


How do you use the?<details>?and?<summary>?elements to create collapsible sections?
Mar 20, 2025 pm 03:52 PMHow do you use the <details> and <summary> elements to create collapsible sections?
To create collapsible sections on a web page, you can use the HTML5 <details></details>
and <summary></summary>
elements. The <details></details>
element represents a widget that the user can interact with to obtain additional information or controls. The <summary></summary>
element, which must be a direct child of the <details></details>
element, specifies the summary or label for the <details></details>
element.
Here's a basic example of how to use these elements:
<details> <summary>Click to expand</summary> <p>This is the content that will be shown when the user expands the section.</p> </details>
In this example:
- The
<details>
element creates the collapsible widget. - The
<summary>
element provides a label for the widget. Clicking on this label will toggle the visibility of the content within the<details>
element. - The content inside the
<details>
element but outside the<summary>
element is what will be hidden or shown when the user interacts with the widget.
You can place any HTML content inside the <details>
element, allowing for flexible and rich collapsible sections on your web page.
What are the benefits of using <details> and <summary> for user experience?
Using <details>
and <summary>
elements can significantly enhance user experience in several ways:
- Reduced Cognitive Load: By allowing users to expand and collapse content as needed, these elements help manage information overload. Users can focus on what's immediately relevant and explore additional details at their own pace.
- Improved Accessibility: These elements are built into HTML5 and are recognized by screen readers and other assistive technologies. The
open
attribute on the<details>
element can also be used to set the initial state of the widget, which can be beneficial for accessibility. - Better Content Organization: Collapsible sections help organize content more effectively, making it easier for users to navigate through large amounts of information. This is particularly useful for FAQs, documentation, and other content-heavy pages.
- User Control: Users have control over what they see and when they see it, which can lead to a more personalized and engaging experience. They can quickly hide or show information without needing to scroll through irrelevant content.
- No JavaScript Required: These elements are native to HTML5, meaning you can achieve interactive content without relying on JavaScript, which can improve page load times and simplify development.
Can <details> and <summary> be styled with CSS, and if so, how?
Yes, <details>
and <summary>
elements can be styled with CSS, allowing for a high degree of customization to match your website's design. Here's how you can style these elements:
- Styling the
<details>
element: You can change the appearance of the entire collapsible section using CSS. For example, you can set a border, background color, and padding:
details { border: 1px solid #aaa; border-radius: 4px; padding: .5em .5em 0; } details[open] { padding: .5em; } details[open] summary { border-bottom: 1px solid #aaa; margin-bottom: .5em; }
- Styling the
<summary>
element: You can modify the look of the summary label. For instance, you can change the color, font, and add icons:
summary { font-weight: bold; color: #333; } summary::marker { /* Hide default marker */ content: ""; } summary::before { /* Add custom marker */ content: "? "; font-size: .8em; } details[open] summary::before { content: "▼ "; }
- Customizing the marker: The
::marker
pseudo-element can be used to style the default marker (usually a triangle), but browser support is limited. Using::before
and::after
pseudo-elements can be a more consistent way to add custom markers. - Hover and Focus States: You can also style the hover and focus states to improve user interaction:
summary:hover, summary:focus { color: #000; cursor: pointer; }
Remember that while you can style these elements, some browsers may have default styles that you'll need to override with your custom CSS.
Are there any browser compatibility issues to consider when using <details> and <summary>?
While <details></details>
and <summary></summary>
are part of the HTML5 standard, there are some browser compatibility issues to consider:
- Older Browsers: These elements are not supported in Internet Explorer or older versions of other browsers. If you need to support these browsers, you might need to use polyfills or alternative solutions.
-
Styling: Some styling features, such as the
::marker
pseudo-element, have limited browser support. You may need to use alternative methods, like::before
and::after
, to achieve consistent styling across browsers. -
Default Behavior: Some browsers may have different default styles and behaviors for these elements. For example, Safari does not allow a
<summary></summary>
to be styled withdisplay: block
. You may need to use CSS to normalize these differences. - JavaScript Interactions: If you plan to enhance these elements with JavaScript, ensure that your scripts are compatible with the way different browsers handle these elements.
You can check the latest browser compatibility information on resources like Can I Use? (caniuse.com) to stay updated on support for these HTML elements across different browsers.
The above is the detailed content of How do you use the?<details>?and?<summary>?elements to create collapsible sections?. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!

