Browser Compatibility Note:
These commands are part of CSS2, and are supported by modern browsers like » Firefox, » Safari and » Opera; and in » IE all the way down to version 4. They¡¯re safe to use.
Whether these work properly depends largely on how your reader¡¯s computers are set up. If they have changed their cursors, their modified cursors will pop up. No big deal really, and the majority of people will get what you¡¯d expect.
To add these to one or two links, add this attribute to their a tags:
style="cursor: target; "
If you want to add it to an entire class of links, add this line of CSS to your stylesheet:
a.help {cursor: help; }
Then add the help class to whatever links you'd like to be affected, like so:
<a href="manual/" class="help">Manual</a>
| cursor: auto | the default cursor |
|---|---|
| cursor: crosshair | gun-style cross |
| cursor: default | no change |
| cursor: pointer | the normal hand pointer that appears when you hover over a link |
| cursor: hand | a value that is only supported in IE. Don¡¯t use it, use pointer instead |
| cursor: wait | the hourglass (non-animated, sadly) |
| cursor: text | the text-selecting 'I-beam' thing |
| cursor: help | an arrow with a question-mark |
| cursor: move | crosshair with arrows on the ends |
| cursor: n-resize | an arrow pointing north |
| cursor: ne-resize | an arrow pointing north-east |
| cursor: nw-resize | an arrow pointing north-west |
| cursor: e-resize | an arrow pointing east |
| cursor: w-resize | an arrow pointing west |
| cursor: s-resize | an arrow pointing south |
| cursor: se-resize | an arrow pointing south-east |
| cursor: sw-resize | an arrow pointing south-west |
Please make sure you¡¯re using these commands for a good reason. My favourite implementation is to put them in a navigation frame and have them pointing towards the frame their link will open in. You can use a help cursor for links to additional information and definitions. Or how about a special cursor for external links? Classy.
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