WebKit-Specific Style: -webkit-appearance
I was recently scoping out the horrid source code of the Google homepage when I noticed the "Google Search" and "I'm Feeling Lucky" buttons had a style definition I hadn't seen before: -webkit-appearance. The value assigned to the style was "push-button." They are buttons so that makes sense but I was curious as to the possible values available for that style. What I found was that there are a *ton* and that you can set any HTML element to look like a completely different element.
Possible -webkit-appearance Values
- checkbox
- radio
- push-button
- square-button
- button
- button-bevel
- listbox
- listitem
- menulist
- menulist-button
- menulist-text
- menulist-textfield
- scrollbarbutton-up
- scrollbarbutton-down
- scrollbarbutton-left
- scrollbarbutton-right
- scrollbartrack-horizontal
- scrollbartrack-vertical
- scrollbarthumb-horizontal
- scrollbarthumb-vertical
- scrollbargripper-horizontal
- scrollbargripper-vertical
- slider-horizontal
- slider-vertical
- sliderthumb-horizontal
- sliderthumb-vertical
- caret
- searchfield
- searchfield-decoration
- searchfield-results-decoration
- searchfield-results-button
- searchfield-cancel-button
- textfield
- textarea
The HTML
<span class="webkit-me">My Span Tag</span>
Just a SPAN tag, right? We'll see about that.
The CSS
.webkit-me { -webkit-appearance:push-button; }
Now my span looks like a button. Weird, huh? It can get worse:
.webkit-me { -webkit-appearance:checkbox; }
That's right...my SPAN tag now looks like checkbox. Weird.
Be sure to check out my demo -- I've got each -webkit-appearance setting represented. Some elements show no change but some look downright odd!
Discussion
Be Heard!
Share your thoughts with fellow developers of all skill levels! I want to hear from you!
i believe that some value not apply to span, example, menulist apply to select tag
@David: Of course not, but it’s funny that it can be done. ;)
Where do you see a need for this? Why would someone want to display an element as a checkbox or selectbox or whatever?
I have seen -webkit-appearance: caret; used to remove the drop-shadows inside input types of text, email search etc on the iPad.
Other than that it seems a fairly un-useful set of rules. Amusing that they work on the span though, maybe it’d be useful for JavaScript functionality somehow?
In Opera10, Firefox 3.6.6 and IE8 dont work, in Chrome5 yes but menulist dont show the arrow, it is only ok in Safari, so , I think it’s no very useful (but yes, few funny)
@penelope glamour: its a webkit style tag it gone only support webkit browser, currently only safari and chrome are webkit browser , for firefox there is -moz-appearance and for opera ie there is appearance style tag and i hope they all have same amount of option available
@David Walsh: Just a quick hint: This is can be used for custom checkboxes in -webkit… :D
Yeah, this thing acts as the gatekeeper for input styles — especially on the iPhone. I couldn’t get a box-shadow to apply to an input type=text, so I just set the -webkit-appearance to default-button, and boom, it worked. Same with checkboxes and radio buttons, couldn’t get custom styles like border-radius and background-gradients going, but set the type to default-button and the sky is the limit.
There’s also a -moz-appearance, but it doesn’t work nearly as well.
An important thing to keep in mind is that the :checked look for checkboxes and radios is also controlled by -webkit-appearance. When you set them to default-button, if you don’t set them back to their respective defaults (or apply your own :checked psuedo-class styles), they won’t show up as being checked.
@David Walsh: How can i get webkit working in firefox and ie?
@RussellUresti: Curious, i cannot seem to get -moz-appearance to in any shape or form, it seems to retain whatever the element is… or is this only as -webkit-appearance can be used on spans and divs, can only be used other than form elements???