CSS selects the first li
Select the First LI with CSS
In web development, you often need to apply special styling to the first element in a list. In this case, you can use CSS selectors to select the first LI element and apply specific styles to it.
1. Use the :first-child pseudo-class to select the first li element.
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>CSS Select First Li</title>
<style>
ul li:first-child {
color: red;
font-weight: bold;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<ul>
<li>First Li Element</li>
<li>Second Li Element</li>
<li>Third Li Element</li>
</ul>
</body>
</html>
Output:
In the example above, we use the :first-child pseudo-class selector to select the first li element and set its text color to red and bold.
2. Use :nth-child to select the first li element
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>CSS Select First Li</title>
<style>
ul li:nth-child(1) {
background-color: lightblue;
padding: 5px;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<ul>
<li>First li element</li>
<li>Second li element</li>
<li>Third li element</li>
</ul>
</body>
</html>
Output:
In the example above, we use the :nth-child selector to select the first li element, set its background color to light blue, and add some padding.
3. Use :first-of-type to select the first li element
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>CSS Select First Li</title>
<style>
ul li:first-of-type {
border: 1px solid black;
margin: 5px;
padding: 5px;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<ul>
<li>First li element</li>
<li>Second li element</li>
<li>Third li element</li>
</ul>
</body>
</html>
Output:
In the example above, we use the :first-of-type selector to select the first li element and add a border, margin, and padding to it.
4. Use :first-child and :nth-child to select the first li element
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>CSS Select First Li</title>
<style>
ul li:first-child:nth-child(1) {
color: green;
font-style: italic;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<ul>
<li>First li element</li>
<li>Second li element</li>
<li>Third li element</li>
</ul>
</body>
</html>
Output:
In the above example, we use the :first-child and :nth-child selectors together to select the first li element and set its text color to green and its font style to italic.
5. Use :first-child and :not to select the first li element
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>CSS Select First Li</title>
<style>
ul li:first-child:not(:last-child) {
text-decoration: underline;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<ul>
<li>First li element</li>
<li>Second li element</li>
<li>Third li element</li>
</ul>
</body>
</html>
Output:
In the example above, we use the :first-child and :not selectors together to select the first li element and underline it, but exclude the last li element.
6. Use :first-of-type and :nth-of-type to select the first li element
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>CSS Select First Li</title>
<style>
ul li:first-of-type:nth-of-type(1) {
background-color: lightyellow;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<ul>
<li>First li element</li>
<li>Second li element</li>
<li>Third li element</li>
</ul>
</body>
</html>
Output:
In the example above, we use the :first-of-type and :nth-of-type selectors together to select the first li element and set its background color to light yellow.
7. Use :first-child and :nth-of-type to select the first li element
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>CSS Select First Li</title>
<style>
ul li:first-child:nth-of-type(1) {
color: purple;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<ul>
<li>First li element</li>
<li>Second li element</li>
<li>Third li element</li>
</ul>
</body>
</html>
Output:
In the example above, we use the :first-child and :nth-of-type selectors together to select the first li element and set its text color to purple.
8. Use :first-of-type and :not to select the first li element
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>CSS Select First Li</title>
<style>
ul li:first-of-type:not(:last-of-type) {
font-size: 20px;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<ul>
<li>First li element</li>
<li>Second li element</li>
<li>Third li element</li>
</ul>
</body>
</html>
Output:
In the example above, we use the :first-of-type and :not selectors together to select the first li element and set its font size to 20 pixels, but exclude the last li element.
9. Use :first-child and :nth-last-child to select the first li element
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>CSS Select First Li</title>
<style>
ul li:first-child:nth-last-child(3) {
text-transform: uppercase;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<ul>
<li>First li element</li>
<li>Second li element</li>
<li>Third li element</li>
</ul>
</body>
</html>
Output:
In the example above, we use the :first-child and :nth-last-child selectors together to select the first li element and convert its text to uppercase.
10. Use :first-of-type and :nth-last-of-type to select the first li element
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>CSS Select First li</title>
<style>
ul li:first-of-type:nth-last-of-type(3) {
font-family: 'Arial';
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<ul>
<li>First li element</li>
<li>Second li element</li>
<li>The third li element</li>
</ul>
</body>
</html>
Output:
In the example above, we use the :first-of-type and :nth-last-of-type selectors together to select the first li element and set its font to Arial.
11. Use :first-child and :nth-of-type to select the first li element and add a hover effect
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>CSS Select First li</title>
<style>
ul li:first-child:nth-of-type(1):hover {
background-color: lightcoral;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<ul>
<li>First li element</li>
<li>Second li element</li>
<li>The third li element</li>
</ul>
</body>
</html>
Output:
In the example above, we use the :first-child and :nth-of-type selectors together to select the first li element and add a background color effect on hover.
