How do I remove whitespace from dropdown menus?

Question

I am the senior webpage editor at my High School, and per request of the admin, we are working on a new website. I need to remove the white border around the dropdown menus I'm putting on the site.

h1 {
  border-top: none;
  border-left: none;
  border-bottom: 5px groove red;
  border-right: none;
  color: #e60000;
  font-family: century gothic;
  text-align: center;
  color: #FF000;
}

h2 {
  font-family: century gothic;
}

h3 {
  font-family: century gothic;
}

h5 {
  font-family: californian fb;
  font-szie: 1.15em;
}

p {
  border-top: none;
  border-left: none;
  border-bottom: none;
  border-right: none;
  font-family: californian fb;
  font-size: 1.15em;
}

table#sitelinks td {
  font-size: 1.15em;
}

table#sitelinks tr:nth-child(odd) {
  background-color: #fff
}

table tr:nth-child(even) {
  background-color: #fff
}

table tr:nth-child(odd) {
  background-color: #eee
}

hr {
  border-top: none;
  border-left: none;
  border-bottom: 5px groove red;
  border-right: none;
  font-family: californian fb;
  font-size: 1.15em;
}

th {
  text-align: left;
  font-family: century gothic;
  padding: 10px 0px 0px 0px;
  font-size: 1.15em;
}

td {
  font-family: century gothic;
  border: 1px solid black;
  padding: 5px 5px 5px 5px;
  text-align: center;
  font-size: 1em;
}

.center {
  text-align: center;
}

.blue {
  color: blue;
}

.bottomborder {
  text-align: center;
  border-bottom: 5px groove red;
}

a:link {
  color: #e60000;
  text-decoration: none
}

a:visited {
  color: #e60000;
  text-decoration: none
}

a:hover {
  color: #e60000;
  text-decoration: none
}

a:active {
  color: #e60000;
  text-decoration: none
}

a {
  display: block;
  text-decoration: none;
  width: 100%;
  height: 100%;
  color: #999;
}

a:hover {
  color: #FF0000;
}


/* NAVIGATION */

.navigation {
  list-style: none;
  padding: 0;
  width: 250px;
  height: 40px;
  margin: 10px auto;
  background: #FF0000;
}

.navigation,
.navigation a.main {
  border-radius: 4px;
  -webkit-border-radius: 4px;
  -moz-border-radius: 4px;
}

.navigation:hover,
.navigation:hover a.main {
  border-radius: 4px 4px 0 0;
  -webkit-border-radius: 4px 4px 0 0;
  -moz-border-radius: 4px 4px 0 0;
}

.navigation a.main {
  display: block;
  height: 40px;
  font: bold 15px/40px arial, sans-serif;
  text-align: center;
  text-decoration: none;
  color: #FFF;
  -webkit-transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;
  -o-transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;
  transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;
}

.navigation:hover a.main {
  color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6);
  background: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.04);
}

.navigation li {
  width: 250px;
  height: 40px;
  background: #F7F7F7;
  font: normal 12px/40px arial, sans-serif !important;
  color: #999;
  text-align: center;
  margin: 0;
  -webkit-transform-origin: 50% 0%;
  -o-transform-origin: 50% 0%;
  transform-origin: 50% 0%;
  -webkit-transform: perspective(350px) rotateX(-90deg);
  -o-transform: perspective(350px) rotateX(-90deg);
  transform: perspective(350px) rotateX(-90deg);
  box-shadow: 0px 2px 10px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.05);
  -webkit-box-shadow: 0px 2px 10px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.05);
  -moz-box-shadow: 0px 2px 10px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.05);
}

.navigation li:nth-child(even) {
  background: #F5F5F5;
}

.navigation li:nth-child(odd) {
  background: #EFEFEF;
}

.navigation li.n1 {
  -webkit-transition: 0.2s linear 0.4s;
  -o-transition: 0.2s linear 0.4s;
  transition: 0.2s linear 0.4s;
}

.navigation li.n2 {
  -webkit-transition: 0.2s linear 0.3s;
  -o-transition: 0.2s linear 0.3s;
  transition: 0.2s linear 0.3s;
}

