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13 examples of Pseudo-Elements With Custom CSS with the help of Elementor Pro

before and after Pseudo-Elements are really good ways to add style to the Elements without the need for Extra Markup you don’t need.

With the help of Elementor Pro: Custom CSS functionalities, whatever CSS you're writing and will reflect directly to the editor itself in real-time that makes it super easy and faster and productive.

pseudo-elements with Elementor

#1. Code I have provided below is not minified yet,you have to go to this website to minified your CSS for better performance.

#2. You have to write your own media Queries if needed.

#3. Disclaimer: This site contain Affiliate Links, which means if you buy, website will earn a small commission. This commission comes at no additional cost to you.

#4. For browser compatibility, you need to head over to Autoprefixer CSS online.

#5. (Requirement) Learn how to how to add CSS class to an elementor's widget.

:before (::before) and :after (::after) Pseudo-Elements are really good ways to add style to the Elements without the need for adding extra Markup you don’t need and here are

12 examples of pseudo-elements with elementor pro and some CSS you can add to your build right now.

Can I use it with the Free version of Elementor plugin ?

Yes, you can use free version of Elementor without any issues but when it comes with convinient or any complicated stuff, you will need Elementor pro because you will see whatever CSS you're writing and it will reflect directly to the editor itself in real-time that makes it super easy and faster and productive.

Elementor's Promotion Assets

Otherwise, if you use the Free version it can consume more and more time and it is not as productive as using Pro version. And I am not trying to sell your Elementor pro or anything but it is facts. You have to figure out which class you use and it can cause Conflict with other Custom CSS.

Change the color of the Elementor Button icon widget

Elementor Button
Do you need the tutorials for this one? Of course not, this feature is already in-built with Elementor plugin from day one.

But can you change the color,size of the icon itself?

Not out-of-the-box though but you can with little bit of css. Follow this guide to learn more -
  1. Head over to Elementor button.
  2. Then Go to Button Advanced tab
  3. Under Advanced tab - Choose CSS id/ Classes (You prefer) and give a name for styling. (btn-color-icon) this is the CSS class I choose.
  4. Choose whicher you prefer for CSS id use 'Pound sign' or 'Hash' or '#' sign or if you are using CSS classes then use (.)
Change the color of the FA icon
I Choose CSS classes as "btn-color-icon" for that CSS, it will be .btn-color-icon = class name

.fa - That how FontAwesome use their name

.fa:before - that how Elementor add the fontAwesome icon with before and after pseudo-elements 
    
        
/* 
* .btn-color-icon is the CSS class, we have added to Elementor's button CSS classes
* .fa is the CSS classes for font-awesome icons.
*  ::before or :before is the before and after pseudo-elements to insert CSS or anything to the elements.
*/

.btn-color-icon .fa:before{
   color:purple;
}

Change the font family from Font-Awesome to Elementor icons

Unlike, you can’t choose Elementor Icons (eicons) like you choose Font-Awesome icon from Icon libraries ( See the screenshot below) but we can specify eicons by replacing Font-family from ‘Font Awesome 5 Free to ‘Eicons‘ and content from ‘\f30b‘ to ‘\e837‘ in later.

This is how to insert FA icons or any icon libraries to Elementor’s button widget. Simply choose icon and choose icon library.

Choose Icons from Font-awesome Libraries

This is how it looks when you add Font-Awesome icon directly from icon libraries in the frontend and the editors.

Button with FA icon 
    
        
/* 
 * This is the Code, Font-Awesome use it
 * .btn-color-fa is the CSS class, we have added to Elementor's button CSS classes
 *  .fa-long-arrow-alt-right is the CSS classes for calling font-awesome icons for font-awesome libraries.
 * ::before or :before is the before and after pseudo-elements to insert CSS or anything to the elements. 
 */



.bt-color-fa  .fa-long-arrow-alt-right:before {
    content: "\f30b";
    font-family: "Font Awesome 5 Free";
    font-weight: 900;
    color:#000;
}

Now, we swap out the Font-Awesome icon with Eicons by specifying the “font-family” as Eicons and the “content”.

