title: Styling Links
Styling Links
Links can be styled with any CSS property, such as color
, font-family
, font-size
, and padding
.
Here is an easy example:
a {
color: hotpink;
}
In addition, links can be styled differently depending on what state they are in.
Links also have 4 states, and many programmers style each state differently.
The four states are:
a:link
: an unvisited, unclicked linka:visited
: a visited, clicked linka:hover
: a link when the user’s mouse is over ita:active
: a link when it is clicked
The <a href="">
property is responsible for creating URLs and can be modified using a number of CSS styling properties, although it has a few by default:
- Underline
- Blue color
You can change these by adding or changing the color
and text-decoration
properties.
color: black; text-decoration: none;
You can also style the link based on interaction using these properties, also known as link states:
- a:link – a normal, unvisited link
- a:visited – a link the user has visited
- a:hover – a link when the user mouses over it
- a:active – a link the moment it is clicked
Here is some sample CSS using the 4 states:
a:link { color: red; }
a:visited { color: blue; }
a:hover { color: green; }
a:active { color: blue; }
Note that there are some ordering rules for when you are setting the style for link states.
a:hover
MUST come aftera:link
anda:visited
a:active
MUST come aftera:hover
a:link – a normal, unvisited link
a:visited – a link the user has visited
a:hover – a link when the user mouses over it
a:active – a link the moment it is clicked
/* unvisited link */
a:link {
color: red;
}
/* visited link */
a:visited {
color: green;
}
/* mouse over link */
a:hover {
color: hotpink;
}
/* selected link */
a:active {
color: blue;
}