WebKit is an Apple-developed browser engine that is primarily utilized in the Safari web browser and other iOS web browsers. The BlackBerry Browser, PlayStation consoles starting with the PS3, Tizen mobile operating systems, and a browser included with the Amazon Kindle e-book reader all use WebKit.
The CSS -webkit-appearance property allows web developers to make HTML components look more like native User Interface (UI) controls. It also supports the CSS -webkit-appearance property, which is a proprietary CSS extension. The -webkit- prefix on WebKit extensions denotes that they are part of the WebKit open- source framework.
Based on browser compatibility, CSS3 contains an appearance property that is equal to the -webkit-appearance property. For example, for Internet Explorer, -ms- is changed by -moz- for Firefox, -o- for Opera, and so on. Safari 3.0, iOS 1.0, and later versions are also compatible with the -webkit-appearance parameter.
The CSS -webkit-appearance property is demonstrated in the following example depending on browser compatibility.
Example:
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<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en"> <head> <meta charset="utf-8"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> <style> h2 { /* WebKit */ -webkit-appearance: button !important; /* Mozilla */ -moz-appearance: button; /* Opera */ -o-appearance: button; /* Internet Explorer */ -ms-appearance: button; /* CSS3 */ appearance: button; width: 300px; padding: 5em; color: #f00; } </style> </head> <body> <center> <h1 style="color:green; padding:15px;"> marketingSynonym </h1> <p>Webkit-Appearance Button of HTML H2 tag</p> <br> <h2>Welcome to MarketingSynonym</h2> <p>HTML Button tag</p> <br> <br> <button>Welcome to MarketingSynonym</button> </center> </body> </html> |
Webkit-Only Properties
Safari and Chrome both use Webkit as their rendering engine (among others, but these are the popular ones). The -webkit prefix on CSS selectors denotes properties that are solely intended to be processed by this engine, analogous to -moz properties. A few of them are discussed below:
- webkit -font- smoothing - When typefaces are rendered, the font-smooth CSS property governs the use of anti-aliasing.
HTML Code:
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<p>Without font smoothing</p> <p class="smoothed">With font smoothing</p> |
CSS Code:
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html { background-color: black; color: white; font-size: 3rem; } p { text-align: center; } .smoothed { -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; -moz-osx-font-smoothing: grayscale; } |
- webkit-line-clamp - The CSS attribute allows the contents of a block container to be limited to a certain number of lines. It only works with the -webkit-box or -webkit-inline-box display properties and the -webkit-box-orient property set to vertical. In most circumstances, we'll also want to turn off overflow; otherwise, the contents won't be clipped, and an ellipsis will appear after the desired number of lines.
WebKit-Prefixed Properties on Standards Track
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webkit - appearance
The appearance CSS property is used to style an element with platform-native styling based on the theme of the operating system. Gecko and WebKit-based and Blink-based browsers employ the -moz-appearance and -webkit-appearance attributes to achieve the same effect. For compatibility considerations, -webkit-appearance is also supported by Firefox and Edge.
The -moz-appearance property was used in XUL stylesheets to design custom widgets with platform-appropriate styling. It was also used in the XBL implementations of the widgets that ship with the Mozilla platform. Starting from Gecko/Firefox 80, these uses were changed to -moz-default-appearance, which should never be used outside of internal stylesheets.
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webkit- mask- composite
The -webkit-mask-composite attribute controls how multiple mask images applied to the same element are combined. With the -webkit-mask-image attribute, mask images are composited in the opposite order that they are stated.
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webkit-mask- position-x
The -webkit-mask-position-x CSS attribute specifies the mask image's initial horizontal position.
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webkit-mask- position-y
The -webkit-mask-position-y CSS attribute determines a mask image's initial vertical position.
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webkit-mask- repeat-x
The -webkit-mask-repeat-x property controls whether and how a mask image is horizontally repeated (tiled).
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webkit-mask- repeat-y
The -webkit-mask-repeat-y property determines whether a mask image is tiled vertically and how.
Formerly Proprietary Properties That Are Now Standard
Instead of the prefixed properties below, we should use the unprefixed standard properties to maximize CSS compatibility.
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align-content
The CSS align-content property controls the amount of space between and around content elements along the cross-axis of a flexbox or the block axis of a grid.
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backface-visibility
When an element is turned towards the user, the backface-visibility CSS attribute determines whether the element's rear face is visible.
