CSS - Quick Guide

Superior styles to HTML − CSS has a much wider array of attributes than HTML, so you can give a far better look to your HTML page in comparison to HTML attributes.
Multiple Device Compatibility − Style sheets allow content to be optimized for more than one type of device. By using the same HTML document, different versions of a website can be presented for handheld devices such as PDAs and cell phones or for printing.
Global web standards − Now HTML attributes are being deprecated and it is being recommended to use CSS. So its a good idea to start using CSS in all the HTML pages to make them compatible to future browsers.

Who Creates and Maintains CSS?

CSS is created and maintained through a group of people within the W3C called the CSS Working Group. The CSS Working Group creates documents called specifications. When a specification has been discussed and officially ratified by the W3C members, it becomes a recommendation.

These ratified specifications are called recommendations because the W3C has no control over the actual implementation of the language. Independent companies and organizations create that software.

NOTE − The World Wide Web Consortium, or W3C is a group that makes recommendations about how the Internet works and how it should evolve.

CSS Versions

Cascading Style Sheets level 1 (CSS1) came out of W3C as a recommendation in December 1996. This version describes the CSS language as well as a simple visual formatting model for all the HTML tags.

CSS2 became a W3C recommendation in May 1998 and builds on CSS1. This version adds support for media-specific style sheets e.g. printers and aural devices, downloadable fonts, element positioning and tables.

CSS - Syntax

selector { property: value }

Example − You can define a table border as follows −

table{ border :1px solid #C00; }

Here table is a selector and border is a property and given value 1px solid #C00 is the value of that property.

You can define selectors in various simple ways based on your comfort. Let me put these selectors one by one.

The Type Selectors

This is the same selector we have seen above. Again, one more example to give a color to all level 1 headings −

h1 {
   color: #36CFFF; 
}

The Universal Selectors

Rather than selecting elements of a specific type, the universal selector quite simply matches the name of any element type −

* { 
   color: #000000; 
}

This rule renders the content of every element in our document in black.

The Descendant Selectors

Suppose you want to apply a style rule to a particular element only when it lies inside a particular element. As given in the following example, style rule will apply to <em> element only when it lies inside <ul> tag.

ul em {
   color: #000000; 
}

The Class Selectors

You can define style rules based on the class attribute of the elements. All the elements having that class will be formatted according to the defined rule.

.black {
   color: #000000; 
}

This rule renders the content in black for every element with class attribute set to black in our document. You can make it a bit more particular. For example −

h1.black {
   color: #000000; 
}

This rule renders the content in black for only <h1> elements with class attribute set to black.

You can apply more than one class selectors to given element. Consider the following example −

<p class = "center bold">
   This para will be styled by the classes center and bold.
</p>

The ID Selectors

You can define style rules based on the id attribute of the elements. All the elements having that id will be formatted according to the defined rule.

#black {
   color: #000000; 
}

This rule renders the content in black for every element with id attribute set to black in our document. You can make it a bit more particular. For example −

h1#black {
   color: #000000; 
}

This rule renders the content in black for only <h1> elements with id attribute set to black.

The true power of id selectors is when they are used as the foundation for descendant selectors, For example −

#black h2 {
   color: #000000; 
}

In this example all level 2 headings will be displayed in black color when those headings will lie with in tags having id attribute set to black.

The Child Selectors

You have seen the descendant selectors. There is one more type of selector, which is very similar to descendants but have different functionality. Consider the following example −

body > p {
   color: #000000; 
}

This rule will render all the paragraphs in black if they are direct child of <body> element. Other paragraphs put inside other elements like <div> or <td> would not have any effect of this rule.

The Attribute Selectors

You can also apply styles to HTML elements with particular attributes. The style rule below will match all the input elements having a type attribute with a value of text −

input[type = "text"] {
   color: #000000; 
}

The advantage to this method is that the <input type = "submit" /> element is unaffected, and the color applied only to the desired text fields.

There are following rules applied to attribute selector.

p[lang] − Selects all paragraph elements with a lang attribute.
p[lang="fr"] − Selects all paragraph elements whose lang attribute has a value of exactly "fr".
p[lang~="fr"] − Selects all paragraph elements whose lang attribute contains the word "fr".
p[lang|="en"] − Selects all paragraph elements whose lang attribute contains values that are exactly "en", or begin with "en-".

Multiple Style Rules

You may need to define multiple style rules for a single element. You can define these rules to combine multiple properties and corresponding values into a single block as defined in the following example −

h1 {
   color: #36C;
   font-weight: normal;
   letter-spacing: .4em;
   margin-bottom: 1em;
   text-transform: lowercase;
}

Here all the property and value pairs are separated by a semicolon (;). You can keep them in a single line or multiple lines. For better readability, we keep them in separate lines.

