Alternate table row color using CSS?

Question

I am using a table with alternate row color with this.

tr.d0 td {
  background-color: #CC9999;
  color: black;
}
tr.d1 td {
  background-color: #9999CC;
  color: black;
}

<table>
  <tr class="d0">
    <td>One</td>
    <td>one</td>
  </tr>
  <tr class="d1">
    <td>Two</td>
    <td>two</td>
  </tr>
</table>

Here I am using class for tr, but I want to use only for table. When I use class for table than this apply on tr alternative.

Can I write my HTML like this using CSS?

<table class="alternate_color">
    <tr><td>One</td><td>one</td></tr>
    <tr><td>Two</td><td>two</td></tr>
    </table>

How can I make the rows have "zebra stripes" using CSS?

I've created a demo using all possible patterns for nth-child() - http://xengravity.com/demo/nth-child/ — xengravity, May 04 '15 at 02:09

score 824 · Accepted Answer · edited Apr 09 '23 at 08:40

824

$(document).ready(function()
{
  $("tr:odd").css({
    "background-color":"#000",
    "color":"#fff"});
});

tbody td {
  padding: 30px;
}

tbody tr:nth-child(odd) {
  background-color: #4C8BF5;
  color: #fff;
}

<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/2.1.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<table border="1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>1</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>4</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>5</td>
<td>6</td>
<td>7</td>
<td>8</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>9</td>
<td>10</td>
<td>11</td>
<td>13</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>

There is a CSS selector, really a pseudo-selector, called nth-child. In pure CSS you can do the following:

tr:nth-child(even) {
    background-color: #000000;
}

Note: No support in IE 8.

Or, if you have jQuery:

$(document).ready(function()
{
    $("tr:even").css("background-color", "#000000");
});

edited Apr 09 '23 at 08:40

waldyrious

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answered Jun 21 '10 at 11:43

Russell Dias

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is it possible to also change the hyperlink color of alternate rows. I want different hyperlink color for even row and another for odd. Thanks – عثمان غني Feb 08 '13 at 04:30
4

Great answer! But just for information there is another CSS selector which can be used ie. `tr:nth-of-type(odd/even)` – Nikhil Nanjappa May 27 '14 at 10:18
2

@عثمانغني : Yes, you would just do `tr:nth-child(even) a` – Gerard Feb 02 '16 at 09:51
1

Does not work if you write your html dynamically. Then you need to add classes to the rows. – erik Mar 11 '16 at 17:52
4

In 2019: This is no longer the best solution. Use [pure CSS](https://stackoverflow.com/a/3084304/836169). – Chiramisu Jul 08 '19 at 16:14

score 237 · Answer 2 · edited Jul 08 '19 at 16:26

237

You have the :nth-child() pseudo-class:

table tr:nth-child(odd) td{
    ...
}
table tr:nth-child(even) td{
    ...
}

In the early days of :nth-child() its browser support was kind of poor. That's why setting class="odd" became such a common technique. In late 2013 I'm glad to say that IE6 and IE7 are finally dead (or sick enough to stop caring) but IE8 is still around — thankfully, it's the only exception.

edited Jul 08 '19 at 16:26

Chiramisu

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answered Jun 21 '10 at 11:41

Álvaro González

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5

Preferred answer as it doesn't apply CSS to header – Mike Jun 01 '15 at 15:51
Hi this is late by a couple of years but what about adding a selected class with a bg-color with jqeury to the table row when clicked. I noticed that the :nth-child pseudo class bg-color overrides when you add a "selected" class with jqeury – dutchkillsg May 25 '18 at 16:29
@dutchkillsg That appears to be a [brand new question](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/50534633/overing-nth-child-pseudo-classes-with-jquery) rather than a comment to my answer... – Álvaro González May 25 '18 at 18:21
1

For "zebra stripes" (i.e. vertical), just exchange `tr:nth-child(odd)` with `td:nth-of-type(odd)`. Note that in this case you're applying a different pseudo-class to the `td` rather than `tr` elements. – Chiramisu Jul 08 '19 at 16:28
Here you can find a small and pretty explanation about this topic: https://www.w3.org/Style/Examples/007/evenodd.en.html – peter70 Feb 08 '23 at 14:55

score 48 · Answer 3 · edited Mar 21 '14 at 20:02

48

Just add the following to your html code (withing the <head>) and you are done.

HTML:

<style>
      tr:nth-of-type(odd) {
      background-color:#ccc;
    }
</style>

Easier and faster than jQuery examples.

edited Mar 21 '14 at 20:02

dnl-blkv

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answered Mar 21 '14 at 19:33

bmich72

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This should be the accepted answer. As far as possible, CSS should handle styling, while javascript can be used to handle other matters. – Tormod Haugene Dec 02 '15 at 14:33
I don't do html on a daily basis. `#ccc` doesn't seem like a valid colour code to me. Can you explain? Thanks. – tommy.carstensen Apr 03 '18 at 01:10
2

@tommy.carstensen it's called "shorthand hexadecimal form". Basically `#ccc` gets expanded to `#cccccc`, which means that each RGB colour has the hexadecimal value `cc`, or decimal value `204` (i.e. `rgb(204, 204, 204)`). Read more about it here -> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_colors#Shorthand_hexadecimal_form – Nick Grealy May 09 '18 at 14:53

score 14 · Answer 4 · edited Jun 25 '21 at 15:32

14

can i write my html like this with use css ?

