Layout Without Compass Points

The world is becoming global. If your site needs to be translated to Arabic (right-to-left — RTL), regular left and right will become your headache.

Logical Equivalents:

Instead of physical directions (Top, Bottom, Left, Right), we use logical axes:

  • Block: Page direction (vertical).
  • Inline: Line direction (horizontal).

| Physical | Logical | | :--- | :--- | | top: 0 | inset-block-start: 0 | | bottom: 0 | inset-block-end: 0 | | left: 0 | inset-inline-start: 0 | | right: 0 | inset-inline-end: 0 |

Why Is This Cool?

If you change text direction (direction: rtl), an element pressed to inset-inline-start will automatically jump left or right according to language logic.

Tip

Start using logical properties now. This is a sign of high skill level and care for accessibility (i18n).