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CSS Forms

The look of an HTML form can be greatly improved with CSS.

Styling Input Fields​

Use the width property to determine the width of the input field:

input {  
	width:  100%;  
}

Example input field

The example above applies to all <input> elements. If you only want to style a specific input type, you can use attribute selectors:

  • input[type=text] - will only select text fields
  • input[type=password] - will only select password fields
  • input[type=number] - will only select number fields
  • etc..

Padded Inputs​

Use the padding property to add space inside the text field.

note

When you have many inputs after each other, you might also want to add some margin, to add more space outside of them

input[type=text] {  
	width:  100%;  
	padding:  12px 20px;  
	margin:  8px 0;  
	box-sizing:  border-box;  
}

Example padded input field

note

Note that we have set the box-sizing property to border-box. This makes sure that the padding and eventually borders are included in the total width and height of the elements.

Bordered Inputs​

Use the border property to change the border size and color, and use the border-radius property to add rounded corners:

input[type=text] {  
	border:  2px solid red;  
	border-radius:  4px;  
}

Example bordered input field

If you only want a bottom border, use the border-bottom property:

input[type=text] {  
	border:  none;  
	border-bottom:  2px solid red;  
}

Example bottom bordered input field

Colored Inputs​

Use the background-color property to add a background color to the input, and the color property to change the text color:

input[type=text] {  
	background-color:  #3CBC8D;  
	color:  white;  
}

Example colored input

Focused Inputs​

By default, some browsers will add a blue outline around the input when it gets focus (clicked on). You can remove this behavior by adding outline: none; to the input.

Use the :focus selector to do something with the input field when it gets focus:

input[type=text]:focus {  
	background-color:  lightblue;  
}
input[type=text]:focus {  
	border:  3px solid #555;  
}

Input with icon/image​

If you want an icon inside the input, use the background-image property and position it with the background-position property. Also notice that we add a large left padding to reserve the space of the icon:

input[type=text] {  
	background-color:  white;  
	background-image:  url('searchicon.png');  
	background-position:  10px 10px;  
	background-repeat:  no-repeat;  
	padding-left:  40px;  
}

Example input with icon

Animated Search Input​

In this example we use the CSS transition property to animate the width of the search input when it gets focus. You will learn more about the transition property later, in our CSS Transitions chapter.

input[type=text] {  
	transition:  width 0.4s ease-in-out;  
}  
  
input[type=text]:focus {  
	width:  100%;  
}

Styling Textareas​

note

Use the resize property to prevent textareas from being resized (disable the "grabber" in the bottom right corner).

textarea {  
	width:  100%;  
	height:  150px;  
	padding:  12px 20px;  
	box-sizing:  border-box;  
	border:  2px solid #ccc;  
	border-radius:  4px;  
	background-color:  #f8f8f8;  
	resize:  none;  
}

Example textarea

Styling Select Menus​

select {  
	width:  100%;  
	padding:  16px 20px;  
	border:  none;  
	border-radius:  4px;  
	background-color:  #f1f1f1;  
}

Example horizontal floating navigation bar

Styling Input Buttons​

input[type=button], input[type=submit], input[type=reset] {  
	background-color:  #04AA6D;  
	border:  none;  
	color:  white;  
	padding:  16px 32px;  
	text-decoration:  none;  
	margin:  4px 2px;  
	cursor:  pointer;  
}

Example input buttons

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