Supported in Non-webkit Browsers Without a Prefix, but Not Standard
The following properties are supported without a prefix in at least one browser, but are not on the standards track.
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-webkit-mask-position-x
The -webkit-mask-position-x CSS attribute specifies the mask image's initial horizontal position.
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-webkit- mask-position-y
The -webkit-mask-position-y CSS attribute determines a mask image's initial vertical position.
Supported in Firefox With -webkit- prefix
In Firefox, the -webkit- prefix supports the following characteristics. Many of these are also available without a prefix.
- webkit-align-content: The CSS align-content property controls the amount of space between and around content elements along the cross-axis of a flexbox or the block axis of a grid.
- webkit-backface-visibility: When an element is turned towards the user, the backface-visibility CSS attribute determines whether the element's rear face is visible.
- webkit-filter: The filter CSS feature gives an element graphical effects like blur or color shift. Filters are often used to change the way images, backgrounds, and borders are rendered.
Deprecated -webkit- properties
A "deprecated" element is one that the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has identified as obsolete. These items are typically regarded "bad code" and should not be used. Deprecated items will fail validation if we employ a STRICT DOCTYPE.
Here are some of the properties that were once supported with the -webkit- prefix but are no longer supported in evergreen browsers, with or without the -webkit- prefix. We’ll also see what other properties we can use instead.
- align: E.g. <p align=”left”>. Still works just fine, but we really should just apply a class and give that class a style of text-align: left; Or, if we have to, apply in-line CSS like style=”text-align: left;”.
- image: src="#" alt="" border=0 />, for example. This is the most widely used of all the deprecated elements. Borders on photos look terrible on webpages and should never be used as a default unless there's a solid reason. Images do not have borders by default in most browsers, unless they are used as LINKS. The default then is to employ some sort of obnoxious blue border. Many people try to circumvent this by using border=0 inside the image element. With a single line of CSS, we can simply and neatly avoid this: an img border: 0px;
Pseudo-Classes
A pseudo-class is a keyword that is used in conjunction with a selector to define the special state of the selected components. It is added to the selection to give existing elements an effect dependent on their statuses.
Syntax:
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selector: pseudo-class { property: value; } |
Although there are several CSS pseudo-classes, we'll focus on a few of the most regularly used ones here.
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Pseudo-class: active: hover: link: visited: lang: focus: first-child: |
Description
It is used to add style to an active element.
It adds special effects to an element when the user moves the mouse pointer over the element.
It adds style to the unvisited link.
It is used to define a language to use in a specified element. It adds style to a visited link.
It selects the element which is focused on by the user currently. It adds special effects to an element, which is the first child of another element. |
Pseudo-Elements
A CSS pseudo-element is a selector keyword that allows us to style a specified portion of the selected elements.
Syntax:
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selector::pseudo-element { property: value; } |
There are numerous Pseudo Elements in CSS; however, the following are the most widely used:
::first-line Pseudo-element: first-line Styles are applied to the first line of a block-level element using pseudo-element. The length of the first line is determined by a variety of factors, including the element's width, the document's width, and the font size of the content.
::first-letter Pseudo-element: When the first letter of the first line of a block-level element is not preceded by other content, pseudo-element applies styles to it.
::before Pseudo-element: before Pseudo-element produces a first-child pseudo-element for the selected element. The content attribute is frequently used to provide cosmetic content to an element. By default, it is inline.
::after Pseudo-element: after Pseudo-element produces a pseudo-element that is the selected element's last child. The content attribute is frequently used to provide cosmetic content to an element. By default, it is inline.
::marker Pseudo-element: marker Pseudo-element picks a list item's marker box, which usually containing a bullet or number. It works on any element or pseudo-element that has the list-item property set, such as the <li> and <summary> elements.
::selection Pseudo-element: selection Pseudo-element styles the section of a document that the user has highlighted by clicking and dragging the mouse across the text.
Conclusion
The term 'webkit' is used in the CSS syntax for rendering content in Safari and Chrome browsers. Webkit code may need to be added in CSS to ensure it renders correctly on Chrome and Safari due to the lack of cross-compatibility. The importance of webkit is related to CSS3, which is a new generation of CSS modules that enables transition effects, multiple column layouts, and animation. While all browsers can render previous CSS requirements to a similar degree, the same cannot be said for newer CSS3 modules.
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