Replace all existing CSS styling with my designated CSS selector

Question

Replace all existing CSS styling with my designated CSS selector

I am developing an application for various content management systems where I am unaware of the surrounding CSS and its selectors, yet I want my app to maintain a consistent appearance.

An issue I am facing is when an external selector targets one of my elements, such as button{height: 100px;}, and my selector button .class{width:100px;} does not specify the height attribute. In this case, the external selector adds this attribute to my buttons, altering their style.

This is just a basic example. You may suggest specifying the height in my selector as well, but I cannot include every possible attribute in my selectors to override any existing styles that may have been applied elsewhere.

You can view an example in this fiddle: https://jsfiddle.net/u4rvx6Lk/. Here, I do not want the first selector to apply border styling to my blue element, but it does so anyway.

I have attempted using all: unset; and all: initial;, but these solutions do not work reliably across all browsers, especially Internet Explorer.

I am also aware of scoped CSS, but I have found it to be inconsistent in resolving this issue.

(Additional Information: This is an Angular 1.x application that will primarily be integrated into WordPress CMS pages, and I compile my CSS using Sass.)

html css css-selectors

Answer 1

Answer №1

To solve my issue, I utilized the CSS property all with a value of revert.

.css-class {
    all: revert;
}

The explanation provided in the mozilla docs for revert was quite helpful:

The revert CSS keyword helps reset the cascade to mimic what would happen if there were no existing styles from the current style origin.

If you're using Firefox or Chrome, opting for unset is recommended:

.css-class {
    all: unset;
}

Check out browser hacks for information on "media query hacks" that can help determine the browser when seeking a cross-browser solution. Additionally, refer to this fiddle where the height property isn't inherited by the blue box:

This approach may prove beneficial for your project too.

Answer 2

To solve my issue, I utilized the CSS property all with a value of revert.

.css-class {
    all: revert;
}

The explanation provided in the mozilla docs for revert was quite helpful:

The revert CSS keyword helps reset the cascade to mimic what would happen if there were no existing styles from the current style origin.

If you're using Firefox or Chrome, opting for unset is recommended:

.css-class {
    all: unset;
}

Check out browser hacks for information on "media query hacks" that can help determine the browser when seeking a cross-browser solution. Additionally, refer to this fiddle where the height property isn't inherited by the blue box:

This approach may prove beneficial for your project too.

Answer 3

Answer №2

Preventing CSS code from modifying your elements is a challenging task in the current state of the web. What you are really looking for is to sandbox your elements, ensuring they remain unaffected by external code.

One option to achieve this is by using an iframe, but this method can be cumbersome and not practical.

However, there is light at the end of the tunnel! The upcoming feature known as Shadow DOM will allow you to create custom elements and isolate them from the rest of your code. This concept is already utilized by elements like input and video behind the scenes, and soon we will have the ability to do the same.

Let's say we want to create a new element called solid-button.

<solid-button></solid-button>

Next, we need to define the content that goes inside our element using a template:

<template id="solid-button-src">
  <style>
    button {
      width: 100px;
      height: 100px;
      background-color: green;
      border: solid 1px black;
    }

  </style>
  <button></button>
</template>

We then utilize JavaScript to create the Shadow DOM and insert the template content into it:

customElements.define('solid-button', class extends HTMLElement {
  constructor() {
    super();

    const shadowRoot = this.attachShadow({
      mode: 'open'
    });
    const template = document.querySelector('#solid-button-src');
    const clone = document.importNode(template.content, true);
    shadowRoot.appendChild(clone);
  }
});

While this technique works in some browsers currently, it's not yet widely supported for production use. Users can style the solid-button element without affecting its internal content. If you have an updated browser, you can see this functionality in action below.

Although this solution may not be viable for immediate use, it holds promise for the future.

customElements.define('solid-button', class extends HTMLElement {
  constructor() {
    super();

    const shadowRoot = this.attachShadow({
      mode: 'open'
    });
    const template = document.querySelector('template');
    const clone = document.importNode(template.content, true);
    shadowRoot.appendChild(clone);
  }
});

button {
  height: 100px;
  width: 100px;
  background-color: red;
  border: solid 1px black;
}

.class1 {
  height: 100px;
  width: 100px;
  background-color: blue;
}

my-button {
  background: red; /* does nothing visible */
}

<button></button>
<button id="id1" class="class1"></button>
<solid-button></solid-button>
<solid-button class="class1"></solid-button>

<template>
  <style>
    button {
      width: 100px;
      height: 100px;
      background-color: green;
      border: solid 1px black;
    }

  </style>
  <button>
    <slot name="content"></slot>
  </button>
</template>

Answer 4

Preventing CSS code from modifying your elements is a challenging task in the current state of the web. What you are really looking for is to sandbox your elements, ensuring they remain unaffected by external code.