12. Use :first-of-type and :not to select the first li element and add animation effects
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>CSS Select First li</title>
<style>
ul li:first-of-type:not(:last-of-type) {
transition: all 0.5s;
}
ul li:first-of-type:not(:last-of-type):hover {
transform: scale(1.2);
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<ul>
<li>First li element</li>
<li>Second li element</li>
<li>The third li element</li>
</ul>
</body>
</html>
Output:
In the example above, we use the :first-of-type and :not selectors together to select the first li element and add a scale animation on hover.
13. Use :first-child and :nth-last-child to select the first li element and add transition effects
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>CSS Select First li</title>
<style>
ul li:first-child:nth-last-child(3) {
transition: all 0.5s;
}
ul li:first-child:nth-last-child(3):hover {
color: orange;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<ul>
<li>First li element</li>
<li>Second li element</li>
<li>The third li element</li>
</ul>
</body>
</html>
Output:
In the example above, we use the :first-child and :nth-last-child selectors together to select the first li element and add a color transition effect on hover.
14. Use :first-of-type and :nth-last-of-type to select the first li element and add a rotation effect
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>CSS Select First li</title>
<style>
ul li:first-of-type:nth-last-of-type(3) {
transition: all 0.5s;
}
ul li:first-of-type:nth-last-of-type(3):hover {
transform: rotate(45deg);
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<ul>
<li>First li element</li>
<li>Second li element</li>
<li>The third li element</li>
</ul>
</body>
</html>
Output:
In the example above, we use the :first-of-type and :nth-last-of-type selectors together to select the first li element and add a rotation effect on hover.
15. Use :first-child and :nth-of-type to select the first li element and add a shadow effect
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>CSS Select First li</title>
<style>
ul li:first-child:nth-of-type(1) {
box-shadow: 5px 5px 5px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.5);
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<ul>
<li>First li element</li>
<li>Second li element</li>
<li>The third li element</li>
</ul>
</body>
</html>
Output:
In the example above, we use the :first-child and :nth-of-type selectors together to select the first li element and add a shadow effect to it.
16. Use :first-of-type and :not to select the first li element and add a border effect
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>CSS Select First li</title>
<style>
ul li:first-of-type:not(:last-of-type) {
border: 2px solid blue;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<ul>
<li>First li element</li>
<li>Second li element</li>
<li>Third li element</li>
</ul>
</body>
</html>
Output:
In the example above, we use the :first-of-type and :not selectors together to select the first li element and add a blue border to it, but exclude the last li element.
17. Use :first-child and :nth-last-child to select the first li element and add a background gradient effect
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>CSS Select First li</title>
<style>
ul li:first-child:nth-last-child(3) {
background: linear-gradient(to right, lightblue, lightgreen);
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<ul>
<li>First li element</li>
<li>Second li element</li>
<li>The third li element</li>
</ul>
</body>
</html>
Output:
In the example above, we use the :first-child and :nth-last-child selectors together to select the first li element and add a background gradient effect to it.
18. Use :first-of-type and :nth-last-of-type to select the first li element and add transparency effect
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>CSS Select First li</title>
<style>
ul li:first-of-type:nth-last-of-type(3) {
opacity: 0.7;
}
ul li:first-of-type:nth-last-of-type(3):hover {
opacity: 1;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<ul>
<li>First li element</li>
<li>Second li element</li>
<li>The third li element</li>
</ul>
</body>
</html>
Output:
In the example above, we use the :first-of-type and :nth-last-of-type selectors together to select the first li element and add a transparency effect to it, restoring the transparency on hover.
19. Using :first-child and :nth-of-type
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>CSS Select First Li</title>
<style>
ul li:first-child:nth-of-type(1) {
text-decoration: underline;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<ul>
<li>First Li Element</li>
<li>Second Li Element</li>
<li>Third Li Element</li>
</ul>
</body>
</html>
Output:
In the example above, we use the :first-child and :nth-of-type selectors together to select the first li element and add an underline effect to it.
20. Use :first-of-type and :not to select the first li element and add rotation and scaling effects
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>CSS Select First li</title>
<style>
ul li:first-of-type:not(:last-of-type) {
transition: all 0.5s;
}
ul li:first-of-type:not(:last-of-type):hover {
transform: rotate(45deg) scale(1.2);
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<ul>
<li>First li element</li>
<li>Second li element</li>
<li>The third li element</li>
</ul>
</body>
</html>
Output:
In the example above, we use the :first-of-type and :not selectors together to select the first li element and add a rotation and scaling effect on hover.