill,auto);_x000D_
  grid-gap:15px;_x000D_
}
_x000D_
<div class="inrow">_x000D_
  <span>1</span>_x000D_
  <span>2</span>_x000D_
  <span>3</span>_x000D_
</div>_x000D_
<div class="inColumn">_x000D_
  <span>4</span>_x000D_
  <span>5</span>_x000D_
  <span>6</span>_x000D_
</div>
_x000D_
_x000D_
_x000D_


span:not(:last-child) {
    margin-right: 10px;
}

Just use margin or padding.

In your specific case, you could use margin:0 10px only on the 2nd <span>.

UPDATE

Here's a nice CSS3 solution (jsFiddle):

span {
    margin: 0 10px;
}

span:first-of-type {
    margin-left: 0;
}

span:last-of-type {
    margin-right: 0;
}

Advanced element selection using selectors like :nth-child(), :last-child, :first-of-type, etc. is supported since Internet Explorer 9.


add these rules to the parent container:

display: grid
grid-auto-flow: column
grid-column-gap: 10px

Good reference: https://cssreference.io/

Browser compatibility: https://gridbyexample.com/browsers/


span.middle {
    margin: 0 10px 0 10px; /*top right bottom left */
}

<span>text</span> <span class="middle">text</span> <span>text</span>

If you want to align various items and you like to have same margin around all sides, you can use the following. Each element withing container, regardless of type, will receive the same surrounding margin.

enter image description here

.container {
  display: flex;
}
.container > * {
  margin: 5px;
}

If you wish to align items in a row, but have the first element touch the leftmost edge of container, and have all other elements be equally spaced, you can use this:

enter image description here

.container {
  display: flex;
}
.container > :first-child {
  margin-right: 5px;
}
.container > *:not(:first-child) {
  margin: 5px;
}

<span> is an inline element so you cant make spacing on them without making it block level. Try this

Horizontal

span{
    margin-right: 10px;
    float: left;
}

Vertical

span{
    margin-bottom: 10px;
}

Compatible with all browsers.


You can style elements with excluding first one, just in one line of code:

span ~ span {
    padding-left: 10px;
}

No need to change any classes.


You can write like this:

span{
 margin-left:10px;
}
span:first-child{
 margin-left:0;
}

You can take advantage of the fact that span is an inline element

span{
     word-spacing:10px;
}

However, this solution will break if you have more than one word of text in your span