[css] How to select the first, second, or third element with a given class name?

How can I select a certain element in a list of elements? I have the following:

<div class="myclass">my text1</div>
<!-- some other code follows -->
<div>
    <p>stuff</p>
</div>
<div>
    <p>more stuff</p>
</div>
<p>
    <span>Hello World</span>
</p>
<div class="myclass">my text2</div>
<!-- some other code follows -->
<div>
    <p>stuff</p>
</div>
<p>
    <span>Hello World</span>
</p>
<input type=""/>
<div class="myclass">my text3</div>
<!-- some other code follows -->
<div>
    <p>stuff</p>
</div>
<footer>The end</footer>

I have the CSS class div.myclass {doing things} that applies to all, obviously, but I also wanted to be able to select the first, second, or third div of class .myclass like this, regardless of where they are in the markup:

div.myclass:first {color:#000;} 
div.myclass:second {color:#FFF;} 
div.myclass:third {color:#006;}

Almost like the jQuery index selection .eq( index ), which is what I am using currently, but I need a no-script alternative.

To be specific, I am looking for pseudo selectors, not things like adding another class or using IDs to make things work.

This question is related to css css-selectors pseudo-class

The answer is


use nth-child(item number) EX

<div class="parent_class">
    <div class="myclass">my text1</div>
    some other code+containers...

    <div class="myclass">my text2</div>
    some other code+containers...

    <div class="myclass">my text3</div>
    some other code+containers...
</div>
.parent_class:nth-child(1) { };
.parent_class:nth-child(2) { };
.parent_class:nth-child(3) { };

OR

:nth-of-type(item number) same your code

.myclass:nth-of-type(1) { };
.myclass:nth-of-type(2) { };
.myclass:nth-of-type(3) { };

Yes, you can do this. For example, to style the td tags that make up the different columns of a table you could do something like this:

table.myClass tr > td:first-child /* First column */
{
  /* some style here */
}
table.myClass tr > td:first-child+td /* Second column */
{
  /* some style here */
}
table.myClass tr > td:first-child+td+td /* Third column */
{
  /* some style here */
}

Perhaps using the "~" selector of CSS?

.myclass {
    background: red;
}

.myclass~.myclass {
    background: yellow;
}

.myclass~.myclass~.myclass {
    background: green;
}

See my example on jsfiddle


This isn't so much an answer as a non-answer, i.e. an example showing why one of the highly voted answers above is actually wrong.

I thought that answer looked good. In fact, it gave me what I was looking for: :nth-of-type which, for my situation, worked. (So, thanks for that, @Bdwey.)

I initially read the comment by @BoltClock (which says that the answer is essentially wrong) and dismissed it, as I had checked my use case, and it worked. Then I realized @BoltClock had a reputation of 300,000+(!) and has a profile where he claims to be a CSS guru. Hmm, I thought, maybe I should look a little closer.

Turns out as follows: div.myclass:nth-of-type(2) does NOT mean "the 2nd instance of div.myclass". Rather, it means "the 2nd instance of div, and it must also have the 'myclass' class". That's an important distinction when there are intervening divs between your div.myclass instances.

It took me some time to get my head around this. So, to help others figure it out more quickly, I've written an example which I believe demonstrates the concept more clearly than a written description: I've hijacked the h1, h2, h3 and h4 elements to essentially be divs. I've put an A class on some of them, grouped them in 3's, and then colored the 1st, 2nd and 3rd instances blue, orange and green using h?.A:nth-of-type(?). (But, if you're reading carefully, you should be asking "the 1st, 2nd and 3rd instances of what?"). I also interjected a dissimilar (i.e. different h level) or similar (i.e. same h level) un-classed element into some of the groups.

Note, in particular, the last grouping of 3. Here, an un-classed h3 element is inserted between the first and second h3.A elements. In this case, no 2nd color (i.e. orange) appears, and the 3rd color (i.e. green) shows up on the 2nd instance of h3.A. This shows that the n in h3.A:nth-of-type(n) is counting the h3s, not the h3.As.

Well, hope that helps. And thanks, @BoltClock.

_x000D_
_x000D_
div {_x000D_
  margin-bottom: 2em;_x000D_
  border: red solid 1px;_x000D_
  background-color: lightyellow;_x000D_
}_x000D_
_x000D_
h1,_x000D_
h2,_x000D_
h3,_x000D_
h4 {_x000D_
  font-size: 12pt;_x000D_
  margin: 5px;_x000D_
}_x000D_
_x000D_
h1.A:nth-of-type(1),_x000D_
h2.A:nth-of-type(1),_x000D_
h3.A:nth-of-type(1) {_x000D_
  background-color: cyan;_x000D_
}_x000D_
_x000D_
h1.A:nth-of-type(2),_x000D_
h2.A:nth-of-type(2),_x000D_
h3.A:nth-of-type(2) {_x000D_
  background-color: orange;_x000D_
}_x000D_
_x000D_
h1.A:nth-of-type(3),_x000D_
h2.A:nth-of-type(3),_x000D_
h3.A:nth-of-type(3) {_x000D_
  background-color: lightgreen;_x000D_
}
_x000D_
<div>_x000D_
  <h1 class="A">h1.A #1</h1>_x000D_
  <h1 class="A">h1.A #2</h1>_x000D_
  <h1 class="A">h1.A #3</h1>_x000D_
</div>_x000D_
_x000D_
<div>_x000D_
  <h2 class="A">h2.A #1</h2>_x000D_
  <h4>this intervening element is a different type, i.e. h4 not h2</h4>_x000D_
  <h2 class="A">h2.A #2</h2>_x000D_
  <h2 class="A">h2.A #3</h2>_x000D_
</div>_x000D_
_x000D_
<div>_x000D_
  <h3 class="A">h3.A #1</h3>_x000D_
  <h3>this intervening element is the same type, i.e. h3, but has no class</h3>_x000D_
  <h3 class="A">h3.A #2</h3>_x000D_
  <h3 class="A">h3.A #3</h3>_x000D_
</div>
_x000D_
_x000D_
_x000D_


In the future (perhaps) you will be able to use :nth-child(an+b of s)

Actually, browser support for the “of” filter is very limited. Only Safari seems to support the syntax.

https://css-tricks.com/almanac/selectors/n/nth-child/


Use CSS nth-child with the prefix class name

div.myclass:nth-child(1) {
  color: #000;
}

div.myclass:nth-child(2) {
  color: #FFF;
}

div.myclass:nth-child(3) {
  color: #006;
}

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