Using Flexbox to Create the Layout

Oct 13, 2025 by wbrum.org 104 views

Introduction

As a hobbyist web app developer, you're likely familiar with the importance of creating responsive and user-friendly layouts. In this article, we'll focus on making a sidebar scrollable using React and CSS, specifically with Flexbox. We'll explore the challenges and solutions involved in achieving this layout, and provide you with a step-by-step guide to implement it in your own projects.

Understanding the Layout

Before we dive into the implementation, let's take a closer look at the layout we're working with. Our layout consists of three main sections:

Header row: This section contains the header elements, such as the logo, navigation menu, and other essential information.
Main part: This section is divided into two main components:
- Main div: This is the main content area where the bulk of the page's content will be displayed.
- Sidebar: This is the sidebar component that will be made scrollable.
Footer row: This section contains the footer elements, such as copyright information, social media links, and other secondary information.

The Challenge: Making the Sidebar Scrollable

When the screen is wide enough, the sidebar will be displayed alongside the main content area. However, as the screen size decreases, the sidebar will start to overlap with the main content area. To prevent this from happening, we need to make the sidebar scrollable when it exceeds a certain width.

Using Flexbox to Create the Layout

Flexbox is a powerful layout mode in CSS that allows us to create flexible and responsive layouts. We'll use Flexbox to create the main part of our layout, which consists of the main div and the sidebar.

.main-part {
  display: flex;
  flex-direction: row;
  justify-content: space-between;
  align-items: stretch;
}
.main-div 
flex 1;
padding: 20px;

.sidebar 
flex 0 0 200px;
padding: 20px;
background-color: #f0f0f0;
border: 1px solid #ddd;

In the above code, we've created a container element with the class main-part and set its display property to flex. We've also set the flex-direction property to row to create a horizontal layout. The justify-content property is set to space-between to distribute the child elements evenly, and the align-items property is set to stretch to stretch the child elements to fill the available space.

The main-div element has a flex property set to 1, which means it will take up the remaining space in the container. The sidebar element has a flex property set to 0 0 200px, which means it will take up a fixed width of 200px.

Making the Sidebar Scrollable

To make the sidebar scrollable, we need to add a overflow-y property to the sidebar element. We can do this by adding the following code:

.sidebar {
  overflow-y: auto;
}

This will create a vertical scrollbar for the sidebar when it exceeds a certain height.

Implementing the Scrollable Sidebar in React

Now that we've created the layout and made the sidebar scrollable, let's implement it in a React component.

import React from 'react';
const App = () => {
return (
<div className="container">
<header className="header-row">
<h1>Header</h1>
</header>
<div className="main-part">
<div className="main-div">
<h2>Main Content</h2>
<p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Sed sit amet nulla auctor, vestibulum magna sed, convallis ex.</p>
<p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Sed sit amet nulla auctor, vestibulum magna sed, convallis ex.</p>
<p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Sed sit amet nulla auctor, vestibulum magna sed, convallis ex.</p>
</div>
<div className="sidebar">
<h2>Sidebar</h2>
<p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Sed sit amet nulla auctor, vestibulum magna sed, convallis ex.</p>
<p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Sed sit amet nulla auctor, vestibulum magna sed, convallis ex.</p>
<p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Sed sit amet nulla auctor, vestibulum magna sed, convallis ex.</p>
<p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Sed sit amet nulla auctor, vestibulum magna sed, convallis ex.</p>
<p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Sed sit amet nulla auctor, vestibulum magna sed, convallis ex.</p>
</div>
</div>
<footer className="footer-row">
<p>&copy; 2023</p>
</footer>
</div>
);
};
export default App;

In the above code, we've created a React component called App that renders the layout we've created earlier. We've added the overflow-y property to the sidebar element to make it scrollable.

Conclusion

In this article, we've explored the challenges and solutions involved in making a sidebar scrollable using React and CSS, specifically with Flexbox. We've created a layout that consists of a header row, main part, and footer row, and made the sidebar scrollable by adding an overflow-y property. We've also implemented the layout in a React component and exported it as a default export.

Additional Tips and Variations

Here are some additional tips and variations you can use to customize the layout:

Use a different layout mode: Instead of using Flexbox, you can use Grid or CSS Grid to create the layout.
Add a sticky sidebar: You can add a sticky sidebar by adding a position: sticky property to the sidebar element.
Use a different scrollbar style: You can use a different scrollbar style by adding a scrollbar-width property to the sidebar element.
Add a loading indicator: You can add a loading indicator by adding a loading class to the sidebar element and styling it accordingly.

Introduction

In our previous article, we explored the challenges and solutions involved in making a sidebar scrollable using React and CSS, specifically with Flexbox. We created a layout that consists of a header row, main part, and footer row, and made the sidebar scrollable by adding an overflow-y property. In this article, we'll answer some frequently asked questions about creating responsive and user-friendly layouts with React and CSS.

Q&A

Q: What is the difference between Flexbox and Grid?

A: Flexbox and Grid are two different layout modes in CSS. Flexbox is used to create flexible and responsive layouts, while Grid is used to create two-dimensional grids. Flexbox is ideal for creating horizontal or vertical layouts, while Grid is ideal for creating complex layouts with multiple rows and columns.

Q: How do I make a sidebar sticky?

A: To make a sidebar sticky, you can add a position: sticky property to the sidebar element. You can also add a top or bottom property to specify the position of the sidebar.

.sidebar {
  position: sticky;
  top: 0;
  left: 0;
  width: 200px;
  height: 100vh;
  background-color: #f0f0f0;
  padding: 20px;
}

Q: How do I add a loading indicator to the sidebar?

A: To add a loading indicator to the sidebar, you can add a loading class to the sidebar element and style it accordingly. You can use a CSS animation or a JavaScript library like Lodash to create a loading indicator.

.loading {
  animation: loading 2s infinite;
}
@keyframes loading 
0% {
opacity 0;

50% 
opacity 1;

100% 
opacity 0;

}

Q: How do I make the sidebar responsive?

A: To make the sidebar responsive, you can use a media query to change the width or height of the sidebar based on the screen size. You can also use a CSS grid or flexbox to create a responsive layout.

@media (max-width: 768px) {
  .sidebar {
    width: 100%;
  }
}

Q: How do I add a scrollbar to the sidebar?

A: To add a scrollbar to the sidebar, you can add an overflow-y property to the sidebar element. You can also use a CSS scrollbar style to customize the appearance of the scrollbar.

.sidebar {
  overflow-y: auto;
  scrollbar-width: thin;
  scrollbar-color: #333 #f0f0f0;
}

Q: How do I make the sidebar scrollable on mobile devices?

A: To make the sidebar scrollable on mobile devices, you can add a touch-action property to the sidebar element. You can also use a CSS media query to change the width or height of the sidebar based on the screen size.

.sidebar {
  touch-action: pan-y;
}
@media (max-width: 768px) 
.sidebar {
width 100%;

}

Conclusion

In this article, we've answered some frequently asked questions about creating responsive and user-friendly layouts with React and CSS. We've covered topics such as making a sidebar sticky, adding a loading indicator, making the sidebar responsive, adding a scrollbar, and making the sidebar scrollable on mobile devices. By following these tips and techniques, you can create a unique and responsive user interface that meets the needs of your users.