.navigation li.n3 {
  -webkit-transition: 0.2s linear 0.2s;
  -o-transition: 0.2s linear 0.2s;
  transition: 0.2s linear 0.2s;
}

.navigation li.n4 {
  -webkit-transition: 0.2s linear 0.1s;
  -o-transition: 0.2s linear 0.1s;
  transition: 0.2s linear 0.1s;
}

.navigation li.n5 {
  border-radius: 0px 0px 4px 4px;
  -webkit-transition: 0.2s linear 0s;
  -o-transition: 0.2s linear 0s;
  transition: 0.2s linear 0s;
}

.navigation:hover li {
  -webkit-transform: perspective(350px) rotateX(0deg);
  -o-transform: perspective(350px) rotateX(0deg);
  transform: perspective(350px) rotateX(0deg);
  -webkit-transition: 0.2s linear 0s;
  -o-transition: 0.2s linear 0s;
  transition: 0.2s linear 0s;
}

.navigation:hover .n2 {
  -webkit-transition-delay: 0.1s;
  -o-transition-delay: 0.1s;
  transition-delay: 0.1s;
}

.navigation:hover .n3 {
  -webkit-transition-delay: 0.2s;
  -o-transition-delay: 0.2s;
  transition-delay: 0.2s;
}

.navigation:hover .n4 {
  transition-delay: 0.3s;
  -o-transition-delay: 0.3s;
  transition-delay: 0.3s;
}

.navigation:hover .n5 {
  -webkit-transition-delay: 0.4s;
  -o-transition-delay: 0.4s;
  transition-delay: 0.4s;
}

<html>

<head>
  <link rel="shortcut icon" href="images\pantherpaw.png" type="image/x-icon">
  <meta charset="UTF-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="http://www.w3schools.com/lib/w3.css">
  <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="stiglerstylesheet.css" />
</head>

<body style="background-color:black;color:white;padding:5px;" font="century gothic">

  <div align="center">
    <img src="images\websitelogoother2.png" alt="Stigler Public Schools" style="width:50%;" align="middle">
    <table>
      <tr>
        <td>
          <ul class="navigation">
            <a class="main" href="#url">Navigation #1</a>
            <li class="n1"><a href="#">item #1</a></li>
            <li class="n2"><a href="#">item #2</a></li>
            <li class="n3"><a href="#">item #3</a></li>
            <li class="n4"><a href="#">item #4</a></li>
            <li class="n5"><a href="#">item #5</a></li>
          </ul>
        </td>
        <td>
          <ul class="navigation">
            <a class="main" href="#url">Navigation #2</a>
            <li class="n1"><a href="#">item #1</a></li>
            <li class="n2"><a href="#">item #2</a></li>
            <li class="n3"><a href="#">item #3</a></li>
            <li class="n4"><a href="#">item #4</a></li>
            <li class="n5"><a href="#">item #5</a></li>
          </ul>

        </td>
        <td>
          <ul class="navigation">
            <a class="main" href="#url">Navigation #3</a>
            <li class="n1"><a href="#">item #1</a></li>
            <li class="n2"><a href="#">item #2</a></li>
            <li class="n3"><a href="#">item #3</a></li>
            <li class="n4"><a href="#">item #4</a></li>
            <li class="n5"><a href="#">item #5</a></li>
          </ul>

        </td>
      </tr>
    </table>
</body>

</html>

And Here is the result I'm getting

I need to remove the white space around the dropdown menus, thank you.

If you are working on a new website, I would definitely go for a more flexible layout using `
`s, `
`s or other more suitable elements for the menu, not `` :o) — agrm, Oct 24 '17 at 18:06
`` should *never* be used for layout these days - see [this answer on Stack Overflow](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/83073/why-not-use-tables-for-layout-in-html#84986) for the many reasons why not. — FluffyKitten, Oct 24 '17 at 19:08
Your HTML is invalid by using an anchor as the first child in the `
`. There are too many issues here. — Rob, Oct 24 '17 at 20:08

