These are 10 small CSS tips that can actually help you in projects. If you would like to request more tips, let me know in the comments section.
1. Smooth Scrolling
When you visit some websites and try to go to different sections, it scrolls smoothly to that section. You can achieve this feature on your website by using one line of CSS.
Note: this will not work in Safari!
html {
scroll-behavior: smooth;
}
Live Example
2. Prevent <textarea> Resize
You can use the resize property to prevent a <textarea> element from being resized (or limit it to one axis).
textarea.no-resize {
resize: none;
}
textarea.horizontal-resize {
resize: horizontal;
}
textarea.vertical-resize {
resize: vertical;
}
Live Example
3. Drop Cap
You can add a drop cap to a paragraph by using the ::first-letter pseudo-element.
::first-letter {
font-size: 250%;
}
Live Example
4. Drop Shadow
You can use the drop-shadow() filter effect on transparent images. It will give a much better shadow effect than using the box-shadow property.
img {
filter: drop-shadow(0 0 3px #000);
}
Live Example
5. Center Any <div> Element
It can sometimes be difficult to center a <div> element on the page, but not with this tip. You can center any <div> element on the page using a few lines of CSS code.
body {
display: grid;
place-items: center;
}
Live Example
6. Input Caret Color
You can use the caret-color property to change the color of the input field caret.
input {
caret-color: red;
}
Live Example
7. Prevent Highlighting
This one is similar to #2, but you can use the user-select property to prevent an element from being highlighted by the user.
.no-highlight {
-webkit-user-select: none;
-moz-user-select: none;
user-select: none;
}
Live Example
8. Input Range Pseudo-Classes
The lesser-known :in-range and :out-of-range pseudo-classes can help you validate an <input> element whose current value is within the range specified by its min and max attributes.
input:in-range {
background: rgba(0, 255, 0, .25);
}
input:out-of-range {
background: rgba(255, 0, 0, .25);
}
Live Example
9. Image Overlay
You can create an image overlay using the object-fit property. This can prove to be useful when you want to create a hero image on your website.
.image-overlay img:only-of-type:nth-child(1) {
object-fit: cover;
opacity: .4;
}
Live Example
10. The transition Property
You might know this one already, but what if I told you that there was a way to animate elements without the use of keyframes? The transition property allows you to define the transition between two states of an element. It is mostly used for hover animations.
a {
color: #0d6efd;
text-decoration: none;
-webkit-transition: .15s ease-in-out;
-moz-transition: .15s ease-in-out;
transition: .15s ease-in-out;
}
a:hover {
color: #0a58ca;
}
Live Example
Top comments (21)
I consider #7 evil. LOL
I hate it when I cannot steal text from the internet. ;)
Guys press F12 and copy it from the inspector. Work smart, not hard!
I hate that too when it's used in the wrong place. However, I think there's a time and place for it. For example, you might wanna use it on a display copy where allowing text selection might interfere with other interactive elements.
a useful example of the user-select is user-select: all; - use it to auto select a block which is a target for copy or drag
eg. here is [URL] click and select the whole URL and copy (if it wasn’t useful to follow it)
I don't steal text because its illegal btw I hate it too
Lol! Me too!
Some amazing features here which I had no idea existed ... CSS is insanely vast as a topic. BTW am I the only one who finds so called "smooth scrolling" incredibly annoying on websites? That's one feature which in all likelihood I'll never ever use.
#8 is quite interesting. A lot is going on that one would no longer need to do with JS after seeing this trick. Even the text of the validation label changes when needed, as seen below. 😎🤩
input#value:in-range + label#value-status::after {content: 'okay.';
}
Please consider adding caniuse references or similar. CSS is amazing but almost every ‘awesome tips’ or ‘little known’ features article I see includes stuff that is not fully supported by all browsers. Even modern, evergreens.
Excuse me but what are caniuse references?
Entries on caniuse.com/ or similar sites which detail the support for particular CSS rules, web APIs etc.
Same! I don't like it either, what's more - I don't even see the point of it ... as a user I think, "my scroll wheel and mouse and its native/natural behavior are mine, don't mess with it!" It irks me greatly when a website is doing that :-)
Thank you! This has become my most successful post, and I would like to thank everyone for reacting and commenting!
Yeah man I also don't fully understand it! But there's a certain kind of "scrolling behavior" that I witnessed on some websites, and it's super annoying, although the site creators probably thought it was cool. Maybe that's smooth scrolling, or maybe it isn't :-)
But the example given here of smooth scrolling falls more or less in that same category, I don't like it either.
Yea, I've done that too, but it's a pain.
That fits my definition of evil; making you do more work than is necessary. lol
Thanks!!
Great tips!