One option to achieve this is by using an iframe, but this method can be cumbersome and not practical.

However, there is light at the end of the tunnel! The upcoming feature known as Shadow DOM will allow you to create custom elements and isolate them from the rest of your code. This concept is already utilized by elements like input and video behind the scenes, and soon we will have the ability to do the same.

Let's say we want to create a new element called solid-button.

<solid-button></solid-button>

Next, we need to define the content that goes inside our element using a template:

<template id="solid-button-src">
  <style>
    button {
      width: 100px;
      height: 100px;
      background-color: green;
      border: solid 1px black;
    }

  </style>
  <button></button>
</template>

We then utilize JavaScript to create the Shadow DOM and insert the template content into it:

customElements.define('solid-button', class extends HTMLElement {
  constructor() {
    super();

    const shadowRoot = this.attachShadow({
      mode: 'open'
    });
    const template = document.querySelector('#solid-button-src');
    const clone = document.importNode(template.content, true);
    shadowRoot.appendChild(clone);
  }
});

While this technique works in some browsers currently, it's not yet widely supported for production use. Users can style the solid-button element without affecting its internal content. If you have an updated browser, you can see this functionality in action below.

Although this solution may not be viable for immediate use, it holds promise for the future.

customElements.define('solid-button', class extends HTMLElement {
  constructor() {
    super();

    const shadowRoot = this.attachShadow({
      mode: 'open'
    });
    const template = document.querySelector('template');
    const clone = document.importNode(template.content, true);
    shadowRoot.appendChild(clone);
  }
});

button {
  height: 100px;
  width: 100px;
  background-color: red;
  border: solid 1px black;
}

.class1 {
  height: 100px;
  width: 100px;
  background-color: blue;
}

my-button {
  background: red; /* does nothing visible */
}

<button></button>
<button id="id1" class="class1"></button>
<solid-button></solid-button>
<solid-button class="class1"></solid-button>

<template>
  <style>
    button {
      width: 100px;
      height: 100px;
      background-color: green;
      border: solid 1px black;
    }

  </style>
  <button>
    <slot name="content"></slot>
  </button>
</template>

Answer 5

Answer №3

I managed to find a solution that worked for me. Many thanks for the helpful responses.

After trying out various options, I discovered that using all: initial instead of all: unset and revert was effective in my case.

In addition, I have decided to assign very specific names to my internal classes, such as class=my-project-class, in order to avoid conflicts with external class-selectors adding their own styles.

It's worth noting that this approach is not compatible with Internet Explorer.

You can check out the demonstration on this Fiddle: https://jsfiddle.net/Lvxxnh8r/13/

Answer 6

I managed to find a solution that worked for me. Many thanks for the helpful responses.

After trying out various options, I discovered that using all: initial instead of all: unset and revert was effective in my case.

In addition, I have decided to assign very specific names to my internal classes, such as class=my-project-class, in order to avoid conflicts with external class-selectors adding their own styles.

It's worth noting that this approach is not compatible with Internet Explorer.

You can check out the demonstration on this Fiddle: https://jsfiddle.net/Lvxxnh8r/13/

Answer 7

Answer №4

Check out this demo for a simple illustration. Unfortunately, the border is appearing on my blue element instead.

The reason why the border is being applied to the second box is because it's a button, which is where you specified the border in your CSS. This is just how CSS works. If you don't want the border on the second element, you either need to set border: 0; specifically on that element, or modify the original selector that sets the border on button to exclude the second box by using something like button:not(#id1).

Answer 8

Check out this demo for a simple illustration. Unfortunately, the border is appearing on my blue element instead.

The reason why the border is being applied to the second box is because it's a button, which is where you specified the border in your CSS. This is just how CSS works. If you don't want the border on the second element, you either need to set border: 0; specifically on that element, or modify the original selector that sets the border on button to exclude the second box by using something like button:not(#id1).

Replace all existing CSS styling with my designated CSS selector

Answer №1

Answer №2

Answer №3

Answer №4

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