Selectors, properties and values

When you want to adjust a style sheet most often you'll want to change the background or alter the display of the styles. Using the linked style sheet you will only need to change the style or background in one place. Next time you publish the changes will be used. To make the changes open the style sheet in Notepad or HTML editor and locate the part of the page (or selector) you want to modify, make the changes and save the style sheet.

Parts of the page that can be modified from the style sheet are listed using either of the following layouts:

selector {property: value; property: value;}

-or-

selector {

property: value;

property: value;

}

We've used the second layout because it makes the style sheet easier to read.

• The selector is the part of the page defined by a set of rules, for example the name of the style bodytext.
• The property is the aspect or attribute that can be changed, for example font-weight.
• The value is the characteristic used by the property, for example bold.
• Each property is separated from its value with a colon (:).
• Each property is separated from the next property with a semicolon (;).
• All properties and values defined (for example, for a style) are included in a set of braces ({}).