Useful CSS Selectors You Might Not Know

CSS selectors play a vital role in web development and are used for web page styling. While many people are familiar with common selectors, there are some less common but very useful selectors.

What are CSS selectors?

CSS selectors are patterns used to select elements on a web page for styling. They can locate elements based on attributes, classes, IDs, etc.

Commonly used CSS selectors

Here are some commonly used selectors:

• Element Selector: Targets all elements of a specific type. For example, to style all <div> elements: <pre class="brush:php;toolbar:false">&lt;code&gt;div { border: 1px solid black; }&lt;/code&gt;</pre> <ul> <li> <strong>Class selector</strong>: Selects elements with a specific class. If we have a class called "text-large": </li> </ul> <pre class="brush:php;toolbar:false">&lt;code&gt;.text-large { font-size: 20px; }&lt;/code&gt;</pre> <ul> <li> <strong>ID selector</strong>: Targets elements with a specific ID. For element with ID "header": </li> </ul> <pre class="brush:php;toolbar:false">&lt;code&gt;#header { background-color: blue; }&lt;/code&gt;</pre> <ul> <li> <strong>Attribute selector</strong>: used for elements with specific attribute values. For example, to style all external links (using the "rel" attribute): </li> </ul> <pre class="brush:php;toolbar:false">&lt;code&gt;a[rel=&quot;external&quot;] { color: red; }&lt;/code&gt;</pre> <h2 id="Uncommon-but-useful-CSS-selectors">Uncommon but useful CSS selectors</h2> <h3 id="Child-selector-gt">Child selector (>)</h3> <p>It locates the direct child elements of the element. For parent elements with class "container": </p> <pre class="brush:php;toolbar:false">&lt;code&gt;.container &gt; p { margin-left: 10px; }&lt;/code&gt;</pre> <h3 id="Descendant-selector">Descendant selector ( )</h3> <p>This will select all descendants within the element. If we have a div with the ID "main" and want to style all <code><span></span> elements inside it:

  <code>#main span {
    color: green;
  }</code>

  Adjacent sibling selector ( )

  Selects an element that immediately follows another specific element. For example, after the <h3></h3> element, if there is a <p></p> element:

  <code>h3 + p {
    font-weight: bold;
  }</code>

  Universal sibling selector (~)

  Locate the sibling element of another element, not necessarily adjacent. If we have a div with class "item" and want to style all subsequent sibling elements with class "detail":

  <code>.item ~ .detail {
    padding-top: 5px;
  }</code>

  Attribute selector with partial matching (^=, $=, *=)

  • Starts with (^=): To set the style of all image sources starting with "https://www.php.cn/link/e2e1cbe72ab1192e395c35295763982a":

  <code>img[src^="https://www.php.cn/link/e2e1cbe72ab1192e395c35295763982a"] {
    border-radius: 5px;
  }</code>

  • ends with ($=): For all forms whose methods end with "post":

  <code>form[method$="post"] {
    background-color: #f0f0f0;
  }</code>

  • *contains (=)**: To style all links that contain "product" in their href attribute:

  <code>a[href*="product"] {
    text-decoration: underline;
  }</code>

  Negative pseudo-class (:not())

  It selects elements that do not match a certain selector. For example, all elements except elements with class "hidden":

  <code>:not(.hidden) {
    display: block;
  }</code>

  Target pseudo-class (:target)

  When the URL fragment matches the ID of the element. For the part of the URL with the ID "contact":

  <code>div {
    border: 1px solid black;
  }</code>

  Language pseudo-class (:lang())

  Locate elements based on language attributes. For elements with lang="en-US":

  <code>.text-large {
    font-size: 20px;
  }</code>

  has pseudo-class (:has())

  The

  :has() pseudo-class is used to select elements that contain specific child elements or descendant elements. For example, to style a div containing an image:

  <code>#header {
    background-color: blue;
  }</code>

  Selection pseudo-class (::selection)

  This pseudo-class allows you to style the portion of text selected by the user. For example, when the user selects some text in a paragraph:

  <code>a[rel="external"] {
    color: red;
  }</code>

  Conclusion

  These uncommon CSS selectors provide additional ways to precisely position and style elements. They enhance the flexibility and functionality of CSS code, making it more powerful and efficient at creating visually appealing and well-structured web pages.

  For more information, please visit https://www.php.cn/link/8dacd3d8b9d2cd20eb244b5f745ea88e