devxlogo

CSS Style Properties

CSS Style Properties

he symbol

means that the style property is not supported by Netscape Navigator 4.0.

The symbol

means that the style property is not supported by Internet Explorer 3.0.

The symbol

means that the style property is not supported by Internet Explorer 4.0.

If the symbol has an * after it, that means that the style property is only partially supported. Those values with a corresponding asteryx in front of them are the ones that don’t work.

NOTE: Netscape 4.0 does NOT support classes defined in the style declaration in the header when you set the class as a number, i.e. p.1 {font-size: 15pt} but it will work if the class is a letter. Don’t ask.

Netscape versions 3.0 and earlier support no style sheets. Keep in mind, though, that these discrepancies are contantly changing. Furthermore, the limitations that we list here are only the result of some preliminary testing on our part, and may not be correct in every case. P>

Text Properties

General Comments:  These properties let you control basic text formatting. Some of these can also be applied to non-text elements.

PropertyDescriptionValuesExample
text-transformSet the case of the text.capitalize
uppercase
lowercase
none
p {text-transform: capitalize}

Capitalizes the first character of each word in the paragraph.

H2 {text-transform: uppercase}

Displays all level two headlines in all uppercase characters.

vertical-alignAligns the element vertically to the baseline. Can be very useful with images.baseline
sub
super
top
text-top
middle
bottom
text-bottom
img {vertical-align: middle}

Places the image in the middle of the baseline.

text-alignAligns the element horizontally across the page or within divisionleft
right
center
justify
H3 {text-align: center}

Centers all level three headlines.

text-indentSets the amount of indent for the first line of a text blockXX units
%
p {text-indent: 2em}

Indents the first line of the paragraph 2 em spaces.

line-heightAlso known as “leading” or “line space.” Specifies the distance between baselines of consecutive lines of text.normal
XX units
%
p {line-height: 12pt}

Sets 12 points of space from baseline to baseline in paragraph.

word-spacing

  

Lets you control the space between words.normal
XX units
p {word-spacing:1pt}

Puts an extra 1 point of space between each word in the paragraph

letter-spacing

 

Lets you control the space between letters.normal
XX units
p {letter-spacing: 0}

Prevents any extra space from being added between letters in a paragraph.

text-decoration

 

Sets underlining, overlining, strike-through, or blink attributes for the element. Vendors may be adding their own text decoration formats, as well.underline
*overline
line-through
*blink
none
H1 {text-decoration: blink}

Make all level one headlines blink. We don’t recommend that you use blink at all! (and apparently, neither does Microsoft, which doesn’t support it.)

Font Properties

General Comments:  These properties let you control basic font characteristics.

PropertyDescriptionValuesExample
font-familySpecifies the font family, or typeface, to use for the element.

You can specify a series of names and the first available font is used.

family name
generic name:
serif
sans-serif
cursive
fantasy
monospace
p {font-family: futura, helvetica, arial, sans-serif}

Display the paragraph in Futura, if available. If not, try Helvetica, Arial, and finally, any sans-serif display.

font-styleSpecifies the style of type to use for the element.normal
italic
oblique
H2 {font-family: futura, helvetica, arial; font-style: italic}

Uses the italic variation of the typeface for all level two headlines.

font-variantLets you select the small caps style of the typeface.normal
small-caps
H2 {font-family: futura, helvetica, arial; font-variant: small-caps}

Uses the small-caps variation of the typeface for all level two headlines.

font-weightLets you select the weight or boldness of the font.lighter
normal
bold
bolder
100
200
300
...
900
blockquote {font-weight: bold}

Makes the blockquote bold.

font-sizeLet you select the size of the type in the font. Font size may be specified in absolute units or relative to the “current” size.XX units
%
larger
smaller
xx-small
x-small
small
medium
large
x-large
xx-large
p{font-size: 12pt}

displays the paragraph in 12 point type.

H1 {font-size: 150%}

Displays all level one headlines at 150% of their normal size.

Color and Background Properties
General Comments:  These properties let you control the color and background of elements.
PropertyDescriptionValuesExample
color

Sets the color of the element.color name
hex value

*rgb(R%, G%, B%)
*rgb(R, G, B)
p {color: red}

Displays the paragraph text in red.

background-color

Sets the color for the background of the element.color name
hex value
rgb(R%, G%, B%)
rgb(R, G, B)
H1 {background-color: green}

Displays the background area of all level one headlines in green. (The effect is like having a green bar behind the headline.)

background-image

Specifies an image to use for the background of an element.url(URLname)blockquote {background-image: url(..images/sand.gif)}

Displays the image “sand.gif” in the background area of the blockquote.

background-repeat

Specifies how and if a background image is repeated.repeat
repeat-x
repeat-y
no-repeat
blockquote {background-image: url(..images/sand.gif); background-repeat: repeat}

Displays the image “sand.gif” in the background area of the blockquote and repeats the image vertically and horizontally to fill the entire background area.

background-attachment

 

Lets you attach the background image so that it doesn’t scroll.scroll
fixed
blockquote {background-image: url(../images/sand.gif); background-attachment: fixed}

Displays the image “sand.gif” in the background area of the blockquote and prevents the image from scrolling.

background-position

 

Sets the initial position of the background image.vertical %
horizontal %
top
center
bottom
left
center
right
body {background-image: url(..images/sand.gif); background position: center center}

Centers the background image vertically and horizontally on the initial body screen.

Placement Properties

General Comments:  These properties let you specify where an element gets placed within its “box.”

PropertyDescriptionValuesExample
margin-top

**

Places the top margin of the element; you can use negative values.