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Oct 24 '17 at 17:36

A smart trick will be to remove this css part

 table tr:nth-child(odd) {
   background-color: #eee; 
}

h1 {
  border-top: none;
  border-left: none;
  border-bottom: 5px groove red;
  border-right: none;
  color: #e60000;
  font-family: century gothic;
  text-align: center;
  color: #FF000;
}

h2 {
  font-family: century gothic;
}

h3 {
  font-family: century gothic;
}

h5 {
  font-family: californian fb;
  font-szie: 1.15em;
}

p {
  border-top: none;
  border-left: none;
  border-bottom: none;
  border-right: none;
  font-family: californian fb;
  font-size: 1.15em;
}

table#sitelinks td {
  font-size: 1.15em;
}

table#sitelinks tr:nth-child(odd) {
  background-color: #fff
}

table tr:nth-child(even) {
  background-color: #fff
}

/*table tr:nth-child(odd) {
  background-color: #eee
}*/

hr {
  border-top: none;
  border-left: none;
  border-bottom: 5px groove red;
  border-right: none;
  font-family: californian fb;
  font-size: 1.15em;
}

th {
  text-align: left;
  font-family: century gothic;
  padding: 10px 0px 0px 0px;
  font-size: 1.15em;
}

td {
  font-family: century gothic;
  border: 1px solid black;
  padding: 5px 5px 5px 5px;
  text-align: center;
  font-size: 1em;
}

.center {
  text-align: center;
}

.blue {
  color: blue;
}

.bottomborder {
  text-align: center;
  border-bottom: 5px groove red;
}

a:link {
  color: #e60000;
  text-decoration: none
}

a:visited {
  color: #e60000;
  text-decoration: none
}

a:hover {
  color: #e60000;
  text-decoration: none
}

a:active {
  color: #e60000;
  text-decoration: none
}

a {
  display: block;
  text-decoration: none;
  width: 100%;
  height: 100%;
  color: #999;
}

a:hover {
  color: #FF0000;
}


/* NAVIGATION */

.navigation {
  list-style: none;
  padding: 0;
  width: 250px;
  height: 40px;
  margin: 10px auto;
  background: #FF0000;
}

.navigation,
.navigation a.main {
  border-radius: 4px;
  -webkit-border-radius: 4px;
  -moz-border-radius: 4px;
}

.navigation:hover,
.navigation:hover a.main {
  border-radius: 4px 4px 0 0;
  -webkit-border-radius: 4px 4px 0 0;
  -moz-border-radius: 4px 4px 0 0;
}

.navigation a.main {
  display: block;
  height: 40px;
  font: bold 15px/40px arial, sans-serif;
  text-align: center;
  text-decoration: none;
  color: #FFF;
  -webkit-transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;
  -o-transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;
  transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;
}

.navigation:hover a.main {
  color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6);
  background: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.04);
}

.navigation li {
  width: 250px;
  height: 40px;
  background: #F7F7F7;
  font: normal 12px/40px arial, sans-serif !important;
  color: #999;
  text-align: center;
  margin: 0;
  -webkit-transform-origin: 50% 0%;
  -o-transform-origin: 50% 0%;
  transform-origin: 50% 0%;
  -webkit-transform: perspective(350px) rotateX(-90deg);
  -o-transform: perspective(350px) rotateX(-90deg);
  transform: perspective(350px) rotateX(-90deg);
  box-shadow: 0px 2px 10px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.05);
  -webkit-box-shadow: 0px 2px 10px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.05);
  -moz-box-shadow: 0px 2px 10px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.05);
}

.navigation li:nth-child(even) {
  background: #F5F5F5;
}

.navigation li:nth-child(odd) {
  background: #EFEFEF;
}

.navigation li.n1 {
  -webkit-transition: 0.2s linear 0.4s;
  -o-transition: 0.2s linear 0.4s;
  transition: 0.2s linear 0.4s;
}

.navigation li.n2 {
  -webkit-transition: 0.2s linear 0.3s;
  -o-transition: 0.2s linear 0.3s;
  transition: 0.2s linear 0.3s;
}

.navigation li.n3 {
  -webkit-transition: 0.2s linear 0.2s;
  -o-transition: 0.2s linear 0.2s;
  transition: 0.2s linear 0.2s;
}

