CSS
Ref Guide
Put Into Knowledge
Doc Version – 1.0
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CSS Introduction
=============================================
What You Should Already Know
Before you continue you should have a basic understanding of the
following:
HTML / XHTML
What is CSS?
==============================================
CSS stands for Cascading Style Sheets
Styles define how to display HTML elements
Styles were added to HTML 4.0 to solve a problem
External Style Sheets can save a lot of work
External Style Sheets are stored in CSS files
CSS Demo
An HTML document can be displayed with different styles:
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Styles Solved a Big Problem
HTML was never intended to contain tags for formatting a document.
HTML was intended to define the content of a document, like:
<h1>This is a heading</h1>
<p>This is a paragraph.</p>
When tags like <font>, and color attributes were added to the HTML 3.2
specification, it started a nightmare for web developers. Development of
large web sites, where fonts and color information were added to every
single page, became a long and expensive process.
To solve this problem, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) created
CSS.
In HTML 4.0, all formatting could be removed from the HTML document,
and stored in a separate CSS file.
All browsers support CSS today.
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CSS Saves a Lot of Work!
===================================
CSS defines HOW HTML elements are to be displayed.
Styles are normally saved in external .css files. External style sheets
enable you to change the appearance and layout of all the pages in a Web
site, just by editing one single file!
CSS Syntax
==============================================
A CSS rule set consists of a selector and a declaration block:
CSS selector
The selector points to the HTML element you want to style.
The declaration block contains one or more declarations separated by
semicolons.
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Each declaration includes a property name and a value, separated by a
colon.
CSS Example
A CSS declaration always ends with a semicolon, and declaration groups
are surrounded by curly brackets:
p {color:red;text-align:center;}
To make the CSS more readable, you can put one declaration on each line,
like this:
Example
color:red;
text-align:center;
CSS Comments
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============================================
Comments are used to explain your code, and may help you when you edit
the source code at a later date. Comments are ignored by browsers.
A CSS comment starts with /* and ends with */. Comments can also span
multiple lines:
Example
/*This is a multiple
lines comment*/
color:red;
/*This is another comment*/
text-align:center;
CSS Selectors
========================================
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CSS selectors allow you to select and manipulate HTML element(s).
CSS selectors are used to "find" (or select) HTML elements based on their
id, classes, types, attributes, values of attributes and much more.
The element Selector
The element selector selects elements based on the element name.
You can select all <p> elements on a page like this: (all <p> elements will
be center-aligned, with a red text color)
Example
text-align:center;
color:red;
* The id Selector
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The id selector uses the id attribute of an HTML tag to find the specific
element.
An id should be unique within a page, so you should use the id selector
when you want to find a single, unique element.
To find an element with a specific id, write a hash character, followed by
the id of the element.
The style rule below will be applied to the HTML element with id="para1":
Example
#para1
text-align:center;
color:red;
Note Do NOT start an ID name with a number!
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* The class Selector
The class selector finds elements with the specific class.
The class selector uses the HTML class attribute.
To find elements with a specific class, write a period character, followed by
the name of the class:
In the example below, all HTML elements with class="center" will be
center-aligned:
Example
.center
text-align:center;
color:red;
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You can also specify that only specific HTML elements should be affected
by a class.
In the example below, all p elements with class="center" will be center-
aligned:
Example
p.center
text-align:center;
color:red;
Note Do NOT start a class name with a number!
Grouping Selectors
In style sheets there are often elements with the same style:
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h1
text-align:center;
color:red;
h2
text-align:center;
color:red;
text-align:center;
color:red;
To minimize the code, you can group selectors.
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To group selectors, separate each selector with a comma.
In the example below we have grouped the selectors from the code above:
Example
h1,h2,p
text-align:center;
color:red;
Three Ways to Insert CSS
=========================================================
===
There are three ways of inserting a style sheet:
External style sheet
Internal style sheet
Inline style
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External Style Sheet
==============================
An external style sheet is ideal when the style is applied to many pages.
With an external style sheet, you can change the look of an entire Web site
by changing just one file.