**NOTE: For some reason, IE4.0 treats this style command like Netscape 4.0 treats the padding properties, i.e. it will add space to the top of every cellif done with a table. With

the property works normally.

XX units
%
auto
div {margin-top: 2em}

Displays the top margin of the division 2 em spaces down the page.

margin-bottom

**

Places the bottom margin of the element; you can use negative values.

**See the note for margin-top

XX units
%
auto
div {margin-bottom: 10%}

Places the bottom margin of the div element 10 percent down the page and diplays the element from the bottom up.

margin-leftPlaces the left margin of the element; you can use negative values.XX units
%
auto
div {margin-top: 6em}

Displays the left margin of the division 6 em spaces from the left of the page.

margin-rightPlaces the right margin of the element; you can use negative values.XX units
%
auto
div {margin-right: 1em}

Displays the right margin of the division 1 em space from the right edge of the page.

padding-top

 

Inserts padding at the top of the element. (Theoretically. We have only been able to make padding-top along with its related properties, work with tables.)XX units
%
auto
Table {padding-top: 12pt}

Inserts 12 points of space at the top of every cell in the table.

padding-bottom

 

Inserts padding at the bottom of the element.XX units
%
auto
Table {padding-bottom: 12pt}

Inserts 12 points of space at the bottom of every cell in the table.

padding-left

 

Inserts padding along the left side of the element.XX units
%
auto
Table {padding-left: 2em}

Inserts 2 em spaces at the left margin of every cell in the table.

padding-right

 

Inserts padding along the right side of the element.XX units
%
auto
Table {padding-right: 2em}

Inserts 2 em spaces at the right margin of every cell in the table.

 
A quick note about tables and the following border properties. As far as we could tell, only IE 4.0 would support border styles with its tables. However, the way it supported the tags is far from intuitive. If you put a border around a table, say table {border: thick double red} then the resulting table in IE4.0 will have a double thick red border around it and a double thick border, though not red, around each cell in the table. So, the table cells themselves only copy the width and style properties of the table property, not the color. The same thing happens when you specify a property for indivdual rows. That is, the width and style can be changed for the entire row, but for some reason, the color cannot be changed. Finally, in a surprising turn of events, using individual properties for table data works very well. In other words, td.a {border: thin double red} creates a nice double red border around any particular cell with class=a. Once again, though, this only works in IE4.0.
border-width

 **

Sets the width of the element’s border.

**NOTE: for some reason, the straight border-width tag does not produce a border in IE4.0. Other combinations of tags do, though.

thin
medium
thick
none
div {border-width: thin}

Displays a thin border around the division.

border-style


 

Sets the style of the element’s border.none
*dotted
*dashed
solid
double
groove
ridge
inset
outset
table {border-style: dashed}

Displays a dashed border around the table.

border-color

Sets the color of the element’s border.color name
hex value
rgb(R%, G%, B%)
rgb(R, G, B)
table {border-color: red}

Displays a red border around the table.

border
border-top
border-bottom
border-left
border-right

Sets the width, color, and style of the border simultaneouslywidth value
style value
color value
table {border: thick double red}

Displays a thick, double, red border around the table.

table {border-top: thin dashed red}

Diplays a thin, dashed, red border at the top of the table.

height

** 

Sets the height of the element.

**Note: We have had limited success (with Netscape; no success in IE3.0) applying width and height to

tags, and no success with images.

XX unitsimg.button {height: 70px}

Sets all button class images to be 70 pixels high.

width

** 

Sets the width of the element.

** See note for height.

XX unitsimg.button {width: 100px}

Sets all button class images to be 100 pixels wide.

float

Places the element to the left or right and flows text around it.right
left
none
img.button {float: left}

Places a button class image to the left margin and flows text around it.

clear

Prevents text from flowing around an element.right
left
none
img.button {clear: left}

Places a button class image to the left margin and prevents any text or other elements from flowing beside it.

Classification Properties

General Comments:  These properties let you classify elements by object type and assign characteristics based on these object types.

PropertyDescriptionValuesExample
display

Specifies the category of object an element belongs to: a block element, like a heading or paragraph; an inline element, like emphasis or anchors; or a list-item element. If the category is none, the content of the element should not be displayed at all.none
""
block
inline
list-item
p {display: none}

Hides the content of the paragraph.

p {display: ""}

Display the contents of the paragraph.

p {display: block}

Treats the paragraph as a block element, which can be positioned separately using the positioning attributes.

white-space

  

Describes how white space should be handled within the block elements.normal
pre
nowrap
p {white-space: no-wrap}

The paragraph will break only with a specific
tag.

list-style-type

 

Sets the type of symbol that appears in front of a list item.disc
circle
square
decimal
lower-
roman
upper-
roman
lower-
alpha
upper
alpha
ul {list-style-type: square}

Unordered list items will use a square bullet.

list-style-image

 

Selects a specific image to serve as a bullet in front of list items.url(URLname)ul {list-style-image: url(../images/smiley.gif)}

Unordered list items will use the image “smiley.gif” as a bullet.

list-style-position

  

Describes how the bullet marker and text in a list line up with each other.inside
outside
ul {list-style-position: outside}

Creates the effect of a hanging indent

ul {list-style-position: inside}

The bullet and the second line of text are flush left.

devxblackblue

About Our Editorial Process

At DevX, we’re dedicated to tech entrepreneurship. Our team closely follows industry shifts, new products, AI breakthroughs, technology trends, and funding announcements. Articles undergo thorough editing to ensure accuracy and clarity, reflecting DevX’s style and supporting entrepreneurs in the tech sphere.

See our full editorial policy.

About Our Journalist