CSS before and after pseudo elements

CSS before and after pseudo-elements are used to insert content in an element. The end result will appear like it is in the DOM. pseudo-elements are used to style selectors with certain conditions.

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What are pseudo-elements?

Pseudo-elements are useful when you want to style a selector with a certain condition. E.g.- when you want to style, the first letter of an element. Some pseudo-elements are ::before, and ::after.

How to use pseudo-elements?

The syntax of a pseudo-element is below

selector::pseudo-element {
  property: value;
}

In CSS 3 we use a pseudo-element with a double colon. But in IE 8 we must use a single colon. Double colon is in the latest version of CSS.

What is CSS before and after pseudo-elements?

As the name suggests before and after pseudo-elements are used to insert content before any element content or after any element content. See below

div::before {
  content: "before";
}
div::after {
  content: "after";
}

<div>
  before
  <!-- The rest of the content and elements inside the dive -->
  after
  <div></div>
</div>

As you can see it put content before or after the content of the element.

The value of the before and after content can be anything, a string, an image, and nothing.

before and after pseudo-elements example

Let’s add an emoji before and after every paragraph of the page using CSS pseudo-elements.

Summery

pseudo-elements are used to style the selectors and are useful in many ways. But, it only makes sense when used properly.

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