Overlapping elements in CSS

How can I make two elements overlap in CSS, e.g.

<div>Content 1</div>
<div>Content 2</div>

I would like the two contents (they can be anything) to overlap, so Content 2 is displayed starting at the same top left corner as Content 1 and they appear overlapped. Content 1 should begin in the normal flow of the document and not at some fixed position on the screen.

Is this possible?

Thanks,

AJ

the easiest way is to use position:absolute on both elements. You can absolutely position relative to the page, or you can absolutely position relative to a container div by setting the container div to position:relative

<div id="container" style="position:relative;">
    <div id="div1" style="position:absolute; top:0; left:0;"></div>
    <div id="div2" style="position:absolute; top:0; left:0;"></div>
</div>

Use CSS grid and set all the grid items to be in the same cell.

/* for block elements */
.layered {
  display: grid;
}

.layered > * {
  grid-column-start: 1;
  grid-row-start: 1;
}

/* or for inline elements */
.inline-layered {
  display: inline-grid;
}

.inline-layered > * {
  grid-column-start: 1;
  grid-row-start: 1;
}

Adding the layered class to an element causes all it's children to be layered on top of each other.

if the layers are not the same size you can set the justify-items and align-items properties to set the horizontal and vertical alignment respectively.

---

Demo:

JsFiddle

.layered {
  display: grid;

  /* Set horizontal alignment of items in, case they have a different width. */
  /* justify-items: start | end | center | stretch (default); */
  justify-items: start;

  /* Set vertical alignment of items, in case they have a different height. */
  /* align-items: start | end | center | stretch (default); */
  align-items: start;
}

.layered > * {
  grid-column-start: 1;
  grid-row-start: 1;
}


/* for demonstration purposes only */
.layered > * {
  outline: 1px solid red;
  background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.4)
}

<div class="layered">
  <img src="https://via.placeholder.com/250x100?text=first" />
  <p>
    2
  </p>
  <div>
    <p>
      Third layer
    </p>
    <p>
      Third layer continued
    </p>
    <p>
      Third layer continued
    </p>
    <p>
      Third layer continued
    </p>
  </div>
</div>

You can use relative positioning to overlap your elements. However, the space they would normally occupy will still be reserved for the element:

<div style="background-color:#f00;width:200px;height:100px;">
    DEFAULT POSITIONED
</div>
<div style="background-color:#0f0;width:200px;height:100px;position:relative;top:-50px;left:50px;">
    RELATIVE POSITIONED
</div>
<div style="background-color:#00f;width:200px;height:100px;">
    DEFAULT POSITIONED
</div>

In the example above, there will be a block of white space between the two 'DEFAULT POSITIONED' elements. This is caused, because the 'RELATIVE POSITIONED' element still has it's space reserved.

If you use absolute positioning, your elements will not have any space reserved, so your element will actually overlap, without breaking your document:

<div style="background-color:#f00;width:200px;height:100px;">
    DEFAULT POSITIONED
</div>
<div style="background-color:#0f0;width:200px;height:100px;position:absolute;top:50px;left:50px;">
    ABSOLUTE POSITIONED
</div>
<div style="background-color:#00f;width:200px;height:100px;">
    DEFAULT POSITIONED
</div>

Finally, you can control which elements are on top of the others by using z-index:

<div style="z-index:10;background-color:#f00;width:200px;height:100px;">
    DEFAULT POSITIONED
</div>
<div style="z-index:5;background-color:#0f0;width:200px;height:100px;position:absolute;top:50px;left:50px;">
    ABSOLUTE POSITIONED
</div>
<div style="z-index:0;background-color:#00f;width:200px;height:100px;">
    DEFAULT POSITIONED
</div>

I think you could get away with using relative positioning and then set the top/left positioning of the second DIV until you have it in the position desired.

You can try using the transform: translate property by passing the appropriate values inside the parenthesis using the inspect element in Google chrome.

You have to set translate property in such way that both the <div> overlap each other then You can use JavaScript to show and hide both the <div> according to your requirements