- html elements treated as if theyre in their own box
- treated as if block-level or inline
- block-level - starts on new line
- inline - flows between other content such as text
- relative position - shifted relative to where it would be with normal positioning - can specify top, bottom, left, right
- absolute position - positions element relative to its container, it wont impact the positions of its surrounding elements
- fixed positioning - a form of relative positioning, element is positioned relative to the browser window instead of its containing element
- floating - positions the element far left or right and flows content around the element
- z-index (aka 'stacking context') - can be used to determin which element is positioned on top if boxes overlap
- fixed-width layouts: dont change with size of browser window
- liquid layouts: change with size of browser window
- pages are usually designed with a width of 960-1000px
- tell user what site is about in top 600px
- grids are useful for making flexible page designs