Question

CSS anchor class override issue

Asked by: thomasmutton

Hello experts,

I have a web page and it is being styled by an external css stylesheet.

I have a div called <div id="right"></div>

and in the stylesheet i am setting all anchors like so.
div#right a, div#right a:link, div#right a:active, div#right a:visited
{
      color: #5C640F; /* green */
}

I also have another div inside div#right called <div id="cloud"></div>

there is no anchor styles set for this div so it should be inheriting from its parent (div right)

The problem i am having is overriding anchor classes within the cloud div.

In my stylesheet I have global classes set like this.

.red
{
      color: #a13b1b;
}
.lightred
{
      color: #f2a561;      
}
.orange
{
      color: #EA7816;
}
.lightorange
{
      color: #f4c14c;
}

and so in div cloud i'll have an anchor tag like so <a href="blah.html" class="red">link</a>

and the link above does not turn red! the class color does not override the color set on its parent div.

Can anyone help me with a solution to this?

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Asked On
2009-08-20 at 03:40:29ID24667636
Tags

CSS

,

anchor

,

class

,

override

Topics

Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)

,

Miscellaneous Web Development

,

Extensible HTML (XHTML)

Participating Experts
3
Points
0
Comments
11

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Answers

 

by: flob9Posted on 2009-08-20 at 04:12:59ID: 25141020

You can use the child selector to prevent inheritance (see code attached)

Else, you have to define the color for each link states :

#cloud a.red,
#cloud a:link.red,
#cloud a:active.red,
#cloud a:visited.red
{
      color: #a13b1b;
}

<html>
<head>
<style type="text/css">
 
div#right > a, 
div#right > a:link, 
div#right > a:active, 
div#right > a:visited
{
      color: #5C640F; /* green */
}
 
.red {
	color: #a13b1b;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
 
<div id="right">
	<a href="#">Test 1</a>
	<div id="cloud">
	 <a class="red" href="#" >Test 2</a>
	</div>
</div>
 
 
</body>
</html>

                                              
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by: cyberstalkerPosted on 2009-08-20 at 04:13:49ID: 25141024

You are only setting the color for the hyperlink *inside* the div#right.

Since the div#cloud is not a descendant of the hyperlink inside div#right, the colors will not get inherited.

 

by: qwertyPosted on 2009-08-20 at 04:14:58ID: 25141033

Give this and it'll work
div#right div#cloud a.red
{
      color: #a13b1b;
}

 

by: thomasmuttonPosted on 2009-08-20 at 04:15:03ID: 25141034

But it is hyperlinks inside the div cloud that are getting inherited

Anyway, I found a way.

I just tried this.

.red
{
      color: #a13b1b ! important;
}

And it worked.

 

by: thomasmuttonPosted on 2009-08-20 at 04:18:12ID: 25141062

I used this page. It talks about priority and specificity at the bottom. Unless anyone can think of a better way, i'll be closing this question.

 

by: qwertyPosted on 2009-08-20 at 04:19:41ID: 25141072

This also works
div#right div#cloud a.red
{
      color: #a13b1b;
}

 

by: thomasmuttonPosted on 2009-08-20 at 04:20:48ID: 25141081

It does but I don't want to write out all of my global color classes twice just for div#cloud.

 

by: qwertyPosted on 2009-08-20 at 04:23:28ID: 25141096

then ! important is the only alternative solution.

 

by: flob9Posted on 2009-08-20 at 04:23:29ID: 25141097

!important is fine, since you do not need to override red class.
Well done.

 

by: qwertyPosted on 2009-08-20 at 04:26:20ID: 25141114

At least u shud reward points for the solutions given which work fine.

 

by: thomasmuttonPosted on 2009-08-20 at 04:29:06ID: 25141130

I have already set this question for cancellation unfortunatly. I would like to award you and the other guy the points though.

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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