How to stop text from taking up more than 1 line?

css

responsive-design

performance

best-practices

byNikita Barsukov·Dec 28, 2024

Let's rock the CSS white-space: nowrap; party to make our text adhere to the rule of one line:

.hang-tight {
  white-space: nowrap; /* One line to rule them all! */
}

Include the CSS class in your HTML element:

<div class="hang-tight">Text stays on one line no matter what. Ain't no mountain high enough to break it!</div>

This ensures that your text overflows the div without wrapping into new and uninvited lines.

Pro Tips and Alternatives

Overflow Wrangling and Display Flexibility

Overflowing text is like a party crasher. Fear not! With overflow: hidden; or text-overflow: ellipsis;, we can show them the door or give them a quiet corner to chill:

.hang-tight {
  white-space: nowrap;
  overflow: hidden; /*Hide the overflow party crashers*/
  text-overflow: ellipsis; /*Overflow? Time for "..."*/
}

For block elements, this party rule directly applies. However, put your guard up for table cells, they're notoriously display: table-cell; at heart. Encase them in a <div> wrapper with display: block; style to tame them.

Across-the-Board Compliance

Ensure your CSS crowd control works for everyone at the party, including divas like <h3>:

<h3 class="hang-tight">Diva title, stay in line!</h3>

Party Compatibility Across Browsers

Remember to send your party invites (cross-browser compatibility checks) far and wide. We want no grumpy guests because they were left out!

Step-by-Step to Responsive Design

Watch your step! Responsive design is like navigating a crowded dancefloor. You might need to set a max-height when your line-height moves to the groove:

.grid-height {
  line-height: 20px;
  max-height: 20px; /*A strict doorman for line height */
  overflow: hidden;
}

No-Wrap Alternatives

  (non-breaking space) can be like your bouncer against wrapping. But check their references first, they're known for turning away readable text and causing maintenance headaches. The right solution is always context-dependent.

Riding Long Content Waves

You might encounter different types of content, such as waves of long URLs or words. Stop them from rocking the boat with word-wrap: break-word; or overflow-wrap: break-word;.

CSS Time Travel: The Future and The Past

Sure, your CSS looks great in modern browsers. But what about those old buddies? Building with graceful degradation in mind ensures they’re not left behind. And of course, progressively enhance for the newbies.