CSS Introduction
What is CSS?
CSS stands for Cascading Style Sheets
CSS describes how HTML elements are to be displayed on screen, paper, or
in other media
CSS saves a lot of work. It can control the layout of multiple web pages all at
once
External stylesheets are stored in CSS files
CSS Syntax
CSS Syntax
A CSS rule-set consists of a selector and a declaration block:
The selector points to the HTML element you want to style.
The declaration block contains one or more declarations separated by semicolons.
Each declaration includes a CSS property name and a value, separated by a colon.
A CSS declaration always ends with a semicolon, and declaration blocks are surrounded
by curly braces.
Example
In this example all <p> elements will be center-aligned, with a red text color:
p {
color: red;
text-align: center;
}
CSS Comments
Comments are used to explain the code, and may help when you edit the source code at
a later date.
Comments are ignored by browsers.
Example
A CSS comment starts with /* and ends with */. Comments can also span multiple lines:
p {
color: red;
/* This is a single-line comment */
text-align: center;
}
/* This is
a multi-line
comment */
The CSS element Selector
The element selector selects HTML elements based on the element name.
Example
Here, all <p> elements on the page will be center-aligned, with a red text color:
p {
text-align: center;
color: red;
}
The CSS id Selector
The id selector uses the id attribute of an HTML element to select a specific element.
The id of an element is unique within a page, so the id selector is used to select one
unique element!
To select an element with a specific id, write a hash (#) character, followed by the id of
the element.
Example
The CSS rule below will be applied to the HTML element with id="para1":
#para1 {
text-align: center;
color: red;
}
The CSS class Selector
The class selector selects HTML elements with a specific class attribute.
To select elements with a specific class, write a period (.) character, followed by the class
name.
Example
In this example all HTML elements with class="center" will be red and center-aligned:
.center {
text-align: center;
color: red;
}
The CSS Universal Selector
The universal selector (*) selects all HTML elements on the page.
Example
The CSS rule below will affect every HTML element on the page:
* {
text-align: center;
color: blue;
}
The CSS Grouping Selector
The grouping selector selects all the HTML elements with the same style definitions.
Look at the following CSS code (the h1, h2, and p elements have the same style
definitions):
h1 {
text-align: center;
color: red;
}
h2 {
text-align: center;
color: red;
}
p {
text-align: center;
color: red;
}
It will be better to group the selectors, to minimize the code.
To group selectors, separate each selector with a comma.
Example
In this example we have grouped the selectors from the code above:
h1, h2, p {
text-align: center;
color: red;
}
Three Ways to Insert CSS
There are three ways of inserting a style sheet:
External CSS
Internal CSS
Inline CSS
External CSS
With an external style sheet, you can change the look of an entire website by changing
just one file!
Each HTML page must include a reference to the external style sheet file inside the
<link> element, inside the head section.
Example
External styles are defined within the <link> element, inside the <head> section of an
HTML page:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="mystyle.css">
</head>
<body>
<h1>This is a heading</h1>
<p>This is a paragraph.</p>
</body>
</html>
Try it Yourself »
An external style sheet can be written in any text editor, and must be saved with a .css
extension.
The external .css file should not contain any HTML tags.
Here is how the "mystyle.css" file looks like:
"mystyle.css"
body {
background-color: lightblue;
}
h1 {
color: navy;
margin-left: 20px;
}
Note: Do not add a space between the property value and the unit (such as margin-
left: 20 px;). The correct way is: margin-left: 20px;
Internal CSS
An internal style sheet may be used if one single HTML page has a unique style.
The internal style is defined inside the <style> element, inside the head section.
Example
Internal styles are defined within the <style> element, inside the <head> section of an
HTML page:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<style>
body {
background-color: linen;
}
h1 {
color: maroon;
margin-left: 40px;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1>This is a heading</h1>
<p>This is a paragraph.</p>
</body>
</html>
Inline CSS
An inline style may be used to apply a unique style for a single element.
To use inline styles, add the style attribute to the relevant element. The style attribute
can contain any CSS property.
Example
Inline styles are defined within the "style" attribute of the relevant element:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<body>
<h1 style="color:blue;text-align:center;">This is a heading</h1>
<p style="color:red;">This is a paragraph.</p>
</body>
</html>
Multiple Style Sheets
If some properties have been defined for the same selector (element) in different style
sheets, the value from the last read style sheet will be used.
Assume that an external style sheet has the following style for the <h1> element:
h1 {
color: navy;
}
Then, assume that an internal style sheet also has the following style for the <h1>
element:
h1 {
color: orange;
}
Example
If the internal style is defined after the link to the external style sheet, the <h1>
elements will be "orange":
<head>
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="mystyle.css">
<style>
h1 {
color: orange;
}
</style>
Example
However, if the internal style is defined before the link to the external style sheet, the
<h1> elements will be "navy":
<head>
<style>
h1 {
color: orange;
}
</style>
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="mystyle.css">
</head
Cascading Order
What style will be used when there is more than one style specified for an HTML element?
All the styles in a page will "cascade" into a new "virtual" style sheet by the following
rules, where number one has the highest priority:
1. Inline style (inside an HTML element)
2. External and internal style sheets (in the head section)
3. Browser default
So, an inline style has the highest priority, and will override external and internal styles
and browser defaults.
CSS Background Color
You can set the background color for HTML elements:
Hello World
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh
euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim
veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea
commodo consequat.
