CSS2 Reference

The links in the “Property” column point to more useful information about each property.

Browser support: IE: Internet Explorer, M: Mac IE only, F: Firefox, N: Netscape.

W3C: The number in the “W3C” column indicates in which CSS recommendation the property is defined (CSS1 or CSS2).

Background

Property Description Values IE F N W3C
background A shorthand property for setting all background properties in one declaration background-color
background-image
background-repeat background-attachment background-position
4 1 6 1
background-attachment Sets whether a background image is fixed or scrolls with the rest of the page scroll
fixed
4 1 6 1
background-color Sets the background color of an element color-rgb
color-hex
color-name
transparent
4 1 4 1
background-image Sets an image as the background url(URL)
none
4 1 4 1
background-position Sets the starting position of a background image top left
top center
top right
center left
center center
center right
bottom left
bottom center
bottom right
x% y%
xpos ypos
4 1 6 1
background-repeat Sets if/how a background image will be repeated repeat
repeat-x
repeat-y
no-repeat
4 1 4 1

Border

Property Description Values IE F N W3C
border A shorthand property for setting all of the properties for the four borders in one declaration border-width
border-style
border-color
4 1 4 1
border-bottom A shorthand property for setting all of the properties for the bottom border in one declaration border-bottom-width
border-style
border-color
4 1 6 1
border-bottom-color Sets the color of the bottom border border-color 4 1 6 2
border-bottom-style Sets the style of the bottom border border-style 4 1 6 2
border-bottom-width Sets the width of the bottom border thin
medium
thick
length
4 1 4 1
border-color Sets the color of the four borders, can have from one to four colors color 4 1 6 1
border-left A shorthand property for setting all of the properties for the left border in one declaration border-left-width
border-style
border-color
4 1 6 1
border-left-color Sets the color of the left border border-color 4 1 6 2
border-left-style Sets the style of the left border border-style 4 1 6 2
border-left-width Sets the width of the left border thin
medium
thick
length
4 1 4 1
border-right A shorthand property for setting all of the properties for the right border in one declaration border-right-width
border-style
border-color
4 1 6 1
border-right-color Sets the color of the right border border-color 4 1 6 2
border-right-style Sets the style of the right border border-style 4 1 6 2
border-right-width Sets the width of the right border thin
medium
thick
length
4 1 4 1
border-style Sets the style of the four borders, can have from one to four styles none
hidden
dotted
dashed
solid
double
groove
ridge
inset
outset
4 1 6 1
border-top A shorthand property for setting all of the properties for the top border in one declaration border-top-width
border-style
border-color
4 1 6 1
border-top-color Sets the color of the top border border-color 4 1 6 2
border-top-style Sets the style of the top border border-style 4 1 6 2
border-top-width Sets the width of the top border thin
medium
thick
length
4 1 4 1
border-width A shorthand property for setting the width of the four borders in one declaration, can have from one to four values thin
medium
thick
length
4 1 4 1

Classification

Property Description Values IE F N W3C
clear Sets the sides of an element where other floating elements are not allowed left
right
both
none
4 1 4 1
cursor Specifies the type of cursor to be displayed url
auto
crosshair
default
pointer
move
e-resize
ne-resize
nw-resize
n-resize
se-resize
sw-resize
s-resize
w-resize
text
wait
help
4 1 6 2
display Sets how/if an element is displayed none
inline
block
list-item
run-in
compact
marker
table
inline-table
table-row-group
table-header-group
table-footer-group
table-row
table-column-group
table-column
table-cell
table-caption
4 1 4 1
float Sets where an image or a text will appear in another element left
right
none
4 1 4 1
position Places an element in a static, relative, absolute or fixed position static
relative
absolute
fixed
4 1 4 2
visibility Sets if an element should be visible or invisible visible
hidden
collapse
4 1 6 2

Dimension

Property Description Values IE F N W3C
height Sets the height of an element auto
length
%
4 1 6 1
line-height Sets the distance between lines normal
number
length
%
4 1 4 1
max-height Sets the maximum height of an element none
length
%
1 6 2
max-width Sets the maximum width of an element none
length
%
1 6 2
min-height Sets the minimum height of an element length
%
1 6 2
min-width Sets the minimum width of an element length
%
1 6 2
width Sets the width of an element auto
%
length
4 1 4 1

Font

Property Description Values IE F N W3C
font A shorthand property for setting all of the properties for a font in one declaration font-style
font-variant
font-weight
font-size/line-height
font-family
caption
icon
menu
message-box
small-caption
status-bar
4 1 4 1
font-family A prioritized list of font family names and/or generic family names for an element family-name
generic-family
3 1 4 1
font-size Sets the size of a font xx-small
x-small
small
medium
large
x-large
xx-large
smaller
larger
length
%
3 1 4 1
font-size-adjust Specifies an aspect value for an element that will preserve the x-height of the first-choice font none
number
1 2
font-stretch Condenses or expands the current font-family normal
wider
narrower
ultra-condensed
extra-condensed
condensed
semi-condensed
semi-expanded
expanded
extra-expanded
ultra-expanded
2
font-style Sets the style of the font normal
italic
oblique
4 1 4 1
font-variant Displays text in a small-caps font or a normal font normal
small-caps
4 1 6 1
font-weight Sets the weight of a font normal
bold
bolder
lighter
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
4 1 4 1

Generated Content

Property Description Values IE F N W3C
content Generates content in a document. Used with the :before and :after pseudo-elements string
url
counter(name)
counter(name, list-style-type)
counters(name, string)
counters(name, string, list-style-type)
attr(X)
open-quote
close-quote
no-open-quote
no-close-quote
1 6 2
counter-increment Sets how much the counter increments on each occurrence of a selector none
identifier number
2
counter-reset Sets the value the counter is set to on each occurrence of a selector none
identifier number
2
quotes Sets the type of quotation marks none
string string
1 6 2

