The Anti-Reset (to Reset to User Agent Styles)

Published on August 17, 2020 (ā†» December 14, 2021), filed under (RSS feed for allĀ categories).

I advise against resets. You donā€™t need them. (We donā€™t need them.) I think theyā€™re dying. (The reset detection extension barely registers anymore, though that also has other reasons.)

I advise against resets even though, vanity note, Iā€™ve been one of the ones to come up with and promote them. That was in 2004, but Iā€™ve never gone beyond that ā€œuniversal reset.ā€

Whatā€™s the opposite of that universal reset? Of all resets? The anti-reset. You can write it yourself. It looks something like this, with force but not without flaws (I was impatient and am not sure I included just the needed pseudo-classes, and then thereā€™s incomplete support at least for revert):

*,
::after,
::before,
::first-letter,
::first-line,
::selection,
:active,
:checked,
:disabled,
:enabled,
:focus,
:hover,
:indeterminate,
:target,
:visited {
  all: revert !important;
}

Hereā€™s the gist. Hereā€™s the bookmarklet. Hereā€™s a test page. Firefox, yes, may offer best support. Chrome does not.

I advise against anti-resets šŸ˜Š That makes no sense now. But the reset of a reset is not no reset. Itā€™s two resets. But thatā€™s not the same as 0 Ɨ 0, itā€™s more like 1 + 1, when really you want 0, because you already have 1 (style sheet), and no more, old school, and so you donā€™t want 1 + 1 + 1 but 1 + 0, or 1 + 0 + 0, and that is just getting a bit very complicated now.

I advise against resets. I advise against anti-resets. You donā€™t need them. (Unless you do. Do whatever you deem appropriate.) See you around.

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About Me

Jens Oliver Meiert, on September 30, 2021.

Iā€™m Jens (long: Jens Oliver Meiert), and Iā€™m a frontend engineering leader and tech author/publisher. Iā€™ve worked as a technical lead for companies like Google and as an engineering manager for companies like Miro, Iā€™m a contributor to several web standards, and I write and review books for Oā€™Reilly and FrontendĀ 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 views and experiences. (Be critical, interpret charitably, and sendĀ feedback.)