Hot AI Tools

Undress AI Tool
Undress images for free

Undresser.AI Undress
AI-powered app for creating realistic nude photos

AI Clothes Remover
Online AI tool for removing clothes from photos.

Clothoff.io
AI clothes remover

Video Face Swap
Swap faces in any video effortlessly with our completely free AI face swap tool!

Hot Article

Hot Tools

Notepad++7.3.1
Easy-to-use and free code editor

SublimeText3 Chinese version
Chinese version, very easy to use

Zend Studio 13.0.1
Powerful PHP integrated development environment

Dreamweaver CS6
Visual web development tools

SublimeText3 Mac version
God-level code editing software (SublimeText3)

Hot Topics

To reduce the size of HTML files, you need to clean up redundant code, compress content, and optimize structure. 1. Delete unused tags, comments and extra blanks to reduce volume; 2. Move inline CSS and JavaScript to external files and merge multiple scripts or style blocks; 3. Simplify label syntax without affecting parsing, such as omitting optional closed tags or using short attributes; 4. After cleaning, enable server-side compression technologies such as Gzip or Brotli to further reduce the transmission volume. These steps can significantly improve page loading performance without sacrificing functionality.

HTMLhasevolvedsignificantlysinceitscreationtomeetthegrowingdemandsofwebdevelopersandusers.Initiallyasimplemarkuplanguageforsharingdocuments,ithasundergonemajorupdates,includingHTML2.0,whichintroducedforms;HTML3.x,whichaddedvisualenhancementsandlayout

It is a semantic tag used in HTML5 to define the bottom of the page or content block, usually including copyright information, contact information or navigation links; it can be placed at the bottom of the page or nested in, etc. tags as the end of the block; when using it, you should pay attention to avoid repeated abuse and irrelevant content.

ThetabindexattributecontrolshowelementsreceivefocusviatheTabkey,withthreemainvalues:tabindex="0"addsanelementtothenaturaltaborder,tabindex="-1"allowsprogrammaticfocusonly,andtabindex="n"(positivenumber)setsacustomtabbing

To create HTML text areas, use elements, and customize them through attributes and CSS. 1. Use basic syntax to define the text area and set properties such as rows, cols, name, placeholder, etc.; 2. You can accurately control the size and style through CSS, such as width, height, padding, border, etc.; 3. When submitting the form, you can identify the data through the name attribute, and you can also obtain the value for front-end processing.

Adeclarationisaformalstatementthatsomethingistrue,official,orrequired,usedtoclearlydefineorannounceanintent,fact,orrule.Itplaysakeyroleinprogrammingbydefiningvariablesandfunctions,inlegalcontextsbyreportingfactsunderoath,andindailylifebymakingintenti

The standard way to add titles to images in HTML is to use and elements. 1. The basic usage is to wrap the image in the tag and add a title inside it, for example: this is the title of the image; 2. The reasons for using these two tags include clear semantics, convenient style control, and strong accessibility, which helps the browser, crawler and screen readers to understand the content structure; 3. Notes include that it can be placed up and down but needs to maintain logical order, cannot replace the alt attribute, and can contain multiple media elements to form a whole unit.

The rational use of semantic tags in HTML can improve page structure clarity, accessibility and SEO effects. 1. Used for independent content blocks, such as blog posts or comments, it must be self-contained; 2. Used for classification related content, usually including titles, and is suitable for different modules of the page; 3. Used for auxiliary information related to the main content but not core, such as sidebar recommendations or author profiles. In actual development, labels should be combined and other, avoid excessive nesting, keep the structure simple, and verify the rationality of the structure through developer tools.
