What is the method for choosing a parent element over a child element in CSS?

Question

What is the method for choosing a parent element over a child element in CSS?

I am struggling with styling a menu that has a structure like this:

<div class="myclass" >
    <ul>
        <li>
        <li>        <------- need to style the parent li and not the child li
        <li>
            <ul>
                <li> <------ then style only the child li
                <li>
            </ul>
        <li>
        <li>
        <li>
    </ul>
</div>

I am looking for help on how to select and style the parent and child menus separately. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated! :)

css

Answer 1

Answer №1

Choose only high-level <li>:

.myclass > ul > li

Select lower-level <li>:

.myClass > ul > li > ul > li

The important thing to note is the use of the direct child selector >. Refer to https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/Child_selectors.

Answer 2

Choose only high-level <li>:

.myclass > ul > li

Select lower-level <li>:

.myClass > ul > li > ul > li

The important thing to note is the use of the direct child selector >. Refer to https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/Child_selectors.

Answer 3

Answer №2

To target a parent element, use the following CSS selector:

.myclass > ul > li

To target a child element, use the following CSS selector:

.myclass > ul > li > ul > li

Answer 4

To target a parent element, use the following CSS selector:

.myclass > ul > li

To target a child element, use the following CSS selector:

.myclass > ul > li > ul > li

Answer 5

Answer №3

Here is a suggestion:

for the parent element

.myClass > ul > li

Example:

$( ".myClass > ul > li" ).css( "color", "green" );

<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/2.1.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<div class="myClass" >
    <ul>
  <li>Coffee</li>
  <li>
    <ul>
    <li>Tea</li>
    <li>Black Tea</li>
    </ul>
  </li>
  <li>Milk</li>
</ul>
</div>

for the child element

.myClass > ul > li > ul > li

Example:

$( ".myClass > ul > li > ul > li" ).css( "color", "green" );

<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/2.1.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<div class="myClass" >
    <ul>
  <li>Coffee</li>
  <li>
    <ul>
    <li>Tea</li>
    <li>Black Tea</li>
    </ul>
  </li>
  <li>Milk</li>
</ul>
</div>

Answer 6

Here is a suggestion:

for the parent element

.myClass > ul > li

Example:

$( ".myClass > ul > li" ).css( "color", "green" );

<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/2.1.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<div class="myClass" >
    <ul>
  <li>Coffee</li>
  <li>
    <ul>
    <li>Tea</li>
    <li>Black Tea</li>
    </ul>
  </li>
  <li>Milk</li>
</ul>
</div>

for the child element

.myClass > ul > li > ul > li

Example:

$( ".myClass > ul > li > ul > li" ).css( "color", "green" );

<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/2.1.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<div class="myClass" >
    <ul>
  <li>Coffee</li>
  <li>
    <ul>
    <li>Tea</li>
    <li>Black Tea</li>
    </ul>
  </li>
  <li>Milk</li>
</ul>
</div>

What is the method for choosing a parent element over a child element in CSS?

Answer №1

Answer №2

Answer №3

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