Example
<h1 style="background-color:DodgerBlue;">Hello World</h1>
<p style="background-color:Tomato;">Lorem ipsum...</p>
CSS Text Color
You can set the color of text:
Hello World
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh
euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat.
Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl
ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
Example
<h1 style="color:Tomato;">Hello World</h1>
<p style="color:DodgerBlue;">Lorem ipsum...</p>
<p style="color:MediumSeaGreen;">Ut wisi enim...</p>
Try it Yourself »
CSS Border Color
You can set the color of borders:
Hello World
Hello World
Hello World
Example
<h1 style="border:2px solid Tomato;">Hello World</h1>
<h1 style="border:2px solid DodgerBlue;">Hello World</h1>
<h1 style="border:2px solid Violet;">Hello World</h1>
CSS Borders
❮ PreviousNext ❯
CSS Border Properties
The CSS border properties allow you to specify the style, width, and color of an
element's border.
I have borders on all sides.
I have a red bottom border.
I have rounded borders.
I have a blue left border.
CSS Border Style
The border-style property specifies what kind of border to display.
The following values are allowed:
dotted - Defines a dotted border
dashed - Defines a dashed border
solid - Defines a solid border
double - Defines a double border
groove - Defines a 3D grooved border. The effect depends on the border-color
value
ridge - Defines a 3D ridged border. The effect depends on the border-color value
inset - Defines a 3D inset border. The effect depends on the border-color value
outset - Defines a 3D outset border. The effect depends on the border-color value
none - Defines no border
hidden - Defines a hidden border
The border-style property can have from one to four values (for the top border, right
border, bottom border, and the left border).
Example
Demonstration of the different border styles:
p.dotted {border-style: dotted;}
p.dashed {border-style: dashed;}
p.solid {border-style: solid;}
p.double {border-style: double;}
p.groove {border-style: groove;}
p.ridge {border-style: ridge;}
p.inset {border-style: inset;}
p.outset {border-style: outset;}
p.none {border-style: none;}
p.hidden {border-style: hidden;}
p.mix {border-style: dotted dashed solid double;}
Result:
A dotted border.
A dashed border.
A solid border.
A double border.
A groove border. The effect depends on the border-color value.
A ridge border. The effect depends on the border-color value.
An inset border. The effect depends on the border-color value.
An outset border. The effect depends on the border-color value.
No border.
A hidden border.
A mixed border.
Try it Yourself »
Note: None of the OTHER CSS border properties described below will have ANY effect
unless the border-style property is set!
CSS Border Width
The border-width property specifies the width of the four borders.
The width can be set as a specific size (in px, pt, cm, em, etc) or by using one of the
three pre-defined values: thin, medium, or thick.
The border-width property can have from one to four values (for the top border, right
border, bottom border, and the left border).
5px border-width
Example
p.one {
border-style: solid;
border-width: 5px;
}
p.two {
border-style: solid;
border-width: medium;
}
p.three {
border-style: solid;
border-width: 2px 10px 4px 20px;
}
Try it Yourself »
CSS Border Color
The border-color property is used to set the color of the four borders.
The color can be set by:
name - specify a color name, like "red"
Hex - specify a hex value, like "#ff0000"
RGB - specify a RGB value, like "rgb(255,0,0)"
transparent
The border-color property can have from one to four values (for the top border, right
border, bottom border, and the left border).
If border-color is not set, it inherits the color of the element.
Red border
Example
p.one {
border-style: solid;
border-color: red;
}
p.two {
border-style: solid;
border-color: green;
}
p.three {
border-style: solid;
border-color: red green blue yellow;
}
Try it Yourself »
CSS Border - Individual Sides
From the examples above you have seen that it is possible to specify a different border
for each side.
In CSS, there are also properties for specifying each of the borders (top, right, bottom,
and left):
Different Border Styles
Example
p {
border-top-style: dotted;
border-right-style: solid;
border-bottom-style: dotted;
border-left-style: solid;
}
Try it Yourself »
The example above gives the same result as this:
Example
p {
border-style: dotted solid;
}
Try it Yourself »
So, here is how it works:
If the border-style property has four values:
border-style: dotted solid double dashed;
o top border is dotted
o right border is solid
o bottom border is double
o left border is dashed
If the border-style property has three values:
border-style: dotted solid double;
o top border is dotted
o right and left borders are solid
o bottom border is double
If the border-style property has two values:
border-style: dotted solid;
o top and bottom borders are dotted
o right and left borders are solid
If the border-style property has one value:
border-style: dotted;
o all four borders are dotted
The border-style property is used in the example above. However, it also works
with border-width and border-color.
CSS Border - Shorthand Property
As you can see from the examples above, there are many properties to consider when
dealing with borders.
To shorten the code, it is also possible to specify all the individual border properties in
one property.
The border property is a shorthand property for the following individual border
properties:
border-width
border-style (required)
border-color
Example
p {
border: 5px solid red;
}
Result:
Some text
Try it Yourself »
You can also specify all the individual border properties for just one side:
Left Border
p {
border-left: 6px solid red;
background-color: lightgrey;
}
Result:
Some text
Try it Yourself »
Bottom Border
p {
border-bottom: 6px solid red;
background-color: lightgrey;
}
Result:
Some text
Try it Yourself »
CSS Rounded Borders
The border-radius property is used to add rounded borders to an element:
Normal border
Round border
Rounder border
Roundest border
Example
p {
border: 2px solid red;
border-radius: 5px;
}