    
        
/* 
 * .btn-color-eicon is the CSS class, we have added to Elementor's button CSS classes
 *  .fa-long-arrow-alt-right is the CSS classes for calling font-awesome icons for font-awesome libraries.
 * ::before or :before is the before and after pseudo-elements to insert CSS or anything to the elements. 
 */


.bt-color-eicon .fa-long-arrow-alt-right:before{
    content: '\e837';
    font-family: "Eicons";
    font-weight: normal;
    font-style: normal;
    padding-left: 4px;
    color: purple;
}
Button with Eicons

Design touch on background image

This CSS is inspired by Kevin Powell YouTube Channel and in this post, I will going to demonstrate how to use it with the help of the Elementor pro.

This design can be useful for small touches, decoration, etc and you can see the demo and video below.

I highly recommend watching Kevin Powell’s video to fully understand the code.

To see the hover effects, you have to hover upon an image.

Hover me 7 examples of Pseudo-Elements With Elementor with custom css

The demo above is built with an Elementor HTML widget and you can copy and paste the HTML and CSS to your project, just make sure you change the images path

				
					<!-- Boilerplate -->

<div class="decoration">
    <p class="decoration--paragraph">Hover me</p>
    <img
        class="decoration--image" 
        width="800" 
        height="522" 
        loading="lazy"
        src="/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/pexels-photo-297755-1024x668.jpg" 
        srcset="
            /wp-content/uploads/2019/03/pexels-photo-297755.jpg 480w,
            /wp-content/uploads/2019/03/pexels-photo-297755-1024x668.jpg 768w,
            /wp-content/uploads/2019/03/pexels-photo-297755-1024x668.jpg 1024w,
            /wp-content/uploads/2019/03/pexels-photo-297755-1024x668.jpg 1536w"
     alt="7 examples of Pseudo-Elements With Elementor with css" 
    sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" >
    <button role="button" class="decoration--button">Surprise</button>
    
</div>
				
			
				
					/*
* CSS custom Properties
* Please use Autoprefixer to add all the browser compaitability tag (Highly recommended
*  You still need to adjust CSS
*/


:root{
    --transition: 300ms ease-in-out;
    --clr-button:#ffce30;
    --clr-button-text:#304ffe;
    --clr-button-text-hover: #ffe485;
    --foreground: #fff;
    --fw: 600;
}

/* 
* container
*/

.decoration{
    position: relative;
    margin:0;
    display: flex;
    justify-content: center;
    align-items: center;
    flex-direction: column;
    overflow: hidden;
}
/* 
* image 
*/
.decoration--image{
    margin:0;
    padding:0;
    min-height: 100%;
    min-width: 100%
}
/* 
* Button
*/
.decoration--button{
    transform: translateY(-120px);
    z-index: 2;
    width:50%;
    border-radius:50px;
    height:50px;
    margin:0;
    opacity: 0;
    text-transform: uppercase;
    font-weight: var(--fw);
    letter-spacing: 2px;
    /* 
    * Instead of using transition: all
    */
    transition: opacity var(--transition),
                transform var(--transition), 
                background var(--transition),  
                color var(--transition);
    pointer-events: none;
}

/* 
* Paragraph
*/
.decoration--paragraph{
    font-size: 5rem;
    text-transform: uppercase;
    font-weight: var(--fw,600);
    color:Blue;
    transform: translateY(30vh);
    transition: opacity var(--transition) ;
}

.decoration::after,
.decoration::before {
    content: '';
    position: absolute;
    top:2em;
    bottom: 2.8em;
    left: 1em;
    right: 1em;
    opacity: 1;
    transition: transform var(--transition);
}

.decoration::before {
    border-top: 3px solid var(--clr-button-text-hover);
    border-bottom: 3px solid var(--clr-button-text-hover);
    transform: scale(0, 1);
 

