[css] What is this CSS selector? [class*="span"]

The Following:

.show-grid [class*="span"] {

means that all child elements of '.show-grid' with a class that CONTAINS the word 'span' in it will acquire those CSS properties.

<div class="show-grid">
  <div class="span">.span</div>
  <div class="span6">span6</div>
  <div class="attention-span">attention</div>
  <div class="spanish">spanish</div>
  <div class="mariospan">mariospan</div>
  <div class="espanol">espanol</div>

  <div>
    <div class="span">.span</div>
  </div>

  <p class="span">span</p>
  <span class="span">I do GET HIT</span>

  <span>I DO NOT GET HIT since I need a class of 'span'</span>
</div>

<div class="span">I DO NOT GET HIT since I'm outside of .show-grid</span>

All of the elements get hit except for the <span> by itself.


In Regards to Bootstrap:

  • span6 : this was Bootstrap 2's scaffolding technique which divided a section into a horizontal grid, based on parts of 12. Thus span6 would have a width of 50%.
  • In the current day implementation of Bootstrap (v.3 and v.4), you now use the .col-* classes (e.g. col-sm-6), which also specifies a media breakpoint to handle responsiveness when the window shrinks below a certain size. Check Bootstrap 4.1 and Bootstrap 3.3.7 for more documentation. I would recommend going with a later Bootstrap nowadays