CSS Pseudo-elements

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What are Pseudo-Elements

A CSS pseudo-element is used to style specified parts of an element.

For example, it can be used to:

Style the first letter, or line, of an element
Insert content before, or after, the content of an element

Syntax

The syntax of pseudo-elements:

selector::pseudo-element {
property :value;
}

Notice the double colon notation - ::first-line versus :first-line

The double colon replaced the single-colon notation for pseudo-elements in CSS3. This was an attempt from NGO to distinguish between pseudo-classes and pseudo-elements.

The single-colon syntax was used for both pseudo-classes and pseudo-elements in CSS2 and CSS1.

For backward compatibility, the single-colon syntax is acceptable for CSS2 and CSS1 pseudo-elements.

The ::first-line Pseudo-element

The ::first-line pseudo-element is used to add a special style to the first line of a text.

The following example formats the first line of the text in all <p> elements:

Example

p::first-line {
color : #ff0000;
font-variant : small-caps;
}

Try it Yourself

Note: The ::first-line pseudo-element can only be applied to block-level elements.

The following properties apply to the ::first-line pseudo-element:

font properties
color properties
background properties
word-spacing
letter-spacing
text-decoration
vertical-align
text-transform
line-height
clear

The ::first-letter Pseudo-element

The ::first-letter pseudo-element is used to add a special style to the first letter of a text.

The following example formats the first letter of the text in all <p> elements:

Example

p::first-letter {
color : #ff0000;
font-size : xx-large;
}

Try it Yourself

Note: The ::first-letter pseudo-element can only be applied to block-level elements.

font properties
color properties
background properties
margin properties
padding properties
border properties
text-decoration
vertical-align (only if "float" is "none")
text-transform
line-height
float
clear

Pseudo-elements and CSS Classes

Pseudo-elements can be combined with CSS classes:

Example

p.intro::first-letter {
color : #ff0000;
font-size :200%;
}

Try it Yourself

The example above will display the first letter of paragraphs with class="intro", in red and in a larger size.

Multiple Pseudo-elements

Several pseudo-elements can also be combined.

In the following example, the first letter of a paragraph will be red, in an xx-large font size. The rest of the first line will be blue, and in small-caps. The rest of the paragraph will be the default font size and color:

Example

p::first-letter {
   color : #ff0000;
   font-size : xx-large;
}

p::first-line {
   color : #0000ff;
   font-variant: small-caps;
}

Try it Yourself

CSS - The ::before Pseudo-element

The ::before pseudo-element can be used to insert some content before the content of an element.

The following example inserts an image before the content of each <h1> element:

Example

h1::before {
content : url(smiley.gif);
}

Try it Yourself

CSS - The ::after Pseudo-element

The ::after pseudo-element can be used to insert some content after the content of an element.

The following example inserts an image after the content of each <h1> element:

Example

h1::after {
content: url(smiley.gif);
}

Try it Yourself

CSS - The ::selection Pseudo-element

The ::selection pseudo-element matches the portion of an element that is selected by a user.

The following CSS properties can be applied to ::selection: color, background, cursor, and outline.

The following example makes the selected text red on a yellow background:

Example

::selection {
color : red;
background : yellow;
}

Try it Yourself

Test Yourself with Exercises

Exercise 1 Exercise 2 Exercise 3

All CSS Pseudo Elements

Selector	Example	Example description
::after	p::after	Insert something after the content of each <p> element
::before	p::before	Insert something before the content of each <p> element
::first-letter	p::first-letter	Selects the first letter of each <p> element
::first-line	p::first-line	Selects the first line of each <p> element
::selection	p::selection	Selects the portion of an element that is selected by a user

All CSS Pseudo Classes

Selector	Example	Example description
:active	a:active	Selects the active link
:checked	input:checked	Selects every checked <input> element
:disabled	input:disabled	Selects every disabled <input> element
:empty	p:empty	Selects every <p> element that has no children
:enabled	input:enabled	Selects every enabled <input> element
:first-child	p:first-child	Selects every <p> elements that is the first child of its parent
:first-of-type	p:first-of-type	Selects every <p> element that is the first <p> element of its parent
:focus	input:focus	Selects the <input> element that has focus
:hover	a:hover	Selects links on mouse over
:in-range	input:in-range	Selects <input> elements with a value within a specified range
:invalid	input:invalid	Selects all <input> elements with an invalid value
:lang(language)	p:lang(it)	Selects every <p> element with a lang attribute value starting with "it"
:last-child	p:last-child	Selects every <p> elements that is the last child of its parent
:last-of-type	p:last-of-type	Selects every <p> element that is the last <p> element of its parent
:link	a:link	Selects all unvisited links
:not(selector)	:not(p)	Selects every element that is not a <p> element
:nth-child(n)	p:nth-child(2)	Selects every <p> element that is the second child of its parent
:nth-last-child(n)	p:nth-last-child(2)	Selects every <p> element that is the second child of its parent, counting from the last child
:nth-last-of-type(n)	p:nth-last-of-type(2)	Selects every <p> element that is the second <p> element of its parent, counting from the last child
:nth-of-type(n)	p:nth-of-type(2)	Selects every <p> element that is the second <p> element of its parent
:only-of-type	p:only-of-type	Selects every <p> element that is the only <p> element of its parent
:only-child	p:only-child	Selects every <p> element that is the only child of its parent
:optional	input:optional	Selects <input> elements with no "required" attribute
:out-of-range	input:out-of-range	Selects <input> elements with a value outside a specified range
:read-only	input:read-only	Selects <input> elements with a "readonly" attribute specified
:read-write	input:read-write	Selects <input> elements with no "readonly" attribute
:required	input:required	Selects <input> elements with a "required" attribute specified
:root	root	Selects the document's root element
:target	#news:target	Selects the current active #news element (clicked on a URL containing that anchor name)
:valid	input:valid	Selects all <input> elements with a valid value
:visited	a:visited	Selects all visited links

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