Each page must link to the style sheet with the <link> tag. The <link> tag
goes inside the head section:
<head>
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="mystyle.css">
</head>
An external style sheet can be written in any text editor. The file should not
contain any html tags. The style sheet file must be saved with a .css
extension. An example of a style sheet file is shown below:
hr {color:sienna;}
p {margin-left:20px;}
body {background-image:url("images/background.gif");}
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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 Style Sheet
========================
An internal style sheet should be used when a single document has a
unique style. You define internal styles in the head section of an HTML
page, inside the <style> tag, like this:
<head>
<style>
hr {color:sienna;}
p {margin-left:20px;}
body {background-image:url("images/background.gif");}
</style>
</head>
Inline Styles
=========================
An inline style loses many of the advantages of a style sheet (by mixing
content with presentation). Use this method sparingly!
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To use inline styles, add the style attribute to the relevant tag. The style
attribute can contain any CSS property. The example shows how to change
the color and the left margin of a paragraph:
<p style="color:sienna;margin-left:20px;">This is a paragraph.</p>
Multiple Style Sheets
If some properties have been set for the same selector in different style
sheets, the values will be inherited from the more specific style sheet.
For example, an external style sheet has these properties for the h3
selector:
h3
color:red;
text-align:left;
font-size:8pt;
And an internal style sheet has these properties for the h3 selector:
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h3
text-align:right;
font-size:20pt;
If the page with the internal style sheet also links to the external style sheet
the properties for the h3 element will be:
color:red;
text-align:right;
font-size:20pt;
The color is inherited from the external style sheet and the text-alignment
and the font-size is replaced by the internal style sheet.
Multiple Styles Will Cascade into One
Styles can be specified:
inside an HTML element
inside the head section of an HTML page
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in an external CSS file
Tip: Even multiple external style sheets can be referenced inside a single
HTML document.
Cascading order
What style will be used when there is more than one style specified for an
HTML element?
Generally speaking we can say that all the styles will "cascade" into a new
"virtual" style sheet by the following rules, where number four has the
highest priority:
Browser default
External style sheet
Internal style sheet (in the head section)
Inline style (inside an HTML element)
So, an inline style (inside an HTML element) has the highest priority, which
means that it will override a style defined inside the <head> tag, or in an
external style sheet, or in a browser (a default value).
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Background Color
====================================
The background-color property specifies the background color of an
element.
The background color of a page is defined in the body selector:
Example
body {background-color:#b0c4de;}
With CSS, a color is most often specified by:
a HEX value - like "#ff0000"
an RGB value - like "rgb(255,0,0)"
a color name - like "red"
Look at CSS Color Values for a complete list of possible color values.
In the example below, the h1, p, and div elements have different
background colors:
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Example
h1 {background-color:#6495ed;}
p {background-color:#e0ffff;}
div {background-color:#b0c4de;}
Background Image
The background-image property specifies an image to use as the
background of an element.
By default, the image is repeated so it covers the entire element.
The background image for a page can be set like this:
Example
body {background-image:url("paper.gif");}
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Below is an example of a bad combination of text and background image.
The text is almost not readable:
Example
body {background-image:url("bgdesert.jpg");}
Background Image - Repeat Horizontally or Vertically
By default, the background-image property repeats an image both
horizontally and vertically.
Some images should be repeated only horizontally or vertically, or they will
look strange, like this:
Example
body
background-image:url("gradient2.png");
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If the image is repeated only horizontally (repeat-x), the background will
look better:
Example
body
background-image:url("gradient2.png");
background-repeat:repeat-x;
Background Image - Set position and no-repeat
Note Note: When using a background image, use an image
that does not disturb the text.
Showing the image only once is specified by the background-repeat
property:
Example
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body
background-image:url("img_tree.png");
background-repeat:no-repeat;
In the example above, the background image is shown in the same place
as the text. We want to change the position of the image, so that it does not
disturb the text too much.
The position of the image is specified by the background-position property:
Example
body
background-image:url("img_tree.png");
background-repeat:no-repeat;
background-position:right top;
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Background - Shorthand property
As you can see from the examples above, there are many properties to
consider when dealing with backgrounds.
To shorten the code, it is also possible to specify all the properties in one
single property. This is called a shorthand property.
The shorthand property for background is simply "background":
Example
body {background:#ffffff url("img_tree.png") no-repeat right top;}
When using the shorthand property the order of the property values is:
background-color
background-image
background-repeat
background-attachment
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background-position
It does not matter if one of the property values is missing, as long as the
ones that are present are in this order.
