CSS Links

Links can be styled in different ways.

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Styling Links

Links can be styled with any CSS property (e.g. color, font-family, background, etc.).
In addition, links 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

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 */

Try it yourself »

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

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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

a:link {text-decoration:none;}
a:visited {text-decoration:none;}
a:hover {text-decoration:underline;}
a:active {text-decoration:underline;}

Try it yourself »

Background Color

The background-color property specifies the background color for links:

Example

a:link {background-color:#B2FF99;}
a:visited {background-color:#FFFF85;}
a:hover {background-color:#FF704D;}
a:active {background-color:#FF704D;}

Try it yourself »