Style External Links with CSS
Styling external links is a common practice on most informational sites likes Wikipedia. As a user, it's nice to know when you're being sent to another resource. Many sites do the external links check on the server side, adding a `rel=external` attribute value or `external` class to external links. In some cases that isn't possible or plausible. After trolling around the interwebs, I found the following useful CSS snippet for styling external links:
/* long version */
a[href^="http://"]:not([href*="mysite.com"]),
a[href^="https://"]:not([href*="mysite.com"]),
a[href^="//"]:not([href*="mysite.com"]), {
}
/* shorter version! */
a[href*="//"]:not([href*="mysite.com"]) {
/* external link styles, use :before or :after if you want! */
}
First you have to qualify the start of the link, then qualify the domain. Internal links wont match and external links wont match the comparison. A useful snippet and something to keep in your library in case you need it!
![Create a Sheen Logo Effect with CSS]()
I was inspired when I first saw Addy Osmani's original ShineTime blog post. The hover sheen effect is simple but awesome. When I started my blog redesign, I really wanted to use a sheen effect with my logo. Using two HTML elements and...
![9 More Mind-Blowing WebGL Demos]()
With Firefox OS, asm.js, and the push for browser performance improvements, canvas and WebGL technologies are opening a world of possibilities. I featured 9 Mind-Blowing Canvas Demos and then took it up a level with 9 Mind-Blowing WebGL Demos, but I want to outdo...
![Spatial Navigation]()
Spatial navigation is the ability to navigate to focusable elements based on their position in a given space. Spatial navigation is a must when your site or app must respond to arrow keys, a perfect example being a television with directional pad remote. Firefox OS TV apps are simply...
![Create Snook-Style Navigation Using MooTools]()
Jonathan Snook debuted a great tutorial last September detailing how you can use an image and a few jQuery techniques to create a slick mouseover effect. I revisited his article and ported its two most impressive effects to MooTools.
The Images
These are the same...
What if there is a link in my website like http://external.com/?referer=mysite.com ?
You add can another pattern match for whichever referer pattern you use:
a[href*="?referer"] { /* external styles */ }Thanks for the snippets :)
David, you can do the same with shorter selector:
[href*="//"]:not([href*="mysite.com"]) { }Thanks for the code :)
Nice snippets, I love this but how about browser compatibility?
So, what styles are typically used for external websites? A change in font color? Background color?
Is have used this slidely different for my wordpress site:
/* show external links differently */ a[href^="http://"]:not([href*="mydomain.com"]):before{ content: " "; width: 16px; height: 16px; background: no-repeat url('images/link.gif'); padding-right: 1.2em; }How to ignore Links With images?
example: http://jsfiddle.net/Ridermansb/NRw97/1/
@Riderman You don’t. CSS is designed to to be applied in one traversal of the DOM tree. This limits it to selectors that are based solemnly on what was before (higher up) in the dom tree. You cannot select on what comes after/deeper in the DOM tree in CSS.
In your example you are trying to style an a element based on the fact, that an img element is deeper in the tree.
Solution: use a css-class for such a elements that should ignore the styling done through the [href=??] matching selectors.
a.no-external-link-style {
/*undo styling through a[href*=”//”]:not([href*=”mysite.com”]) */
}
@Riderman Use JS / jQuery to add a class to links that wrap images, then add a css rule that removes or hides your
:before, based on that class. I’m using:after, and FontAwesome..jQuery('a img').parent().addClass('linked-img');a[href*="//"]:not([href*="mysite.com"]):after { font-family: FontAwesome; content: "\f08e"; font-size: 13px; color: #ccc; padding-left: 7px; } a.linked-img:after { display: none; }