Links can be styled in different ways.
Styling Links
Links can be styled with any CSS property (e.g. color, font-family, background, etc.).
Special for links are that they can be styled differently depending on what state they are in.
The four links states are:
- 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
Example
<html>
<head>
<style type="text/css">
a:link {color:#FF0000;} /* unvisited link */
a:visited {color:#00FF00;} /* visited link */
a:hover {color:#FF00FF;} /* mouse over link */
a:active {color:#0000FF;} /* selected link */
</style>
</head>
<body>
<p><b><a href="default.asp" target="_blank">This is a link</a></b></p>
<p><b>Note:</b> a:hover MUST come after a:link and a:visited in the CSS
definition in order to be effective.</p>
<p><b>Note:</b> a:active MUST come after a:hover in the CSS definition in order
to be effective.</p>
</body>
</html>
Try it yourself in Notepad or Dreamweaver by coping and pasting the code above.
Result:
Note: a:hover MUST come after a:link and a:visited in the CSS definition in order to be effective.
Note: a:active MUST come after a:hover in the CSS definition in order to be effective.
When setting the style for several link states, there are some order rules:
- a:hover MUST come after a:link and a:visited
- a:active MUST come after a:hover
Common Link Styles
In the example above the link changes color depending on what state it is in.
Lets go through some of the other common ways to style links:
Text Decoration
The text-decoration property is mostly used to remove underlines from links:
Example
<html>
<head>
<style type="text/css">
a:link {text-decoration:none;} /* unvisited link */
a:visited {text-decoration:none;} /* visited link */
a:hover {text-decoration:underline;} /* mouse over link */
a:active {text-decoration:underline;} /* selected link */
</style>
</head>
<body>
<p><b><a href="default.asp" target="_blank">This is a link</a></b></p>
<p><b>Note:</b> a:hover MUST come after a:link and a:visited in the CSS
definition in order to be effective.</p>
<p><b>Note:</b> a:active MUST come after a:hover in the CSS definition in order
to be effective.</p>
</body>
</html>
Try it yourself in Notepad or Dreamweaver by coping and pasting the code above.
Background Color
The background-color property specifies the background color for links:
Example
<html>
<head>
<style type="text/css">
a:link {background-color:#B2FF99;} /* unvisited link */
a:visited {background-color:#FFFF85;} /* visited link */
a:hover {background-color:#FF704D;} /* mouse over link */
a:active {background-color:#FF704D;} /* selected link */
</style>
</head>
<body>
<p><b><a href="default.asp" target="_blank">This is a link</a></b></p>
<p><b>Note:</b> a:hover MUST come after a:link and a:visited in the CSS
definition in order to be effective.</p>
<p><b>Note:</b> a:active MUST come after a:hover in the CSS definition in order
to be effective.</p>
</body>
</html>
Try it yourself in Notepad or Dreamweaver by coping and pasting the code above.
This is a link
Note: a:hover MUST come after a:link and a:visited in the CSS definition in order to be effective.
Note: a:active MUST come after a:hover in the CSS definition in order to be effective.
More Examples
Add different styles to hyperlinks
This example demonstrates how to add other styles to hyperlinks.
Example
<html>
<head>
<style type="text/css">
a.one:link {color:#ff0000;}
a.one:visited {color:#0000ff;}
a.one:hover {color:#ffcc00;}
a.two:link {color:#ff0000;}
a.two:visited {color:#0000ff;}
a.two:hover {font-size:150%;}
a.three:link {color:#ff0000;}
a.three:visited {color:#0000ff;}
a.three:hover {background:#66ff66;}
a.four:link {color:#ff0000;}
a.four:visited {color:#0000ff;}
a.four:hover {font-family:monospace;}
a.five:link {color:#ff0000;text-decoration:none;}
a.five:visited {color:#0000ff;text-decoration:none;}
a.five:hover {text-decoration:underline;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<p>Mouse over the links to see them change layout.</p>
<p><b><a class="one" href="default.asp" target="_blank">This link changes color</a></b></p>
<p><b><a class="two" href="default.asp" target="_blank">This link changes font-size</a></b></p>
<p><b><a class="three" href="default.asp" target="_blank">This link changes background-color</a></b></p>
<p><b><a class="four" href="default.asp" target="_blank">This link changes font-family</a></b></p>
<p><b><a class="five" href="default.asp" target="_blank">This link changes text-decoration</a></b></p>
</body>
</html>
Try it yourself in Notepad or Dreamweaver by coping and pasting the code above.
Advanced - Create link boxes
This example demonstrates a more advanced example where we combine several CSS properties to display links as boxes.
Example
<html>
<head>
<style type="text/css">
a:link,a:visited
{
display:block;
font-weight:bold;
color:#FFFFFF;
background-color:#98bf21;
width:120px;
text-align:center;
padding:4px;
text-decoration:none;
}
a:hover,a:active
{
background-color:#7A991A;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<a href="default.asp" target="_blank">This is a link</a>
</body>
</html>
Try it yourself in Notepad or Dreamweaver by coping and pasting the code above.
