Final Update
Here is a full working solution (pretty straight forward in my opinion) with JS to set the positioning (a simple calculation) and CSS transitions for the rest..
Demo at http://jsfiddle.net/gaby/pYdKB/3/
It maintains the fluidity of float:left
and works with any number of elements, and you can keep the :nth-child
for the styling, and it will also work if you want to leave more than one element visible..
javascript
var wrapper = $('.wrapper'),
boxes = wrapper.children(),
boxWidth = boxes.first().outerWidth(true),
boxHeight = boxes.first().outerHeight(true);
function rePosition(){
var w = wrapper.width(),
breakat = Math.floor( w / boxWidth ); // calculate fluid layout, just like float:left
boxes
.filter(':not(.go)')
.each(function(i){
var matrixX = ((i)%breakat)+1,
matrixY = Math.ceil((i+1)/breakat);
$(this).css({
left:(matrixX-1) * boxWidth ,
top: (matrixY-1) * boxHeight
});
});
}
$('.box').click(function(){
$(this)
.siblings()
.toggleClass('go');// just add the go class, and let CSS handle the rest
rePosition(); // recalculate final positions and let CSS animate the boxes
});
$(window).resize(rePosition);
$(window).trigger('resize');
CSS
.wrapper{
position:relative;
}
.box{
width:200px;
height:100px;
position:absolute;
margin:5px;
cursor:pointer;
overflow:hidden;
text-align: center;
line-height: 100px;
-moz-transition-property: top,left,width,height;
-webkit-transition-property: top,left,width,height;
-ms-transition-property: top,left,width,height;
-o-transition-property: top,left,width,height;
transition-property: top,left,width,height;
-moz-transition-duration: 1s;
-webkit-transition-duration: 1s;
-ms-transition-duration: 1s;
-o-transition-duration: 1s;
transition-duration: 1s;
}
.go{
height:0;
width:0;
}
note: As @Athari correctly mentioned in the comments, you should include all browser prefixes for the widest support. (my initial answer only included moz / webkit and the standard)
Original Answer
You can not do it directly with your current HTML structure. The floated concept does not support it.
But if you can afford an extra wrapper, then it is no problem..
Just slide the contents of your extra wrapper element..
Put the float
code on the wrapper element and use
$(document).ready(function() {
$(".block-wrapper").click(function() {
$(this).siblings().find('.block').slideToggle("slow");
});
});
Demo at http://jsfiddle.net/gaby/t8GNP/
Update #1
If you need to move the clicked element to the top left and back, then you cannot really do it with CSS.
You will need to manually position them (through JS), set CSS transitions (or jquery), and apply the new positions once you click.
Later on you might want more than one to remain visible and reposition as well..
So you might want to take a look at the great Isotope plugin which can handle this and a multitude of more situations/layouts