Скачать или смотреть Animating the ::before and ::after Pseudo-Elements with CSS

Learn how to animate Unicode characters using CSS `::before` and `::after` pseudo-elements with easy-to-follow examples and tricks.
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This video is based on the question https://stackoverflow.com/q/63977174/ asked by the user 'pythonian 23' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/13572379/ ) and on the answer https://stackoverflow.com/a/63977336/ provided by the user 'Daniel_Knights' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/12701949/ ) at 'Stack Overflow' website. Thanks to these great users and Stackexchange community for their contributions.

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Animate ::before and ::after Pseudo-Elements in CSS

When working with HTML and CSS, you might sometimes want to bring your designs to life with animations. One interesting aspect of CSS is the ::before and ::after pseudo-elements that allow you to insert content before or after an HTML element. However, there’s a common question that arises: how do we animate these pseudo-elements?

In particular, let's say you have a Unicode character, like the Greek letter Xi (Ξ), that you want to animate before and after a specific text element. While it might seem tricky at first since HTML content cannot be directly placed inside pseudo-elements, there are effective solutions to achieve seamless animation. Here’s how.

Understanding CSS Pseudo-Elements

Before diving into the solution, let’s recap how ::before and ::after work:

::before: Adds content before the element it's attached to.

::after: Adds content after the element it's attached to.

When using these pseudo-elements, it's crucial to note that you can't use HTML tags; you can only use strings of text or special characters.

The Problem: Animating a Character

To animate characters like Ξ using ::before and ::after, a common approach is to apply CSS animations. However, for the animations to behave correctly, we need to adjust the CSS properties used. Here’s the animation code snippet you might already be using:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

The Solution: Use Display Properties for Animation

To effectively animate the pseudo-elements, it’s best to introduce display: inline-block or display: block to your CSS declarations. Without this, the transform property may not apply as expected.

Option 1: Using display: inline-block

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

In this setup, the characters will smoothly spin around their center axis as they are displayed inline with the text.

Option 2: Going for display: block

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Choosing display: block creates an effect of madness by introducing the characters on new lines, spinning independently from the main text.

Applying the Animation in HTML

To utilize the above CSS, your HTML could look like this:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Conclusion

Animating the ::before and ::after pseudo-elements can add a delightful touch to your web designs. By setting the correct display properties and animations, you can create eye-catching effects with simple Unicode characters.

Remember to experiment with the various display options to achieve the desired effect, and don’t hesitate to mix up the animation styles to enhance your project even further! Happy coding!