- How To Add CSS
- Three Ways to Insert CSS
- External CSS
- Example
- This is a heading
- «mystyle.css»
- Internal CSS
- Example
- This is a heading
- Inline CSS
- Example
- This is a heading This is a paragraph.
- Multiple Style Sheets
- Example
- Example
- Cascading Order
- HTML Styles — CSS
- CSS = Styles and Colors
- What is CSS?
- Using CSS
- Inline CSS
- Example
- A Blue Heading
- Internal CSS
- Example
- This is a heading
- External CSS
- Example
- This is a heading
- «styles.css»:
- CSS Colors, Fonts and Sizes
- Example
- This is a heading
- CSS Border
- Example
- CSS Padding
- Example
- CSS Margin
- Example
- Link to External CSS
- Example
- Example
- Example
- Chapter Summary
- HTML Exercises
- HTML Style Tags
- How to use internal CSS (Style Sheet) in HTML?
- Internal CSS
- Example
- Example
- Example
- Add Unique Styles to Your Page Using Internal CSS
- Contents
- Internal CSS: Main Tips
- How to Use Internal CSS
- Internal CSS: Summary
How To Add CSS
When a browser reads a style sheet, it will format the HTML document according to the information in the style sheet.
Three Ways to Insert CSS
There are three ways of inserting a style sheet:
External CSS
With an external style sheet, you can change the look of an entire website by changing just one file!
Each HTML page must include a reference to the external style sheet file inside the element, inside the head section.
Example
External styles are defined within the element, inside the section of an HTML page:
This is a heading
This is a paragraph.
An external style sheet can be written in any text editor, and must be saved with a .css extension.
The external .css file should not contain any HTML tags.
Here is how the «mystyle.css» file looks:
«mystyle.css»
body <
background-color: lightblue;
>
h1 color: navy;
margin-left: 20px;
>
Note: Do not add a space between the property value (20) and the unit (px):
Incorrect (space): margin-left: 20 px;
Correct (no space): margin-left: 20px;
Internal CSS
An internal style sheet may be used if one single HTML page has a unique style.
The internal style is defined inside the element, inside the head section.
Example
Internal styles are defined within the element, inside the section of an HTML page:
This is a heading
This is a paragraph.
Inline CSS
An inline style may be used to apply a unique style for a single element.
To use inline styles, add the style attribute to the relevant element. The style attribute can contain any CSS property.
Example
Inline styles are defined within the «style» attribute of the relevant element:
This is a heading
This is a paragraph.
Tip: An inline style loses many of the advantages of a style sheet (by mixing content with presentation). Use this method sparingly.
Multiple Style Sheets
If some properties have been defined for the same selector (element) in different style sheets, the value from the last read style sheet will be used.
Assume that an external style sheet has the following style for the element:
Then, assume that an internal style sheet also has the following style for the element:
Example
If the internal style is defined after the link to the external style sheet, the elements will be «orange»:
Example
However, if the internal style is defined before the link to the external style sheet, the elements will be «navy»:
Cascading Order
What style will be used when there is more than one style specified for an HTML element?
All the styles in a page will «cascade» into a new «virtual» style sheet by the following rules, where number one has the highest priority:
- Inline style (inside an HTML element)
- External and internal style sheets (in the head section)
- Browser default
So, an inline style has the highest priority, and will override external and internal styles and browser defaults.
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HTML Styles — CSS
CSS saves a lot of work. It can control the layout of multiple web pages all at once.
CSS = Styles and Colors
What is CSS?
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) is used to format the layout of a webpage.
With CSS, you can control the color, font, the size of text, the spacing between elements, how elements are positioned and laid out, what background images or background colors are to be used, different displays for different devices and screen sizes, and much more!
Tip: The word cascading means that a style applied to a parent element will also apply to all children elements within the parent. So, if you set the color of the body text to «blue», all headings, paragraphs, and other text elements within the body will also get the same color (unless you specify something else)!
Using CSS
CSS can be added to HTML documents in 3 ways:
- Inline — by using the style attribute inside HTML elements
- Internal — by using a element in the section
- External — by using a element to link to an external CSS file
The most common way to add CSS, is to keep the styles in external CSS files. However, in this tutorial we will use inline and internal styles, because this is easier to demonstrate, and easier for you to try it yourself.
Inline CSS
An inline CSS is used to apply a unique style to a single HTML element.
An inline CSS uses the style attribute of an HTML element.
The following example sets the text color of the element to blue, and the text color of the
element to red:
Example
A Blue Heading Internal CSS
An internal CSS is used to define a style for a single HTML page.
An internal CSS is defined in the section of an HTML page, within a element.
The following example sets the text color of ALL the elements (on that page) to blue, and the text color of ALL the
elements to red. In addition, the page will be displayed with a «powderblue» background color:
Example
This is a heading
This is a paragraph.
External CSS
An external style sheet is used to define the style for many HTML pages.
To use an external style sheet, add a link to it in the section of each HTML page:
Example
This is a heading
This is a paragraph.
