The most obvious solution is just to close the container…have your full width div then open a new container. The title ‘container’ is just a class…not an absolute requirement that it hold everything all at the same time.
In this instance you apply the background color to the full width div and you don’t need to apply a color to the internal, restricted div.
* {
-webkit-box-sizing: border-box;
-moz-box-sizing: border-box;
box-sizing: border-box;
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
}
.container {
max-width: 80%;
border: 1px solid red;
margin: 0 auto;
}
.fullwidth {
background: orange;
}
header {
height: 50px;
background: #663399;
}
.mydiv {
/* background: orange; */
min-height: 50px;
}
footer {
height: 50px;
background: #bada55;
}<div class="container">
<header></header>
</div>
<div class="fullwidth">
<div class="container">
<div class="mydiv">
<p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit. Ipsum illum veniam in delectus corrupti autem magnam. Tenetur ducimus provident nisi aut esse aliquid accusamus quas.</p>
</div>
<div class="mydiv">
<p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit. Ipsum illum veniam in delectus corrupti autem magnam. Tenetur ducimus provident nisi aut esse aliquid accusamus quas.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="container">
<footer></footer>
</div>However, for some they like a single all encompassing container so if all you are after is a background you could use a pseudo-element like so:
* {
-webkit-box-sizing: border-box;
-moz-box-sizing: border-box;
box-sizing: border-box;
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
}
body {
overflow-x: hidden;
}
.container {
max-width: 80%;
border: 1px solid red;
margin: 0 auto;
}
header {
height: 50px;
background: #663399;
}
.mydiv {
height: 100px;
position: relative;
}
.mydiv:after {
content: "";
position: absolute;
height: 100%;
top: 0;
left: 50%;
transform: translateX(-50%);
width: 100vw;
background: orange;
z-index: -1;
}
footer {
height: 50px;
background: #bada55;
}<div class="container">
<header></header>
<div class="mydiv">
<p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit. Ipsum illum veniam in delectus corrupti autem magnam. Tenetur ducimus provident nisi aut esse aliquid accusamus quas.</p>
</div>
<footer></footer>
</div>Support for vw is IE9+ – See http://caniuse.com/#feat=viewport-units
There are cases where actual content is required in the 100% wide div and the container cannot be opened/closed at will (perhaps to retrofit a slider).
In those cases, where the height of the new div is known the same technique can be used to position it as to be 100% viewport wide:
* {
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
}
body {
overflow-x: hidden;
}
.container {
max-width: 80%;
border: 1px solid red;
margin: 0 auto;
}
header {
height: 50px;
background: #663399;
}
.mydiv {
height: 100px;
position: relative;
}
.myslider {
position: absolute;
height: 100%;
top: 0;
left: 50%;
transform: translateX(-50%);
width: 100vw;
background: orange;
}
footer {
height: 50px;
background: #bada55;
}<div class="container">
<header></header>
<div class="mydiv">
<div class="myslider">
<p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit. Ipsum illum veniam in delectus corrupti autem magnam. Tenetur ducimus provident nisi aut esse aliquid accusamus quas.</p>
</div>
</div>
<footer></footer>
</div>Note: there are instances where 100vw can cause overflow and a horizontal scrollbar might appear. overflow-x:hidden on the <body> can attend to that..it should not be an issue because everything else is still inside the container.