CSS selectors are one of the most powerful tools available to web designers. By using selectors, you can easily apply specific styles to a web page element and dedicate specific styles only to them. One of the important selectors is the state selector, which can have multiple users. This selector allows us to create styles based on different states of an element, applying specific styles for states such as hover, focus, active, and visited. These states play a crucial role in creating a pleasant and engaging user experience.
For example, imagine we have buttons on the page that change color when hovered over. This can easily be achieved with the selector :hover. Even more complex combinations can be created by combining selectors and pseudo-classes together. The goal is to use CSS to create a state that interacts more meaningfully with the user.
The selector :focus is one of the frequently used selectors for styled form elements such as input fields. This selector is applied when an element receives focus and can be used to change the style of that element. In other words, when the user clicks on an input field and activates it, the style of that element changes. This feature helps the user easily recognize which field is active and without the need for memorization, makes the forms more intuitive.
The selector :active is also applied when an element is clicked on. This selector allows us to define a specific style for the moments when the user clicks on the buttons, making it a distinctive styled element. This capability can make user experiences more immediate and better understood.
button:hover {
background-color: #ddd;
color: black;
}
input:focus {
border: 2px solid #555;
}
a:active {
color: red;
}
button:hover
This selector applies when the mouse is over buttons, it takes effect.
Here, the background changes when the mouse is over them.
input:focus
This selector applies to input fields when they are focused, it takes effect.
In this case, when the user clicks on an input field, its border changes.
a:active
This selector applies to links when the user clicks on them, it takes effect.
The link color changes to red during the click.