All CSS Background Properties
===============================
Property Description
background Sets all the background properties in one
declaration
background-attachment Sets whether a background image is fixed or
scrolls with the rest of the page
background-color Sets the background color of an element
background-image Sets the background image for an element
background-position Sets the starting position of a background
image
background-repeat Sets how a background image will be
repeated
CSS Text
=============================================
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Text Color
The color property is used to set the color of the text.
With CSS, a color is most often specified by:
a HEX value - like "#ff0000"
an RGB value - like "rgb(255,0,0)"
a color name - like "red"
Look at CSS Color Values for a complete list of possible color values.
The default color for a page is defined in the body selector.
Example
body {color:blue;}
h1 {color:#00ff00;}
h2 {color:rgb(255,0,0);}
Note Note: For W3C compliant CSS: If you define the color
property, you must also define the background-color property.
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Text Alignment
The text-align property is used to set the horizontal alignment of a text.
Text can be centered, or aligned to the left or right, or justified.
When text-align is set to "justify", each line is stretched so that every line
has equal width, and the left and right margins are straight (like in
magazines and newspapers).
Example
h1 {text-align:center;}
p.date {text-align:right;}
p.main {text-align:justify;}
Text Decoration
The text-decoration property is used to set or remove decorations from text.
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The text-decoration property is mostly used to remove underlines from links
for design purposes:
Example
a {text-decoration:none;}
It can also be used to decorate text:
Example
h1 {text-decoration:overline;}
h2 {text-decoration:line-through;}
h3 {text-decoration:underline;}
Note Note: It is not recommended to underline text that is not a
link, as this often confuses users.
Text Transformation
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The text-transform property is used to specify uppercase and lowercase
letters in a text.
It can be used to turn everything into uppercase or lowercase letters, or
capitalize the first letter of each word.
Example
p.uppercase {text-transform:uppercase;}
p.lowercase {text-transform:lowercase;}
p.capitalize {text-transform:capitalize;}
Text Indentation
The text-indent property is used to specify the indentation of the first line of
a text.
Example
p {text-indent:50px;}
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CSS Font
======================================
CSS Font Families
In CSS, there are two types of font family names:
generic family - a group of font families with a similar look (like "Serif" or
"Monospace")
font family - a specific font family (like "Times New Roman" or "Arial")
Generic family Font familyDescription
Serif Times New Roman
Georgia Serif fonts have small lines at the ends on some
characters
Sans-serif Arial
Verdana "Sans" means without - these fonts do not have
the lines at the ends of characters
Monospace Courier New
Lucida Console All monospace characters have the same width
Note Note: On computer screens, sans-serif fonts are
considered easier to read than serif fonts.
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Font Family
The font family of a text is set with the font-family property.
The font-family property should hold several font names as a "fallback"
system. If the browser does not support the first font, it tries the next font.
Start with the font you want, and end with a generic family, to let the
browser pick a similar font in the generic family, if no other fonts are
available.
Note: If the name of a font family is more than one word, it must be in
quotation marks, like: "Times New Roman".
More than one font family is specified in a comma-separated list:
Example
p{font-family:"Times New Roman", Times, serif;}
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For more commonly used font combinations, look at our Web Safe Font
Combinations.
Font Style
The font-style property is mostly used to specify italic text.
This property has three values:
normal - The text is shown normally
italic - The text is shown in italics
oblique - The text is "leaning" (oblique is very similar to italic, but less
supported)
Example
p.normal {font-style:normal;}
p.italic {font-style:italic;}
p.oblique {font-style:oblique;}
Font Size
The font-size property sets the size of the text.
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Being able to manage the text size is important in web design. However,
you should not use font size adjustments to make paragraphs look like
headings, or headings look like paragraphs.
Always use the proper HTML tags, like <h1> - <h6> for headings and <p>
for paragraphs.
The font-size value can be an absolute, or relative size.
Absolute size:
Sets the text to a specified size
Does not allow a user to change the text size in all browsers (bad for
accessibility reasons)
Absolute size is useful when the physical size of the output is known
Relative size:
Sets the size relative to surrounding elements
Allows a user to change the text size in browsers
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Note Note: If you do not specify a font size, the default size for
normal text, like paragraphs, is 16px (16px=1em).
Set Font Size With Pixels
Setting the text size with pixels gives you full control over the text size:
Example
h1 {font-size:40px;}
h2 {font-size:30px;}
p {font-size:14px;}
CSS Links
=======================
Styling Links
Links can be styled with any CSS property (e.g. color, font-family,
background, etc.).
In addition, links can be styled differently depending on what state they are
in.