.navigation li.n4 {
  -webkit-transition: 0.2s linear 0.1s;
  -o-transition: 0.2s linear 0.1s;
  transition: 0.2s linear 0.1s;
}

.navigation li.n5 {
  border-radius: 0px 0px 4px 4px;
  -webkit-transition: 0.2s linear 0s;
  -o-transition: 0.2s linear 0s;
  transition: 0.2s linear 0s;
}

.navigation:hover li {
  -webkit-transform: perspective(350px) rotateX(0deg);
  -o-transform: perspective(350px) rotateX(0deg);
  transform: perspective(350px) rotateX(0deg);
  -webkit-transition: 0.2s linear 0s;
  -o-transition: 0.2s linear 0s;
  transition: 0.2s linear 0s;
}

.navigation:hover .n2 {
  -webkit-transition-delay: 0.1s;
  -o-transition-delay: 0.1s;
  transition-delay: 0.1s;
}

.navigation:hover .n3 {
  -webkit-transition-delay: 0.2s;
  -o-transition-delay: 0.2s;
  transition-delay: 0.2s;
}

.navigation:hover .n4 {
  transition-delay: 0.3s;
  -o-transition-delay: 0.3s;
  transition-delay: 0.3s;
}

.navigation:hover .n5 {
  -webkit-transition-delay: 0.4s;
  -o-transition-delay: 0.4s;
  transition-delay: 0.4s;
}

<html>

<head>
  <link rel="shortcut icon" href="images\pantherpaw.png" type="image/x-icon">
  <meta charset="UTF-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="http://www.w3schools.com/lib/w3.css">
  <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="stiglerstylesheet.css" />
</head>

<body style="background-color:black;color:white;padding:5px;" font="century gothic">

  <div align="center">
    <img src="images\websitelogoother2.png" alt="Stigler Public Schools" style="width:50%;" align="middle">
    <table>
      <tr>
        <td>
          <ul class="navigation">
            <a class="main" href="#url">Navigation #1</a>
            <li class="n1"><a href="#">item #1</a></li>
            <li class="n2"><a href="#">item #2</a></li>
            <li class="n3"><a href="#">item #3</a></li>
            <li class="n4"><a href="#">item #4</a></li>
            <li class="n5"><a href="#">item #5</a></li>
          </ul>
        </td>
        <td>
          <ul class="navigation">
            <a class="main" href="#url">Navigation #2</a>
            <li class="n1"><a href="#">item #1</a></li>
            <li class="n2"><a href="#">item #2</a></li>
            <li class="n3"><a href="#">item #3</a></li>
            <li class="n4"><a href="#">item #4</a></li>
            <li class="n5"><a href="#">item #5</a></li>
          </ul>

        </td>
        <td>
          <ul class="navigation">
            <a class="main" href="#url">Navigation #3</a>
            <li class="n1"><a href="#">item #1</a></li>
            <li class="n2"><a href="#">item #2</a></li>
            <li class="n3"><a href="#">item #3</a></li>
            <li class="n4"><a href="#">item #4</a></li>
            <li class="n5"><a href="#">item #5</a></li>
          </ul>

        </td>
      </tr>
    </table>
</body>

</html>

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 24 '17 at 18:01

I changed your margin in the navigation class to remove the 10px and removed background-color. I applied your desired background color to the td because some of the whitespace is cellpadding generated by the table cells. I also removed the padding because it made your dropdown menu look smaller.

.navigation
{
    list-style: none;
    padding: 0;
    width: 250px;
    height: 40px;
    /*margin: 10px auto;*/
    /*background: #FF0000;*/
    margin: 0px auto;
}

td
{
    font-family: century gothic;
    border: 1px solid black;
    /*padding: 5px 5px 5px 5px;*/
    text-align: center;
    font-size: 1em;
    background-color: #FF0000;
}

Note - Portions of your html was red highlighted in my editor, some misspelled styles and naughty html and css in there. I recommend using an editor which will warn you of naughty code.

How do I remove whitespace from dropdown menus?

2 Answers2