For a while, don't bother about the properties mentioned in the above block. These properties will be explained in the coming chapters and you can find complete detail about properties in CSS References

Grouping Selectors

You can apply a style to many selectors if you like. Just separate the selectors with a comma, as given in the following example −

h1, h2, h3 {
   color: #36C;
   font-weight: normal;
   letter-spacing: .4em;
   margin-bottom: 1em;
   text-transform: lowercase;
}

This define style rule will be applicable to h1, h2 and h3 element as well. The order of the list is irrelevant. All the elements in the selector will have the corresponding declarations applied to them.

You can combine the various id selectors together as shown below −

#content, #footer, #supplement {
   position: absolute;
   left: 510px;
   width: 200px;
}

CSS - Inclusion

<head> <style type = "text/css" media = "all"> 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>

It will produce the following result −

Attributes

Attributes associated with <style> elements are −

Attribute	Value	Description
type	text/css	Specifies the style sheet language as a content-type (MIME type). This is required attribute.
media	screen tty tv projection handheld print braille aural all	Specifies the device the document will be displayed on. Default value is all. This is an optional attribute.

Attribute

Value

Description

type

text/css

Specifies the style sheet language as a content-type (MIME type). This is required attribute.

media

screen

tty

projection

handheld

braille

aural

all

Specifies the device the document will be displayed on. Default value is all. This is an optional attribute.

Inline CSS - The style Attribute

You can use style attribute of any HTML element to define style rules. These rules will be applied to that element only. Here is the generic syntax −

<element style = "...style rules....">

Attributes

Attribute	Value	Description
style	style rules	The value of style attribute is a combination of style declarations separated by semicolon (;).

Example

Following is the example of inline CSS based on the above syntax −

%	Defines a measurement as a percentage relative to another value, typically an enclosing element.	p {font-size: 16pt; line-height: 125%;}
cm	Defines a measurement in centimeters.	div {margin-bottom: 2cm;}
em	A relative measurement for the height of a font in em spaces. Because an em unit is equivalent to the size of a given font, if you assign a font to 12pt, each "em" unit would be 12pt; thus, 2em would be 24pt.	p {letter-spacing: 7em;}
ex	This value defines a measurement relative to a font's x-height. The x-height is determined by the height of the font's lowercase letter x.	p {font-size: 24pt; line-height: 3ex;}
in	Defines a measurement in inches.	p {word-spacing: .15in;}
mm	Defines a measurement in millimeters.	p {word-spacing: 15mm;}
pc	Defines a measurement in picas. A pica is equivalent to 12 points; thus, there are 6 picas per inch.	p {font-size: 20pc;}
pt	Defines a measurement in points. A point is defined as 1/72nd of an inch.	body {font-size: 18pt;}
px	Defines a measurement in screen pixels.	p {padding: 25px;}

Hex Code	#RRGGBB	p{color:#FF0000;}
Short Hex Code	#RGB	p{color:#6A7;}
RGB %	rgb(rrr%,ggg%,bbb%)	p{color:rgb(50%,50%,50%);}
RGB Absolute	rgb(rrr,ggg,bbb)	p{color:rgb(0,0,255);}
keyword	aqua, black, etc.	p{color:teal;}

Color	Color HEX
	#000000
	#FF0000
	#00FF00
	#0000FF
	#FFFF00
	#00FFFF
	#FF00FF
	#C0C0C0
	#FFFFFF

Color	Color RGB
	rgb(0,0,0)
	rgb(255,0,0)
	rgb(0,255,0)
	rgb(0,0,255)
	rgb(255,255,0)
	rgb(0,255,255)
	rgb(255,0,255)
	rgb(192,192,192)
	rgb(255,255,255)