}

.decoration::after {
    border-left: 3px solid var(--clr-button-text-hover);
    border-right: 3px solid var(--clr-button-text-hover);
    transform: scale(1, 0);

}

.decoration:hover::before {
 
    transform: scale(1.015, 1);
}

.decoration:hover::after {
    transform: scale(1, 1.05);
  
}
.decoration:hover .decoration--button{
    opacity: 1;
    pointer-events: auto;
    transform: translateY(-130px);
    cursor: pointer;
     
 
}
.decoration--button:hover{
    background:var(--clr-button-text);
    color:var(--clr-button-text-hover);
}

/*
* Media Queries
*/


@media(max-width:768px){
    .decoration--paragraph{
    font-size: 3rem;
      transform: translateY(20vh);
 
}
.decoration--button{
    transform: translateY(-120px);
    height:50px;
    font-size:1.1rem;

}

.decoration:hover .decoration--button{
     transform: translateY(-110px);
}

}
@media(max-width:760px){
    .decoration--paragraph{
    font-size: 2.4rem;
    transform: translateY(13vh);
}
.decoration--button{
    transform: translateY(-80px);
    height:40px;
    font-size:.9rem;
}

.decoration:hover .decoration--button{
     transform: translateY(-100px); 
}

}
 .decoration--button{
     border:none;
 }

.decoration:hover .decoration--button{
    background: var(--clr-button-text);
    color:var(--foreground);
}

Elementor Pro: Portfolio - Custom label

Category Label with Pseudo-elements

Follow the process

  1. Head over to the Portfolio widget.
  2. Then click the Portfolio widget Advanced tab
  3. Under Advanced tab – Choose CSS id/ Classes (You prefer).
  4. You know the step after that

To understand the CSS properly, you need to learn the CSS FlexBox property first. So you will understand what is going on.

				
					
.portfolio .elementor-portfolio__filters{
    display:-webkit-box;
    display:-ms-flexbox;
    display:flex;
    -webkit-box-pack:end;
        -ms-flex-pack:end;
            justify-content:flex-end;
    position: relative;
    margin-bottom:0; 
    z-index:1;  
    
}
/* 
* box-shadow to all the post images
*/
.elementor-posts-container .elementor-post {
  
    -webkit-box-shadow: #3539411c 0 10px 40px 0;
            box-shadow: #3539411c 0 10px 40px 0;
}
.portfolio .elementor-portfolio__filters::before{
    content:"'Category' Label are added with Pseudo-elements";
    color:#000;
    font-size:.95rem;
    position:absolute;
    right:0;
    left:0;
    top:50%;
    -webkit-transform: translateY(-50%);
        -ms-transform: translateY(-50%);
            transform: translateY(-50%);
    bottom:0;
    z-index:-1;  
    
}
    
    @media(max-width:768px){
        .portfolio .elementor-portfolio__filters::before{
            font-size:1rem;
            right:0%;
            top:-20px;
            font-weight:600;        
                    }
}
@media(max-width:480px){
        .portfolio .elementor-portfolio__filters{
            -webkit-box-pack:start;
                -ms-flex-pack:start;
                    justify-content:flex-start;
            -webkit-box-align:center;
                -ms-flex-align:center;
                    align-items:center;    
            margin:20px 0 0 ;
        padding: 10px 0 10px 0;
            
        }       
}

Add 'menu' to Elementor Pro - Hamburger Menu

Do you prefer the default Hamburger menu or add some text next to the hamburger menu like ( Browse) or  ( MENU) for the indicator.

Most of them didn’t know what the Hamburger menu is for, so providing a name gives visitors some insights into it.

