Content move down when I apply float property

Question

I have to float the class time to right but when I try to float it right, its content moves down. Without float contents look fine but I have to float it.

h

Answer 1

Is it this what you are looking for?

Code:

.main-nav{
	color:#FFF;
	width:100%;
	background-color:#5e2d91;
	float:right;
	line-height:42px;
	    margin-top: -3px;
	}
.main-nav ul li{
	display: inline;
    padding: 0px 10px;
    
	
}
.main-nav ul li a{
	color:#FFF;
	text-decoration:none;
	padding: 20px 14px;
	
}
.main-nav ul{
	margin-bottom:7px !important;}
.main-nav ul li a:hover {
	background-color:#0098aa;
}
.main-nav ul li a:active{
	
	background-color:#6A006A;
}
.time {
 float: right;
    background: #5e2d91;
    color: #FFFFFF;
    border-color: #718b88;
    font-family: sans-serif;
    font-weight: bold;
    border-style: solid;
    margin-left: 10%;
    width: 228px;
    height: 33px;
    margin-top: 0;
    float: right;
        line-height: 2.2;
}

<nav class="main-nav">
<ul>
<li><a href="http://marketinthepocket.com/"> Home </a></li>
<li><a href="transaction.php"> Trade Now</a></li>

<li><a href="view.php"> Transactions  </a></li>
<li><a href=""> Performance </a></li>



<li><a href="complete.php">History </a></li>
<li class="time">US Markets Open in&nbsp;<span id="hm_timer" class="style colorDefinition size_sm">08:20:04</span> </li>
</ul>
</nav>

Answer 2

Add overflow: hidden to the ul element:

.main-nav ul {
  margin-bottom: 7px !important;
  overflow: hidden;
}

.main-nav {
  color: #FFF;
  width: 100%;
  background-color: #5e2d91;
  float: right;
  line-height: 42px;
  margin-top: -3px;
}
.main-nav ul li {
  display: inline;
  padding: 0px 10px;
}
.main-nav ul li a {
  color: #FFF;
  text-decoration: none;
  padding: 20px 14px;
}
.main-nav ul {
  margin-bottom: 7px !important;
  overflow: hidden;
}
.main-nav ul li a:hover {
  background-color: #0098aa;
}
.main-nav ul li a:active {
  background-color: #6A006A;
}
.time {
  background: #5e2d91;
  color: #FFFFFF;
  border-color: #718b88;
  font-family: sans-serif;
  font-weight: bold;
  border-style: solid;
  margin-left: 10%;
  width: 228px;
  height: 33px;
  margin-top: 9px;
  float: right;
}

<nav class="main-nav">
  <ul>
    <li><a href="http://marketinthepocket.com/"> Home </a>
    </li>
    <li><a href="transaction.php"> Trade Now</a>
    </li>

    <li><a href="view.php"> Transactions  </a>
    </li>
    <li><a href=""> Performance </a>
    </li>



    <li><a href="complete.php">History </a>
    </li>
    <li class="time">US Markets Open in&nbsp;<span id="hm_timer" class="style colorDefinition size_sm">08:20:04</span> 
    </li>
  </ul>
</nav>

When using floating container, always remember to clear the floats- see this answer for more information.

Note that while using floating containers, you should always clear them before the next container that follows thereby creating a fresh block formatting context as it is called. Otherwise you will see unpredictable behavior.

Instead of overflow: hidden you can also clear the float by using:

.main-nav ul:after {
    content: '';
    display: block;
    clear: both;
}

.main-nav {
  color: #FFF;
  width: 100%;
  background-color: #5e2d91;
  float: right;
  line-height: 42px;
  margin-top: -3px;
}
.main-nav ul li {
  display: inline;
  padding: 0px 10px;
}
.main-nav ul li a {
  color: #FFF;
  text-decoration: none;
  padding: 20px 14px;
}
.main-nav ul {
  margin-bottom: 7px !important;
}
.main-nav ul:after {
  content: '';
  display: block;
  clear: both;
}
.main-nav ul li a:hover {
  background-color: #0098aa;
}
.main-nav ul li a:active {
  background-color: #6A006A;
}
.time {
  background: #5e2d91;
  color: #FFFFFF;
  border-color: #718b88;
  font-family: sans-serif;
  font-weight: bold;
  border-style: solid;
  margin-left: 10%;
  width: 228px;
  height: 33px;
  margin-top: 9px;
  float: right;
}

<nav class="main-nav">
  <ul>
    <li><a href="http://marketinthepocket.com/"> Home </a>
    </li>
    <li><a href="transaction.php"> Trade Now</a>
    </li>

    <li><a href="view.php"> Transactions  </a>
    </li>
    <li><a href=""> Performance </a>
    </li>



    <li><a href="complete.php">History </a>
    </li>
    <li class="time">US Markets Open in&nbsp;<span id="hm_timer" class="style colorDefinition size_sm">08:20:04</span> 
    </li>
  </ul>
</nav>

Answer 3

First of all, don't use margin-top: -3px to fight off that default padding browsers set to body, as this padding varies from browser to browser. To achieve a more consistent visual output, you can try normalising this properties with something like:

html, body {
    margin: 0;
    padding: 0;
}

Now, coming to your alignment issue, try removing height and width from .time and vertical-align: middle to your li elements.

jsFiddle: → here

Code: (expand the snippet)

html, body {
  margin: 0;
  padding: 0;
}
.main-nav, .main-nav ul li {
  display: inline-block;
}
.main-nav {
  color: #FFF;
  width: 100%;
  background-color: #5e2d91;
  line-height: 24px;
}
.main-nav ul li {
  padding: 0px 10px;
  vertical-align: middle;
}
.main-nav ul li a {
  color: #FFF;
  text-decoration: none;
  padding: 20px 14px;
}
.main-nav ul li a:hover {
  background-color: #0098aa;
}
.main-nav ul li a:active {
  background-color: #6A006A;
}
.time {
  float: right;
  border-color: #718b88;
  font-family: sans-serif;
  font-weight: bold;
  border-style: solid;
  margin-left: 10%;
}

<nav class="main-nav">
  <ul>
    <li><a href="http://marketinthepocket.com/">Home</a></li>
    <li><a href="transaction.php">Trade Now</a></li>
    <li><a href="view.php">Transactions</a></li>
    <li><a href="">Performance</a></li>
    <li><a href="complete.php">History</a></li>
    <li class="time">US Markets Open in&nbsp;
      <span id="hm_timer"class="style colorDefinition size_sm">08:20:04</span> 
    </li>
  </ul>
</nav>