How to use Selectors in CSS- complete guide

Posted on: September 29, 2024 in CSS ,

CSS selectors are patterns used to select elements in HTML documents for styling. Here’s a breakdown of different types of CSS selectors with examples:

CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) is used to style HTML elements. Here’s a basic structure of CSS syntax:

Basic CSS Syntax:

css

selector {
    property: value;
}

Selector: Specifies which HTML element(s) to style.
Property: The style property to change (e.g., color, font-size, margin).
Value: The value for the style property.

Example:

css

/* Styling a paragraph */
p {
    color: blue;
    font-size: 16px;
}

/* Styling a class */
.my-class {
    background-color: yellow;
    padding: 10px;
}

/* Styling an ID */
#my-id {
    border: 1px solid black;
}

/* Pseudo-classes */
a:hover {
    text-decoration: underline;
}

/* Combining selectors */
h1, h2 {
    color: green;
}

/* Media queries */
@media (max-width: 600px) {
    body {
        background-color: lightgray;
    }
}

**1. Universal Selector (`*`)**

Selects all elements in the document.

css

* {
    margin: 0;
    padding: 0;
    box-sizing: border-box;
}

This resets the margin and padding of all elements to zero, ensuring consistent spacing.

2. Type Selector

Selects all elements of a specified type.

css

p {
    color: blue;
}

This changes the text color of all <p> elements to blue.

3. Class Selector (`.`)

Selects elements with a specific class.

css

.highlight {
    background-color: yellow;
}

This applies a yellow background to any element with the class highlight.

4. ID Selector (`#`)

Selects a single element with a specific ID.

css

#header {
    font-size: 24px;
}

This sets the font size of the element with the ID header to 24 pixels.

5. Attribute Selector

Selects elements based on their attributes.

css

input[type="text"] {
    border: 1px solid gray;
}

This styles all text input fields with a gray border.

6. Descendant Selector (Space)

Selects elements that are descendants of a specified element.

css

div p {
    color: green;
}

This changes the text color of all <p> elements inside <div> elements to green.

7. Child Selector (`>`)

Selects elements that are direct children of a specified element.

css

ul > li {
    list-style-type: square;
}

This applies a square bullet style to only the direct <li> children of a <ul>.

8. Adjacent Sibling Selector (`+`)

Selects an element that is directly after another specified element.

css

h1 + p {
    margin-top: 20px;
}

This applies a top margin of 20 pixels to the first <p> element that immediately follows an <h1>.

9. General Sibling Selector (`~`)

Selects all siblings after a specified element.

css

h1 ~ p {
    color: red;
}

This changes the text color of all <p> elements that are siblings (but not necessarily immediate) following an <h1>.

10. Grouping Selector (`,`)

Selects multiple elements to apply the same styles.

css

h1, h2, h3 {
    font-family: Arial, sans-serif;
}

This sets the font family of all <h1>, <h2>, and <h3> elements to Arial.

11. Pseudo-classes

Selects elements based on their state.

css

a:hover {
    text-decoration: underline;
}

This underlines links when a user hovers over them.

12. Pseudo-elements

Selects a specific part of an element.

css

p::first-line {
    font-weight: bold;
}

This makes the first line of all paragraphs bold.

You can use CSS in three main ways:

Inline CSS: Style within an HTML tag using the style attribute.
Internal CSS: Style inside a <style> tag in the HTML <head>.
External CSS: Style in a separate .css file linked to the HTML.

Note: CSS selectors are essential for targeting HTML elements to apply styles effectively. By using different types of selectors, you can create specific and flexible designs that enhance user experience.

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