Difference between ‘a:link’ and just ‘a’

[Oskar]

Hi guys,

I’ve never really understood the magic of links and css, sometimes it just works using a:link instead of just a. How does it actually work?

Does the a element target both a:link, a:visited, a:active and a:hover? No..

When having to style nested menus it can get a bit messy with all the css selectors you need on a three-level-menu :)

[Jonz]

I think its just being specific. They both do the same.

When you use a: hover – you’re being specific to the anchor hover state
like wise a:visited and a:active

I would guess the actual proper way to write it (if you try to think like the W3C) would be:

Code:

a:link {
color: #666;
}
a:visited {
color: #030;
}
a:hover {
color: #333;
}
a:active {
color: #0C3;
}

[Jonz]

I have to start declaring link for the anchor styles. It is indeed the correct way to do it.

[Oskar]

Alright, thank you for clearing it up for me, Jonz.

[iopet]

[img]http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/3417/60204461nx0.jpg[/img]

[Oskar]

Thanks all. I just discovered these posts by Eric Meyer. It’s definitely worth a read.
Link Specificity, Ordering the Link States and Who Ordered the Link States?

[Author]

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