The external style sheet can be written in any text editor. The file must not contain any HTML code, and must be saved with a .css extension.
Here is what the «styles.css» file looks like:
«styles.css»:
Tip: With an external style sheet, you can change the look of an entire web site, by changing one file!
CSS Colors, Fonts and Sizes
Here, we will demonstrate some commonly used CSS properties. You will learn more about them later.
The CSS color property defines the text color to be used.
The CSS font-family property defines the font to be used.
The CSS font-size property defines the text size to be used.
Example
Use of CSS color, font-family and font-size properties:
This is a heading
This is a paragraph.
CSS Border
The CSS border property defines a border around an HTML element.
Tip: You can define a border for nearly all HTML elements.
Example
Use of CSS border property:
CSS Padding
The CSS padding property defines a padding (space) between the text and the border.
Example
Use of CSS border and padding properties:
CSS Margin
The CSS margin property defines a margin (space) outside the border.
Example
Use of CSS border and margin properties:
Link to External CSS
External style sheets can be referenced with a full URL or with a path relative to the current web page.
Example
This example uses a full URL to link to a style sheet:
Example
This example links to a style sheet located in the html folder on the current web site:
Example
This example links to a style sheet located in the same folder as the current page:
You can read more about file paths in the chapter HTML File Paths.
Chapter Summary
- Use the HTML style attribute for inline styling
- Use the HTML element to define internal CSS
- Use the HTML element to refer to an external CSS file
- Use the HTML element to store and elements
- Use the CSS color property for text colors
- Use the CSS font-family property for text fonts
- Use the CSS font-size property for text sizes
- Use the CSS border property for borders
- Use the CSS padding property for space inside the border
- Use the CSS margin property for space outside the border
Tip: You can learn much more about CSS in our CSS Tutorial.
HTML Exercises
HTML Style Tags
Tag | Description |
---|---|
Defines style information for an HTML document | |
Defines a link between a document and an external resource |
For a complete list of all available HTML tags, visit our HTML Tag Reference.
How to use internal CSS (Style Sheet) in HTML?
Cascading Style Sheets is used to format the presentation of a webpage.
CSS is used to style and layout web pages — you can control the presentation of the web page using, to alter the font, color, size, and spacing of your content, split it into multiple columns, or add animations and other decorative features available within the css properties.
Internal CSS
Internal CSS is used to define within style tags for a single HTML page. It is defined inside the tag of an HTML page, within a tag element.
Example
Following is the example program, uses internal CSS for styling in HTML.
DOCTYPE html> html> head> style> body h1 p style> head> body> h1>HTML-HyperText Markup Language h1> p>The HyperText Markup Language or HTML is the standard markup language for documents designed to be displayed in a web browser.p> body> html>
Example
DOCTYPE html> html> head> style> ol.a < list-style-type: upper-roman; >style> head> body> h2>Listh2> ol class = "a" > li>GOTli> li>HOTDli> li>HBOli> ol> body> html>
Example
DOCTYPE html> html> head> title>Inline CSStitle> style> table, th, td < border: 3px solid; >style> head> body> table> tr> th>Firstnameth> th>Lastnameth> tr> tr> td>SStd> td>Rajamoulitd> tr> tr> td>Prashanttd> td>Neeltd> tr> table> body> html>
Add Unique Styles to Your Page Using Internal CSS
TL;DR — The internal CSS styling option is popular for applying properties to individual pages by wrapping all styles in the element. Then, you place it in the section of HTML documents.
Contents
Internal CSS: Main Tips
- You can integrate internal CSS stylesheets by placing the element in the section of a page.
- Internal styles apply to whole pages but not to multiple HTML documents.
- Several pages can be styled by repeating the same block of internal styles in them.
- Easy to use with a learn-by-doing approach
- Offers quality content
- Gamified in-browser coding experience
- The price matches the quality
- Suitable for learners ranging from beginner to advanced
- Free certificates of completion
- Focused on data science skills
- Flexible learning timetable
- Simplistic design (no unnecessary information)
- High-quality courses (even the free ones)
- Variety of features
- Nanodegree programs
- Suitable for enterprises
- Paid Certificates of completion
How to Use Internal CSS
Internal CSS in HTML means adding CSS code in the section of the document. Styling changes apply to every specific element found in the file.
Tip: this is a solid option for one-page websites or when you cannot create external stylesheets for your project.
Look at this example to see how to add the element containing CSS rules for all the page:
head> style> h1 < color: red; margin-left: 20px; > p < color: blue; > style> head>
Internal styles are relevant to one page only. However, transferring the same element to other pages is not an efficient practice for adding CSS to HTML documents.
Note: developers add styles in HTML by using internal stylesheets when they are creating templates for their clients or colleagues.
Internal CSS: Summary
- By applying a style in HTML internally, you cannot reference this stylesheet with the element.
- Include CSS in HTML so it would be convenient to change and update content. Internal stylesheets can make website maintenance more challenging.
- The best option is adding CSS to HTML externally. It means you create a .css file and link it to your website.