000000	000033	000066	000099	0000CC	0000FF
003300	003333	003366	003399	0033CC	0033FF
006600	006633	006666	006699	0066CC	0066FF
009900	009933	009966	009999	0099CC	0099FF
00CC00	00CC33	00CC66	00CC99	00CCCC	00CCFF
00FF00	00FF33	00FF66	00FF99	00FFCC	00FFFF
330000	330033	330066	330099	3300CC	3300FF
333300	333333	333366	333399	3333CC	3333FF
336600	336633	336666	336699	3366CC	3366FF
339900	339933	339966	339999	3399CC	3399FF
33CC00	33CC33	33CC66	33CC99	33CCCC	33CCFF
33FF00	33FF33	33FF66	33FF99	33FFCC	33FFFF
660000	660033	660066	660099	6600CC	6600FF
663300	663333	663366	663399	6633CC	6633FF
666600	666633	666666	666699	6666CC	6666FF
669900	669933	669966	669999	6699CC	6699FF
66CC00	66CC33	66CC66	66CC99	66CCCC	66CCFF
66FF00	66FF33	66FF66	66FF99	66FFCC	66FFFF
990000	990033	990066	990099	9900CC	9900FF
993300	993333	993366	993399	9933CC	9933FF
996600	996633	996666	996699	9966CC	9966FF
999900	999933	999966	999999	9999CC	9999FF
99CC00	99CC33	99CC66	99CC99	99CCCC	99CCFF
99FF00	99FF33	99FF66	99FF99	99FFCC	99FFFF
CC0000	CC0033	CC0066	CC0099	CC00CC	CC00FF
CC3300	CC3333	CC3366	CC3399	CC33CC	CC33FF
CC6600	CC6633	CC6666	CC6699	CC66CC	CC66FF
CC9900	CC9933	CC9966	CC9999	CC99CC	CC99FF
CCCC00	CCCC33	CCCC66	CCCC99	CCCCCC	CCCCFF
CCFF00	CCFF33	CCFF66	CCFF99	CCFFCC	CCFFFF
FF0000	FF0033	FF0066	FF0099	FF00CC	FF00FF
FF3300	FF3333	FF3366	FF3399	FF33CC	FF33FF
FF6600	FF6633	FF6666	FF6699	FF66CC	FF66FF
FF9900	FF9933	FF9966	FF9999	FF99CC	FF99FF
FFCC00	FFCC33	FFCC66	FFCC99	FFCCCC	FFCCFF
FFFF00	FFFF33	FFFF66	FFFF99	FFFFCC	FFFFFF

Sr.No.	Value & Description
1	none NA
2	disc (default) A filled-in circle
3	circle An empty circle
4	square A filled-in square

Value	Description	Example
decimal	Number	1,2,3,4,5
decimal-leading-zero	0 before the number	01, 02, 03, 04, 05
lower-alpha	Lowercase alphanumeric characters	a, b, c, d, e
upper-alpha	Uppercase alphanumeric characters	A, B, C, D, E
lower-roman	Lowercase Roman numerals	i, ii, iii, iv, v
upper-roman	Uppercase Roman numerals	I, II, III, IV, V
lower-greek	The marker is lower-greek	alpha, beta, gamma
lower-latin	The marker is lower-latin	a, b, c, d, e
upper-latin	The marker is upper-latin	A, B, C, D, E
hebrew	The marker is traditional Hebrew numbering
armenian	The marker is traditional Armenian numbering
georgian	The marker is traditional Georgian numbering
cjk-ideographic	The marker is plain ideographic numbers
hiragana	The marker is hiragana	a, i, u, e, o, ka, ki
katakana	The marker is katakana	A, I, U, E, O, KA, KI
hiragana-iroha	The marker is hiragana-iroha	i, ro, ha, ni, ho, he, to
katakana-iroha	The marker is katakana-iroha	I, RO, HA, NI, HO, HE, TO

1	auto Shape of the cursor depends on the context area it is over. For example an I over text, a hand over a link, and so on...
2	crosshair A crosshair or plus sign
3	default An arrow
4	pointer A pointing hand (in IE 4 this value is hand)
5	move The I bar
6	e-resize The cursor indicates that an edge of a box is to be moved right (east)
7	ne-resize The cursor indicates that an edge of a box is to be moved up and right (north/east)
8	nw-resize The cursor indicates that an edge of a box is to be moved up and left (north/west)
9	n-resize The cursor indicates that an edge of a box is to be moved up (north)
10	se-resize The cursor indicates that an edge of a box is to be moved down and right (south/east)
11	sw-resize The cursor indicates that an edge of a box is to be moved down and left (south/west)
12	s-resize The cursor indicates that an edge of a box is to be moved down (south)
13	w-resize The cursor indicates that an edge of a box is to be moved left (west)
14	text The I bar
15	wait An hour glass
16	help A question mark or balloon, ideal for use over help buttons
17	<url> The source of a cursor image file

1	visible Allows the content to overflow the borders of its containing element.
2	hidden The content of the nested element is simply cut off at the border of the containing element and no scrollbars is visible.
3	scroll The size of the containing element does not change, but the scrollbars are added to allow the user to scroll to see the content.
4	auto The purpose is the same as scroll, but the scrollbar will be shown only if the content does overflow.

