# CSS Pseudo-elements

## 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 W3C 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 ::first-line pseudo-element can only be applied to block elements.

## Example

Format the first line of the text in all <p> elements:

p::first-line {
color: #ff0000;
font-variant: small-caps;
}
Try it yourself »

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

## Example

Format the first letter of the text in all <p> elements:

p::first-letter {
color: #ff0000;
font-size: xx-large;
}
Try it yourself »

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

- 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 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 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 »

## All CSS Pseudo Elements

Selector | Example | Example description
--- | --- | ---
::after | p::after | Insert content after every <p> element
::before | p::before | Insert content before every <p> element
::first-letter | p::first-letter | Selects the first letter of every <p> element
::first-line | p::first-line | Selects the first line of every <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

### WEB HOSTING

UK Reseller Hosting

### WEB BUILDING

FREE Website BUILDER Free HTML5 Templates

### W3SCHOOLS EXAMS

HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, jQuery, XML, and ASP Certifications

### SHARE THIS PAGE

### Color Picker

### HTML/CSS

HTML Tutorial HTML5 Tutorial CSS Tutorial CSS3 Tutorial Bootstrap Tutorial

### JavaScript

JavaScript Tutorial jQuery Tutorial jQuery Mobile Tutorial AngularJS Tutorial AJAX Tutorial JSON Tutorial

### Graphics

Canvas Tutorial SVG Tutorial Google Maps Tutorial

### Server Side

SQL Tutorial PHP Tutorial ASP Tutorial ASP.NET Tutorial VBScript Tutorial AppML Tutorial

### Web

Web Building Web Statistics Web Certification

### XML

XML Tutorial DTD Tutorial Schema Tutorial XML DOM Tutorial XPath Tutorial XSLT Tutorial XQuery Tutorial XSL-FO Tutorial RSS Tutorial WSDL Tutorial

### HTML/CSS

HTML Tag Reference HTML Event Reference HTML Color Reference CSS 1,2,3 Reference Bootstrap Reference

### JavaScript

JavaScript Reference HTML DOM Reference jQuery Reference jQuery Mobile Reference Google Maps Reference

### Server Side

PHP Reference SQL Reference ASP Reference VBScript Reference Razor Reference ASP.NET Reference

### XML

XML DOM Reference XSLT Reference XSL-FO Reference XPath Reference XQuery Reference Schema Reference RSS Reference SVG Reference

### HTML Charsets

HTML Character Sets HTML ASCII HTML ANSI HTML Windows-1252 HTML ISO-8859-1 HTML Symbols HTML UTF-8

### HTML/CSS

HTML Examples CSS Examples

### Browser Scripting

JavaScript Examples HTML DOM Examples jQuery Examples jQuery Mobile Examples AngularJS Examples AJAX Examples

### Server Scripting

PHP Examples ASP Examples VBScript Examples Razor Examples .NET Examples

### XML Languages

XML Examples DTD Examples XML DOM Examples XSL Examples XSLT Examples XPath Examples XQuery Examples Schema Examples RSS Examples SVG Examples