How to hide an item under another item without using z-index

Question

I use this code on my website: https://codepen.io/dustindowell/pen/GgeWep?editors=1100

I need the tail hidden under the body of the message, like here: https://codepen.io/haygt/pen/KKPMBOL?editors=1100

But I can't use z-index: -1;

Because, in that case, the tail is completely gone (I'm using vuetify, and most likely it overrides the z-index and I can't use negative values).

So I tried to do it this way: https://codepen.io/haygt/pen/eYOzyLv?editors=1100

But as you can see it's not working, so how can I do to green tail was hidden under the body of the message?

Answer 1

UPDATE:

To hold the position, wrap it with a container as I used bubble-container.

*,
*::before,
*::after {
  margin: 0;
  border: 0;
  padding: 0;
  word-wrap: break-word;
  box-sizing: border-box;
}

body {
  font-size: 1.5em;
  margin: 1em;
  background-color: rgba(8, 36, 64, 0.0625);
}


/* MIXIN STARTS HERE */


/* Requires LifeSaver Sass mixin linked externally */

.bubble-center {
  position: relative;
  display: flex;
  justify-content: center;
}

.bubble-right {
  position: relative;
  display: flex;
  justify-content: flex-end;
}

.bubble-left {
  position: relative;
  display: flex;
  justify-content: flex-start;
}

.bubble {
  margin: 0.25em;
  min-height: 1em;
  padding: 0.25em 0.75em;
  position: relative;
  border-radius: 0.5em;
  line-height: 1.5;
  color: white;
  background-color: dodgerblue;
  z-index: 10;
}

.tail {
  display: block;
  width: 0.75em;
  height: 0.5em;
  position: absolute;
  right: 0.1em;
  bottom: 0;
  border-left: 0.5em solid green;
  border-bottom-left-radius: 100%;
  z-index: 1;
}

.bubble-container {
  position: relative;
}

<div class="bubble-right">
  <div class="bubble-container">
    <div class="bubble">
      <p>The default bubble.</p>
    </div>
    <div class="tail"></div>
  </div>
</div>

<div class="bubble-left">
  <div class="bubble-container">
    <div class="bubble">
      <p>The default bubble.</p>
    </div>
    <div class="tail"></div>
  </div>
</div>

<div class="bubble-center">
  <div class="bubble-container">
    <div class="bubble">
      <p>The default bubble.</p>
    </div>
    <div class="tail"></div>
  </div>
</div>

---

You can achieve by using a regular div, instead of ::before as you can't use z-index:-1.

*,
*::before,
*::after {
  margin: 0;
  border: 0;
  padding: 0;
  word-wrap: break-word;
  box-sizing: border-box;
}

body {
  font-size: 1.5em;
  margin: 1em;
  background-color: rgba(8, 36, 64, 0.0625);
}


/* MIXIN STARTS HERE */


/* Requires LifeSaver Sass mixin linked externally */

.bubble-center {
  text-align: right;
  position: relative;
}

.bubble {
  display: inline-block;
  margin: 0.25em;
  min-height: 1em;
  padding: 0.25em 0.75em;
  position: relative;
  border-radius: 0.5em;
  line-height: 1.5;
  color: white;
  background-color: dodgerblue;
  z-index: 10;
}

.tail {
  display: block;
  width: 0.75em;
  height: 0.5em;
  position: absolute;
  right: 0.1em;
  bottom: 0;
  border-left: 0.5em solid green;
  border-bottom-left-radius: 100%;
  z-index: 1;
}

<div class="bubble-center">
  <div class="bubble">
    <p>The default bubble.</p>
  </div>
  <div class="tail"></div>
</div>

pug

.bubble-center
  .bubble
    p The default bubble.
  .tail

You might need to convert this CSS to SCSS