Sr.No.	Value & Description
1	:link Use this class to add special style to an unvisited link.
2	:visited Use this class to add special style to a visited link.
3	:hover Use this class to add special style to an element when you mouse over it.
4	:active Use this class to add special style to an active element.
5	:focus Use this class to add special style to an element while the element has focus.
6	:first-child Use this class to add special style to an element that is the first child of some other element.
7	:lang Use this class to specify a language to use in a specified element.

Color	Color HEX
	#000
	#F00
	#0F0
	#0FF
	#FF0
	#0FF
	#F0F
	#FFF

1	opacity Level of the opacity. 0 is fully transparent, 100 is fully opaque.
2	finishopacity Level of the opacity at the other end of the object.
3	style The shape of the opacity gradient. 0 = uniform 1 = linear 2 = radial 3 = rectangular
4	startX X coordinate for opacity gradient to begin.
5	startY Y coordinate for opacity gradient to begin.
6	finishX X coordinate for opacity gradient to end.
7	finishY Y coordinate for opacity gradient to end.

Sr.No.	Parameter & Description
1	color The color, in #RRGGBB format, of the dropshadow.
2	offX Number of pixels the drop shadow is offset from the visual object, along the x-axis. Positive integers move the drop shadow to the right, negative integers move the drop shadow to the left.
3	offY Number of pixels the drop shadow is offset from the visual object, along the y-axis. Positive integers move the drop shadow down, negative integers move the drop shadow up.
4	positive If true, all opaque pixels of the object have a dropshadow. If false, all transparent pixels have a dropshadow. The default is true.

Sr.No.	Parameter & Description
1	add A value of 1 adds the original image to the waved image, 0 does not.
2	freq The number of waves.
3	light The strength of the light on the wave (from 0 to 100).
4	phase At what degree the sine wave should start (from 0 to 100).
5	strength The intensity of the wave effect.

Sr.No.	Value & Description
1	:first-line Use this element to add special styles to the first line of the text in a selector.
2	:first-letter Use this element to add special style to the first letter of the text in a selector.
3	:before Use this element to insert some content before an element.
4	:after Use this element to insert some content after an element.

Sr.No.	Value & Description
1	all Suitable for all devices.
2	aural Intended for speech synthesizers.
3	braille Intended for braille tactile feedback devices.
4	embossed Intended for paged braille printers.
5	handheld Intended for handheld devices (typically small screen, monochrome, limited bandwidth).
6	print Intended for paged, opaque material and for documents viewed on screen in print preview mode. Please consult the section on paged media.
7	projection Intended for projected presentations, for example projectors or print to transparencies. Please consult the section on paged media.
8	screen Intended primarily for color computer screens.
9	tty Intended for media using a fixed-pitch character grid, such as teletypes, terminals, or portable devices with limited display capabilities.
10	tv Intended for television-type devices.

Sr.No.	Value & Description
1	border-radius Use this element for setting four boarder radius property
2	border-top-left-radius Use this element for setting the boarder of top left corner
3	border-top-right-radius Use this element for setting the boarder of top right corner
4	border-bottom-right-radius Use this element for setting the boarder of bottom right corner
5	border-bottom-left-radius Use this element for setting the boarder of bottom left corner

Sr.No.	Value & Description
1	border-image-source Used to set the image path
2	border-image-slice Used to slice the boarder image
3	border-image-width Used to set the boarder image width
4	border-image-repeat Used to set the boarder image as rounded, repeated and stretched

Sr.No.	Value & Description
1	background Used to setting all the background image properties in one section
2	background-clip Used to declare the painting area of the background
3	background-image Used to specify the background image
4	background-origin Used to specify position of the background images
5	background-size Used to specify size of the background images

Sr.No.	Value & Description
1	text-align-last Used to align the last line of the text
2	text-emphasis Used to emphasis text and color
3	text-overflow used to determines how overflowed content that is not displayed is signaled to users
4	word-break Used to break the line based on word
5	word-wrap Used to break the line and wrap onto next line

1	TrueType Fonts (TTF) TrueType is an outline font standard developed by Apple and Microsoft in the late 1980s, It became most common fonts for both windows and MAC operating systems.
2	OpenType Fonts (OTF) OpenType is a format for scalable computer fonts and developed by Microsoft
3	The Web Open Font Format (WOFF) WOFF is used for develop web page and developed in the year of 2009. Now it is using by W3C recommendation.
4	SVG Fonts/Shapes SVG allow SVG fonts within SVG documentation. We can also apply CSS to SVG with font face property.
5	Embedded OpenType Fonts (EOT) EOT is used to develop the web pages and it has embedded in webpages so no need to allow 3rd party fonts