List and Marker

Property Description Values IE F N W3C
list-style A shorthand property for setting all of the properties for a list in one declaration list-style-type
list-style-position
list-style-image
4 1 6 1
list-style-image Sets an image as the list-item marker none
url
4 1 6 1
list-style-position Sets where the list-item marker is placed in the list inside
outside
4 1 6 1
list-style-type Sets the type of the list-item marker none
disc
circle
square
decimal
decimal-leading-zero
lower-roman
upper-roman
lower-alpha
upper-alpha
lower-greek
lower-latin
upper-latin
hebrew
armenian
georgian
cjk-ideographic
hiragana
katakana
hiragana-iroha
katakana-iroha
4 1 4 1
marker-offset auto
length
1 7 2

Margin

Property Description Values IE F N W3C
margin A shorthand property for setting the margin properties in one declaration margin-top
margin-right
margin-bottom
margin-left
4 1 4 1
margin-bottom Sets the bottom margin of an element auto
length
%
4 1 4 1
margin-left Sets the left margin of an element auto
length
%
3 1 4 1
margin-right Sets the right margin of an element auto
length
%
3 1 4 1
margin-top Sets the top margin of an element auto
length
%
3 1 4 1

Outlines

Property Description Values IE F N W3C
outline A shorthand property for setting all the outline properties in one declaration outline-color
outline-style
outline-width
1.5 2
outline-color Sets the color of the outline around an element color
invert
1.5 2
outline-style Sets the style of the outline around an element none
dotted
dashed
solid
double
groove
ridge
inset
outset
1.5 2
outline-width Sets the width of the outline around an element thin
medium
thick
length
1.5 2

Padding

Property Description Values IE F N W3C
padding A shorthand property for setting all of the padding properties in one declaration padding-top
padding-right
padding-bottom
padding-left
4 1 4 1
padding-bottom Sets the bottom padding of an element length
%
4 1 4 1
padding-left Sets the left padding of an element length
%
4 1 4 1
padding-right Sets the right padding of an element length
%
4 1 4 1
padding-top Sets the top padding of an element length
%
4 1 4 1

Positioning

Property Description Values IE F N W3C
bottom Sets how far the bottom edge of an element is above/below the bottom edge of the parent element auto
%
length
5 1 6 2
clip Sets the shape of an element. The element is clipped into this shape, and displayed shape
auto
4 1 6 2
left Sets how far the left edge of an element is to the right/left of the left edge of the parent element auto
%
length
4 1 4 2
overflow Sets what happens if the content of an element overflow its area visible
hidden
scroll
auto
4 1 6 2
position Places an element in a static, relative, absolute or fixed position static
relative
absolute
fixed
4 1 4 2
right Sets how far the right edge of an element is to the left/right of the right edge of the parent element auto
%
length
5 1 6 2
top Sets how far the top edge of an element is above/below the top edge of the parent element auto
%
length
4 1 4 2
vertical-align Sets the vertical alignment of an element baseline
sub
super
top
text-top
middle
bottom
text-bottom
length
%
4 1 4 1
z-index Sets the stack order of an element auto
number
4 1 6 2

Table

Property Description Values IE F N W3C
border-collapse Sets whether the table borders are collapsed into a single border or detached as in standard HTML collapse
separate
5 1 7 2
border-spacing Sets the distance that separates cell borders (only for the “separated borders” model) length length 5M 1 6 2
caption-side Sets the position of the table caption top
bottom
left
right
5M 1 6 2
empty-cells Sets whether or not to show empty cells in a table (only for the “separated borders” model) show
hide
5M 1 6 2
table-layout Sets the algorithm used to display the table cells, rows, and columns auto
fixed
5 1 6 2

Text

Property Description Values IE F N W3C
color Sets the color of a text color 3 1 4 1
direction Sets the text direction ltr
rtl
6 1 6 2
line-height Sets the distance between lines normal
number
length
%
4 1 4 1
letter-spacing Increase or decrease the space between characters normal
length
4 1 6 1
text-align Aligns the text in an element left
right
center
justify
4 1 4 1
text-decoration Adds decoration to text none
underline
overline
line-through
blink
4 1 4 1
text-indent Indents the first line of text in an element length
%
4 1 4 1
text-shadow none
color
length
text-transform Controls the letters in an element none
capitalize
uppercase
lowercase
4 1 4 1
unicode-bidi normal
embed
bidi-override
5 2
white-space Sets how white space inside an element is handled normal
pre
nowrap
5 1 4 1
word-spacing Increase or decrease the space between words normal
length
6 1 6 1

Pseudo-classes

Pseudo-class Purpose IE F N W3C
:active Adds special style to an activated element 4 1 8 1
:focus Adds special style to an element while the element has focus 1.5 8 2
:hover Adds special style to an element when you mouse over it 4 1 7 1
:link Adds special style to an unvisited link 3 1 4 1
:visited Adds special style to a visited link 3 1 4 1
:first-child Adds special style to an element that is the first child of some other element 1 7 2
:lang Allows the author to specify a language to use in a specified element 1 8 2

Pseudo-elements

Pseudo-element Purpose IE F N W3C
:first-letter Adds special style to the first letter of a text 5 1 8 1
:first-line Adds special style to the first line of a text 5 1 8 1
:before Inserts some content before an element 1.5 8 2
:after Inserts some content after an element 1.5 8 2

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