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The four links states are:
a:link - a normal, unvisited link
a:visited - a link the user has visited
a:hover - a link when the user mouses over it
a:active - a link the moment it is clicked
Example
a:link {color:#FF0000;} /* unvisited link */
a:visited {color:#00FF00;} /* visited link */
a:hover {color:#FF00FF;} /* mouse over link */
a:active {color:#0000FF;} /* selected link */
When setting the style for several link states, there are some order rules:
a:hover MUST come after a:link and a:visited
a:active MUST come after a:hover
Common Link Styles
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In the example above the link changes color depending on what state it is
in.
Lets go through some of the other common ways to style links:
Text Decoration
The text-decoration property is mostly used to remove underlines from
links:
Example
a:link {text-decoration:none;}
a:visited {text-decoration:none;}
a:hover {text-decoration:underline;}
a:active {text-decoration:underline;}
Background Color
The background-color property specifies the background color for links:
Example
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a:link {background-color:#B2FF99;}
a:visited {background-color:#FFFF85;}
a:hover {background-color:#FF704D;}
a:active {background-color:#FF704D;}
CSS Lists
======================================
The CSS list properties allow you to:
Set different list item markers for ordered lists
Set different list item markers for unordered lists
Set an image as the list item marker
List
In HTML, there are two types of lists:
unordered lists - the list items are marked with bullets
ordered lists - the list items are marked with numbers or letters
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With CSS, lists can be styled further, and images can be used as the list
item marker.
Different List Item Markers
The type of list item marker is specified with the list-style-type property:
Example
ul.a {list-style-type: circle;}
ul.b {list-style-type: square;}
ol.c {list-style-type: upper-roman;}
ol.d {list-style-type: lower-alpha;}
Some of the values are for unordered lists, and some for ordered lists.
An Image as The List Item Marker
To specify an image as the list item marker, use the list-style-image
property:
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Example
ul
list-style-image: url('sqpurple.gif');
The example above does not display equally in all browsers. IE and Opera
will display the image-marker a little bit higher than Firefox, Chrome, and
Safari.
If you want the image-marker to be placed equally in all browsers, a
crossbrowser solution is explained below.
Crossbrowser Solution
The following example displays the image-marker equally in all browsers:
Example
ul
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{
list-style-type: none;
padding: 0px;
margin: 0px;
ul li
background-image: url(sqpurple.gif);
background-repeat: no-repeat;
background-position: 0px 5px;
padding-left: 14px;
Example explained:
For ul:
Set the list-style-type to none to remove the list item marker
Set both padding and margin to 0px (for cross-browser compatibility)
For all li in ul:
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Set the URL of the image, and show it only once (no-repeat)
Position the image where you want it (left 0px and down 5px)
Position the text in the list with padding-left
List - Shorthand property
It is also possible to specify all the list properties in one, single property.
This is called a shorthand property.
The shorthand property used for lists, is the list-style property:
Example
ul
list-style: square url("sqpurple.gif");
When using the shorthand property, the order of the values are:
list-style-type
list-style-position (for a description, see the CSS properties table below)
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list-style-image
CSS Tables
=============================
Table Borders
To specify table borders in CSS, use the border property.
The example below specifies a black border for table, th, and td elements:
Example
table, th, td
border: 1px solid black;
Notice that the table in the example above has double borders. This is
because both the table and the th/td elements have separate borders.
To display a single border for the table, use the border-collapse property.
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Collapse Borders
The border-collapse property sets whether the table borders are collapsed
into a single border or separated:
Example
table
border-collapse:collapse;
table, th, td
border: 1px solid black;
Table Width and Height
Width and height of a table is defined by the width and height properties.
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The example below sets the width of the table to 100%, and the height of
the th elements to 50px:
Example
table
width:100%;
th
height:50px;
Table Text Alignment
The text in a table is aligned with the text-align and vertical-align properties.
The text-align property sets the horizontal alignment, like left, right, or
center:
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Example
td
text-align:right;
The vertical-align property sets the vertical alignment, like top, bottom, or
middle:
Example
td
height:50px;
vertical-align:bottom;
Table Padding
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To control the space between the border and content in a table, use the
padding property on td and th elements:
Example
td
padding:15px;
Table Color
The example below specifies the color of the borders, and the text and
background color of th elements:
Example
table, td, th
border:1px solid green;
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th
background-color:green;
color:white;
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