CSS :optional

By  on  

A decade ago HTML and CSS added the ability to, at least signal, validation of form fields. The required attribute helped inform users which fields were required, while pattern allowed developers to provide a regular expression to match against an <input>'s value. Targeting required fields and validation values with just CSS and HTML was very useful.

Did you know that CSS provides :optional to allow you to style form elements that aren't required?

input:optional, select:optional, textarea:optional {
  border: 1px solid #eee;
}

[required] {
  border: 1px solid red;
}

In a sense, it feels like :optional represents :not([required]), but :optional is limited to just form fields.

Recent Features

  • By
    Being a Dev Dad

    I get asked loads of questions every day but I'm always surprised that they're rarely questions about code or even tech -- many of the questions I get are more about non-dev stuff like what my office is like, what software I use, and oftentimes...

  • By
    39 Shirts &#8211; Leaving Mozilla

    In 2001 I had just graduated from a small town high school and headed off to a small town college. I found myself in the quaint computer lab where the substandard computers featured two browsers: Internet Explorer and Mozilla. It was this lab where I fell...

Incredible Demos

  • By
    Digg-Style Dynamic Share Widget Using MooTools

    I've always seen Digg as a very progressive website. Digg uses experimental, ajaxified methods for comments and mission-critical functions. One nice touch Digg has added to their website is their hover share widget. Here's how to implement that functionality on your site...

  • By
    Multiple File Upload Input

    More often than not, I find myself wanting to upload more than one file at a time.  Having to use multiple "file" INPUT elements is annoying, slow, and inefficient.  And if I hate them, I can't imagine how annoyed my users would be.  Luckily Safari, Chrome...

Discussion

  1. It’s probably more like :not(:required), right?

Wrap your code in <pre class="{language}"></pre> tags, link to a GitHub gist, JSFiddle fiddle, or CodePen pen to embed!