Yes you can but then you will have to use the :nth-child() pseudo selector (which has limited support though):

table.alternate_color tr:nth-child(odd) td{
    /* styles here */
}
table.alternate_color tr:nth-child(even) td{
   /* styles here */
}

edited Jun 25 '21 at 15:32

mybrave

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answered Jun 21 '10 at 11:45

Sarfraz

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score 14 · Answer 5 · answered Jan 17 '17 at 07:36

We can use odd and even CSS rules and jQuery method for alternate row colors

Using CSS

table tr:nth-child(odd) td{
           background:#ccc;
}
table tr:nth-child(even) td{
            background:#fff;
}

Using jQuery

$(document).ready(function()
{
  $("table tr:odd").css("background", "#ccc");
  $("table tr:even").css("background", "#fff");
});

table tr:nth-child(odd) td{
           background:#ccc;
}
table tr:nth-child(even) td{
            background:#fff;
}

<table>
  <tr>
    <td>One</td>
    <td>one</td>
   </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Two</td>
    <td>two</td>
  </tr>
</table>

score 10 · Answer 6 · answered Apr 23 '14 at 08:06

10

Most of the above codes won't work with IE version. The solution that works for IE+ other browsers is this.

   <style type="text/css">
      tr:nth-child(2n) {
             background-color: #FFEBCD;
        }
</style>

answered Apr 23 '14 at 08:06

Sriwantha Attanayake

7,694
5
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score 9 · Answer 7 · answered Jun 21 '10 at 11:43

9

<script type="text/javascript">
$(function(){
  $("table.alternate_color tr:even").addClass("d0");
   $("table.alternate_color tr:odd").addClass("d1");
});
</script>

answered Jun 21 '10 at 11:43

Pranay Rana

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48

OK I know jQuery is fairly ubiquitous on this site but regardless you shouldn't post jQuery without explanation. This script won't work on its own. – DisgruntledGoat Jun 21 '10 at 12:36

score 4 · Answer 8 · answered Jun 21 '10 at 11:41

You can use nth-child(odd/even) selectors however not all browsers (ie 6-8, ff v3.0) support these rules hence why most solutions fall back to some form of javascript/jquery solution to add the classes to the rows for these non compliant browsers to get the tiger stripe effect.

score 3 · Answer 9 · edited Dec 13 '22 at 20:12

There is a fairly easy way to do this in PHP, if I understand your query, I assume that you code in PHP and you are using CSS and javascript to enhance the output.

The dynamic output from the database will carry a for loop to iterate through results which are then loaded into the table. Just add a function call to the like this:

echo "<tr style=".getbgc($i).">";  //this calls the function based on the iteration of the for loop.

then add the function to the page or library file:

function getbgc($trcount)
{

$blue="\"background-color: #EEFAF6;\"";
$green="\"background-color: #D4F7EB;\"";
$odd=$trcount%2;
    if($odd==1){return $blue;}
    else{return $green;}    
}

Now this will alternate dynamically between colors at each newly generated table row.

It's a lot easier than messing about with CSS that doesn't work on all browsers.

Hope this helps.

thanks @mark. It is not fix that site will be in PHP, .net or simple HTML. — Kali Charan Rajput, Mar 14 '13 at 06:08

score 0 · Answer 10 · answered Apr 22 '21 at 09:27

Please try this way: it can use in Html file for WebView

<head>
    
    <style>
        table {
            border-collapse: collapse;
            width: 100%;
        }
          
        th, td {
            text-align: left;
            padding: 8px;
        }
          
        tr:nth-child(even) {
            background-color: Lightgreen;
        }
    </style>
</head>

score 0 · Answer 11 · answered Jan 20 '23 at 16:29

Alternating rows selector

Here is how it works and how you can for example use the modulo to alternate between rows of several different colors (here 3):

ol>li:nth-child(3n+1) {
  background-color: blue;
}

ol>li:nth-child(3n+2) {
  background-color: green;
}

/* The following selector is equivalent to "nth-child(3n)" */
ol>li:nth-child(3n+3) {
  background-color: red;
}

<ol>
  <li />
  <li />
  <li />
  <li />
  <li />
  <li />
  <li />
  <li />
  <li />
</ol>

As it as already been stated, rows indexes used in the selector starts from 1 (and not 0). That's why the selector of the 1st, 4th, 7th rows is nth-child(3n+1).

How the selector reads

The selector nth-child(Mn+k) for a row of index i reads as if (i % M == k). For example, if we want to select all rows whose base 3 modulo is equal to 2 we would write in CSS nth-child(3n+2), in other (javascript) words, the selector does this:

const M = 3;
const k = 2;

for (let i = 1; i < 10; i+=1){
    // The `nth-child(Mn+k)` selector: 
    if (i % M == k){
        console.log(`${i} selected`);
    }
}

Outputs

2 selected
5 selected
8 selected

Alternate table row color using CSS?

11 Answers11

Alternating rows selector

How the selector reads

Linked

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