How to Prevent Inline Element Shifting on Bold Hover?

Inline Elements Shifting on Bold Hover: A Comprehensive Solution

In the world of web design, creating a sleek and responsive navigation menu is a fundamental task. However, when adding a bold hover effect to inline links, we often encounter a perplexing problem—the menu items shift noticeably due to the size difference between regular and bold text. This issue has puzzled many developers, leaving them searching for effective solutions.

Fortunately, a clever technique can resolve this challenge. By pre-setting the width of the links, we can ensure that the transition to bold text on hover occurs seamlessly without any disruption to the menu's layout. This is achieved by using an invisible pseudo-element that shares the same content and hover styling as its parent link.

To illustrate the solution, let's consider the following code:

li {
    display: inline-block;
    font-size: 0;
}

li a {
    display:inline-block;
    text-align:center;
    font: normal 16px Arial;
    text-transform: uppercase;
}

a:hover {
    font-weight:bold;
}

/* SOLUTION */
/* The pseudo element has the same content and hover style, so it pre-sets the width of the element and visibility: hidden hides the pseudo element from actual view. */
a::before {
    display: block;
    content: attr(title);
    font-weight: bold;
    height: 0;
    overflow: hidden;
    visibility: hidden;
}

Notice the addition of the a::before pseudo-element. This element displays the same content as its parent link, but it's hidden from view using visibility: hidden. Crucially, it inherits the bold font weight of the hover state, effectively pre-setting the width of the link to its bold counterpart.

To complete the solution, we assign a unique title attribute to each link, which serves as the source for the pseudo-element's content. This ensures that the pseudo-element matches the text of its parent link, preserving the menu's original appearance.

With this technique, the bold hover effect on inline links can be achieved without any jarring shifts in menu items' position. It's a simple yet effective solution that solves a common problem faced by web developers.

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