I have a div of fixed dimensions into which some JavaScript functions will be placing text over time. When the amount of text exceeds the height of the box, a scrollbar appears thanks to overflow:scroll.

The new problem is that the view into the div stays at the same place as more content appears. What I mean to say is that it stays scrolled wherever it is as more content appears beneath, hidden unless you manually scroll down. I want to make it automatically scroll to the bottom as new content appears so that the user naturally sees what appeared most recently instead of what's oldest.

Ideas?

I have a div of fixed dimensions into which some JavaScript functions will be placing text over time. When the amount of text exceeds the height of the box, a scrollbar appears thanks to overflow:scroll.

The new problem is that the view into the div stays at the same place as more content appears. What I mean to say is that it stays scrolled wherever it is as more content appears beneath, hidden unless you manually scroll down. I want to make it automatically scroll to the bottom as new content appears so that the user naturally sees what appeared most recently instead of what's oldest.

Ideas?

• javascript
• jquery
• html
• css
• scroll

2 Answers 2

You can use scrollTop method after each text addition:

$("div").scrollTop($("div").children().height());

Use inner block to get the true height.

DEMO: http://jsfiddle/eyY5k/1/

I found this approach to work for my needs:

var realHeight = $("#history")[0].scrollHeight;
$("#history").scrollTop(realHeight);

Do note this uses jquery.