Content Generation
These CSS properties allow you to add automatically generated content (text, symbols, images) before or after HTML elements.
They are mainly used with the pseudo-elements ::before
and ::after
.
Main properties
Section titled “Main properties”Property | Description |
---|---|
content | Adds generated content into the document (text, icons, images). |
counter-increment | Defines the increment step of a CSS counter. |
counter-reset | Defines the initial value or resets a CSS counter. |
quotes | Defines the characters used for quotation marks (opening/closing). |
Simple example: adding content
Section titled “Simple example: adding content”p::before { content: "→ "; color: gray;}
Result: each paragraph will display an arrow before its text.
Example with counters
Section titled “Example with counters”h2 { counter-increment: section; /* increments a counter for each h2 */}
h2::before { content: "Section " counter(section) ": ";}
Result:
- First h2 → “Section 1: …”
- Second h2 → “Section 2: …”
Example with quotes
Section titled “Example with quotes”q { quotes: "«" "»" "‹" "›";}
q::before { content: open-quote;}
q::after { content: close-quote;}
Résult : a <q>
element will automatically be displayed with French quotation marks (« … »).
Key takeaways
Section titled “Key takeaways”content
is used with::before
and::after
to insert generated content.counter-reset
initializes a counter, andcounter-increment
increases it.quotes
allows defining custom quotation marks.- These properties are useful for automatic numbering, adding icons, or customizing quotations.