Sr.No.	Value & Description
1	font-family Used to defines the name of font
2	src Used to defines the URL
3	font-stretch Used to find, how font should be stretched
4	font-style Used to defines the fonts style
5	font-weight Used to defines the font weight(boldness)

1	matrix(n,n,n,n,n,n) Used to defines matrix transforms with six values
2	translate(x,y) Used to transforms the element along with x-axis and y-axis
3	translateX(n) Used to transforms the element along with x-axis
4	translateY(n) Used to transforms the element along with y-axis
5	scale(x,y) Used to change the width and height of element
6	scaleX(n) Used to change the width of element
7	scaleY(n) Used to change the height of element
8	rotate(angle) Used to rotate the element based on an angle
9	skewX(angle) Used to defines skew transforms along with x axis
10	skewY(angle) Used to defines skew transforms along with y axis

1	matrix3d(n,n,n,n,n,n,n,n,n,n,n,n,n,n,n,n) Used to transforms the element by using 16 values of matrix
2	translate3d(x,y,z) Used to transforms the element by using x-axis,y-axis and z-axis
3	translateX(x) Used to transforms the element by using x-axis
4	translateY(y) Used to transforms the element by using y-axis
5	translateZ(z) Used to transforms the element by using y-axis
6	scaleX(x) Used to scale transforms the element by using x-axis
7	scaleY(y) Used to scale transforms the element by using y-axis
8	scaleY(y) Used to transforms the element by using z-axis
9	rotateX(angle) Used to rotate transforms the element by using x-axis
10	rotateY(angle) Used to rotate transforms the element by using y-axis
11	rotateZ(angle) Used to rotate transforms the element by using z-axis

CSS - Quick Guide

What is CSS?

Who Creates and Maintains CSS?

CSS Versions

CSS - Syntax

The Type Selectors

The Universal Selectors

The Descendant Selectors

The Class Selectors

The ID Selectors

The Child Selectors

The Attribute Selectors

Multiple Style Rules

Grouping Selectors

CSS - Inclusion

Attributes

Inline CSS - The style Attribute

Attributes

Example

External CSS - The <link> Element

Attributes

Example

Imported CSS - @import Rule

Example

CSS Rules Overriding

Handling old Browsers

CSS Comments

Example

CSS - Measurement Units

CSS - Colors

CSS Colors - Hex Codes

CSS Colors - Short Hex Codes

CSS Colors - RGB Values

Building Color Codes

Browser Safe Colors

CSS - Backgrounds

Set the Background Color

Set the Background Image

Repeat the Background Image

Set the Background Image Position

Set the Background Attachment

Shorthand Property

CSS - Fonts

Set the Font Family

Set the Font Style

Set the Font Variant

Set the Font Weight

Set the Font Size

Set the Font Size Adjust

Set the Font Stretch

Shorthand Property

CSS - Text

Set the Text Color

Set the Text Direction

Set the Space between Characters

Set the Space between Words

Set the Text Indent

Set the Text Alignment

Decorating the Text

Set the Text Cases

Set the White Space between Text

Set the Text Shadow

CSS - Using Images

The Image Border Property

The Image Height Property

The Image Width Property

The -moz-opacity Property

CSS - Links

Set the Color of Links

Set the Color of Visited Links

Change the Color of Links when Mouse is Over

Change the Color of Active Links

CSS - Tables

The border-collapse Property

The border-spacing Property

The caption-side Property

The empty-cells Property

The table-layout Property

CSS - Borders

The border-style Property

1	column-count Used to count the number of columns that element should be divided.
2	column-fill Used to decide, how to fill the columns.
3	column-gap Used to decide the gap between the columns.
4	column-rule Used to specifies the number of rules.
5	rule-color Used to specifies the column rule color.
6	rule-style Used to specifies the style rule for column.
7	rule-width Used to specifies the width.
8	column-span Used to specifies the span between columns.

1	appearance Used to allow the user to make elements as user interface elements.
2	box-sizing Allows to users to fix elements on area in clear way.
3	icon Used to provide the icon on area.
4	resize Used to resize elements which are on area.
5	outline-offset Used to draw the behind the outline.
6	nav-down Used to move down when you have pressed on down arrow button in keypad.
7	nav-left Used to move left when you have pressed on left arrow button in keypad.
8	nav-right Used to move right when you have pressed on right arrow button in keypad.
9	nav-up Used to move up when you have pressed on up arrow button in keypad.