Link styles (Pseudo-Class Selectors)

Link styles are pseudoclass selectors in CSS-Talk

CSS specifications refer to link styles as Pseudoclasses... which are special classes that describe styles for elements that only apply under certain circumstances. It sounds intimidating but is quite simple:

a:link

Describes any hyperlink that has not been visited by the user's browser. In other words, the page linked to is not present in the browser's local memory.

a:visited

Describes any hyperlink that has been visited and is present in the browser's local memory.

a:hover

Describes a hyperlink while the user's mouse happens to be hovering over it. This class is recognized by all version 4 and higher browsers, except Netscape 4.

a:active

Describes a hyperlink that has been clicked but not yet released. This class is recognized by all version 4 and higher browsers, except Netscape.

Link style syntax

<style type="text/css"> a:link { color: #999999; } a:visited { color: #FFFFFF; } a:hover { color: #CCCCCC; background-color: #333333; text-decoration: none; } a:active { color: #333333; } </style>

Result:

Link styles as Pseudoclasses...