CSS: All Properties From CSS 1 to CSS 3

Published on Mar 27, 2008 (updated Jun 19, 2024), filed under development (feed). (Share this on Mastodon or Bluesky?)

What would HTML be without CSS? And what is an index of all HTML elements without an index of all CSS properties? To address the latter I present a continuously updated index of all properties specified in CSS 1, CSS 2, CSS 2.1, and CSS 3, including their initial values.

Head straight to the properties list, unless you’re interested in a few details:

• Most importantly, CSS 3 is still in progress. While I’ll update the index from time to time, properties may be renamed, removed, or added, as references may also change without further notice. I’ll fix them, even faster when you’re so kind to let me know.

• There’s a reason to separate CSS 2 and 2.1: Although CSS 2.1 isn’t really clear about it, there are property differences—font-size-adjust, font-stretch, marker-offset, marks, page, size, and text-shadow all appear to be removed.

• All properties have been linked to their most recent specification. Usually, it shouldn’t mean a problem that most of them point to CSS 3, but there are one, two cases where the specs aren’t in sync yet, for example regarding vertical-align.

• Some question marks exist where the affected properties don’t seem to be specified in CSS 3 yet but will, like position, most likely be part of it. But it could also be that I missed the corresponding module if it hasn’t been linked from the CSS roadmap.

• The list does not include descriptors, like currently defined in the Color and Web Fonts modules.

• Then, some [past] numbers: CSS 1 specifies 53, CSS 2 122, CSS 2.1 115, and CSS 3 224 properties; overall, there are 253 different properties (again, not including descriptors). The initial letters of all properties almost use the entire Latin alphabet, except for “j”, “k”, “x”, and “y”. Yet, as I’ll suggest the Working Group to be more innovative 😉

About Me

I’m Jens (long: Jens Oliver Meiert), and I’m a web developer, manager, and author. I’ve been working as a technical lead and engineering manager for small and large enterprises, I’m an occasional contributor to web standards (like HTML, CSS, WCAG), and I write and review books for O’Reilly and Frontend Dogma.

I love trying things, not only in web development and engineering management, but also in other areas like philosophy. Here on meiert.com I share some of my experiences and views. (I value you being critical, interpreting charitably, and giving feedback.)