---
id: css-styling-links
title: "CSS Styling Links"
category: "Frontend"
status: "draft"
verification_status: "conceptual"
canonical_id: ""
aliases: ["styling links", "link states", "a:link a:visited a:hover a:active", "CSS links", "link pseudo-classes", "LVHA order"]
duplicate_of: ""
source_trust_level: "B"
confidence_score: 0.89
created_at: 2026-06-23
updated_at: 2026-06-23
review_reason: ""
merge_history: []
tags: ["css", "web", "frontend", "w3schools", "links", "pseudo-classes"]
raw_sources: ["https://www.w3schools.com/css/css_link.asp"]
applied_in: []
github_commit: ""
---

# [[CSS Styling Links]]

## 🎯 한 줄 통찰 (One-line insight)
HTML links can be styled with many CSS properties depending on their state, and the four link-state pseudo-classes (`:link`, `:visited`, `:hover`, `:active`) must be declared in a specific order for the hover and active styles to take effect. [S1]

## 🧠 핵심 개념 (Core concepts)
- **Links are styleable** — links can be styled with many CSS properties, e.g. `color`, `font-family`, `background`, etc. [S1]
- **Four link states** — `a:link` (a normal, unvisited link), `a:visited` (a link the user has visited), `a:hover` (a link when the user mouses over it), `a:active` (a link the moment it is clicked). [S1]
- **Common decoration** — `text-decoration` is mostly used to remove underlines from links. [S1]

## 🧩 추출된 패턴 (Extracted patterns)
- **State-ordering rule** — when setting the style for several link states, there are some order rules: `:hover` MUST come after `:link` and `:visited`; `:active` MUST come after `:hover`. [S1]
- **Per-state styling** — apply distinct property values to each pseudo-class to give feedback on visit/hover/click. [S1]

## 📖 세부 내용 (Details)
**Styling Links** — links can be styled with any CSS property (e.g. `color`, `font-family`, `background`, etc.). In addition, links can be styled differently depending on what state they are in. [S1]

**The four link states are:** [S1]
- `a:link` — a normal, unvisited link
- `a:visited` — a link the user has visited
- `a:hover` — a link when the user mouses over it
- `a:active` — a link the moment it is clicked

**Example — color per state:** [S1]
```css
/* unvisited link */
a:link {
  color: red;
}

/* visited link */
a:visited {
  color: green;
}

/* mouse over link */
a:hover {
  color: hotpink;
}

/* selected link */
a:active {
  color: blue;
}
```

**Note (order rule):** When setting the style for several link states, there are some order rules: `a:hover` MUST come after `a:link` and `a:visited`; `a:active` MUST come after `a:hover`. [S1]

**Text Decoration** — the `text-decoration` property is mostly used to remove underlines from links: [S1]
```css
a:link {
  text-decoration: none;
}

a:visited {
  text-decoration: none;
}

a:hover {
  text-decoration: underline;
}

a:active {
  text-decoration: underline;
}
```

**Background Color** — the `background-color` property can be used to specify a background color for links: [S1]
```css
a:link {
  background-color: yellow;
}

a:visited {
  background-color: cyan;
}

a:hover {
  background-color: lightgreen;
}

a:active {
  background-color: hotpink;
}
```

The page also notes that links can be styled further with properties such as `font-size`, `font-weight`, `font-family`, and the `cursor` property (with various cursor types) — "Not found in source" for the exact code of those additional examples. [S1]

## 🛠️ 적용 사례 (Applied in summary)
The page's own examples apply color, text-decoration, and background-color across the four link states. No external project/commit applications found in the source.

## 💻 코드 패턴 (Code patterns)
Correctly ordered link-state styling (language: CSS):
```css
a:link    { color: red; }
a:visited { color: green; }
a:hover   { color: hotpink; }
a:active  { color: blue; }
```
Remove the underline:
```css
a:link {
  text-decoration: none;
}
```

## ⚖️ 모순 및 업데이트 (Contradictions & updates)
No contradictions found in the source.

## ✅ 검증 상태 및 신뢰도
- **상태:** draft
- **검증 단계:** conceptual (실제 적용 사례 발견 시 applied/validated로 승격 가능)
- **출처 신뢰도:** B (W3Schools — widely used educational reference, not a primary standards body)
- **신뢰 점수:** 0.89
- **중복 검사 결과:** 신규 생성 (New discovery)

## 🔗 지식 그래프 (Knowledge Graph)
- **상위/루트:** [[CSS Tutorial]]
- **관련 개념:** [[CSS Link Buttons]], [[CSS Styling Lists]], [[CSS Text]]
- **참조 맥락:** Referenced when styling anchor elements and giving users visual feedback per link state.

## 📚 출처 (Sources)
- [S1] W3Schools — CSS Styling Links — https://www.w3schools.com/css/css_link.asp

## 📝 변경 이력 (Change history)
- 2026-06-23: Initial draft synthesized from the W3Schools "CSS Styling Links" page (Astra wiki-curation, P-Reinforce v3.1 format).