Pseudo-element: first-letter

Support Key: [CSS1|CSS2] [IE5.5B1|N6|O3.5]
Other CSS
Pseudo-Elements

before
after
first-line
= Index DOT Css by Brian Wilson =
Main Index | Property Index | CSS Support History | Browser History



   Quick Statistics   
Applicable Elements:
Block-level elements
HTML Equivalent:
NA
What is it?
This pseudo-element is used to apply properties to the first rendered character of a block element structure on the output device (browser screen, printer, etc.) This pseudo-element does not actually exist as part of the document tree - it is a "fictional tag sequence" that is logically deduced from the content, as well as other language rules (some languages have specific letter combination rules, and Unicode has rules about keeping particular character/punctuation combinations together.)

The 'first-letter' pseudo-element may often be used to create "drop-caps" or other similar first-letter effects. It is similar in behavior to an in-line element if the 'float' property is set to 'none', but otherwise it should react like a floated element (see restrictions on applicable properties in the Notes section below.)
Example
Ext/Doc: div:first-letter { font-size: xx-large }
In-Line:  NA
Notes Browser Peculiarities

Boring Copyright Stuff....