Follow the process

  1. Head over to the Nav menu widget
  2. Then click the Nav menu widget then Advanced tab
  3. Under Advanced tab – Choose CSS id/ Classes and give a class name, so you can style properly (.hamburger).
  4. You know the step after that
				
					
/*
* Code only works if you disable "Inline Font Icons" in Experiments mode
* Icons open
*/

.hamburger .elementor-menu-toggle i::after{
    --font-size: 1.4rem;
    content:'MENU';
    Padding-left:10px;
    /*
    *specify your font family
    */
    font-family: 'helvetica',sans-serif;
    /*Adjust your font size as needed*/
    font-size: var(--font-size);
}

 /*
  *Close Icon when Interact 
  */
 
.hamburger .elementor-active i:after{
    content:'CLOSE';
    font-size: var(--font-size);
}

As CSS Tooltip

A tooltip is often used to specify extra information about something when the user moves the mouse pointer over an element:

Hover me please 
				
					
.top .elementor-button{
    position: relative;
}

.top .elementor-button:hover::after{
    content:'Surprise';
    position:absolute;
    display:inline-block;
    background-color: Blue;
    color:#000;
    padding:20px 60px;
    /*
    * Adjust as per your requirements
    */
    margin:-108px -100px;
    font-size: 1rem;
    
}

Sub-menu Triangle when hovering

When your mouse pointer hovers over (Old) Elementor’s navigation menu on the official Elementor’s website we see a small triangle with white color.

If you want to achieve the same things, you can use the code below.

				
					
.top .elementor-button:hover::before{
    content: "";
    position: absolute;
    top: -15px;
    left: 50%;
    margin-left: -5px;
    border-width: 8px;
    border-style: solid;
    border-color: currentcolor transparent transparent transparent;
    
}

Animated Hover effect on Links

When you hover any link on my website or on the menu after you click the Hamburger menu. You get nice hover effects or animated underline effects. You can experience the same thing on all my links too.

This can be done with simple CSS and you will get tutorials from Link underline animation from LetsWP.io or if you want fancier then go to specky boy to learn more.

Added Icons to Headings

Display Font-Awesome icons before the heading widget

Do you know you can add font awesome icons before and after using FontAwesome?

This example you’re seeing in the video is not entirely done with before and after pseudo-elements but you can achieve it pretty easily.

See the video below for the demonstration-

				
					
    /* 
* Before heading
*/

.fa-icon .elementor-heading-title{
    position: relative;
}

.fa-icon .elementor-heading-title::before{
    content:'\f641';
 font-family: "Font Awesome 5 Free"; font-weight: 900;
 padding-right: 20px;
}
/* 
* After heading
*/

.fa-icon .elementor-heading-title::after{
    content:'\f641';
 font-family: "Font Awesome 5 Free"; font-weight: 900;
 padding-right: 20px;
}
}

Elementor icons or eicons to display before or after

Have fun with Elementor icons (eicons) too if you know the CSS.

				
					
    /* 
* Before heading
*/

.icons .elementor-heading-title{
position: relative;
}

.icons .elementor-heading-title::before{
content:'\e801';
font-family: 'eicons';
padding-right:5px;
}


/* 
* After heading
*/

.icons .elementor-heading-title::after{
content:'\e801';
font-family: 'eicons';
padding-right:5px;
}

Added Icons to Post Title in WordPress

I wrote an article on Quora on how to add an icon to post a title in WordPress, it is well documented in my opinion. Go check the page.

Add title to a Post Title in WordPress

As a Badge

Have you ever thought of using it as a badge like if there is a notification?

This is the question asked on Facebook today on how to do it, most of the answers were straight on the point. For starters, this can overwhelm you but if you follow this process you can do it but you will still need to adjust it though. 

Badge

Step#11(A): Appearance then Menus

Hover over to Appearance and click the menus.


Menus

Step#11(B): Select the Navigation menu item and add CSS class

Now select the navigation menu items you want to add the badge and add CSS class (shown in the picture below).

Add a span class of “nav” or any preferred.

if you don’t want a screen reader to read like “Our Mission New” you can add “aria-hidden=”true” ” to the span itself to skip “New“.

Adding Accessibility functionalities to the nav meu items

Step#11(C): Go to Theme builder and search your active site header

Now head over to Elementor Theme builder and find your active site header.

Now find your template – click the Edit with Elementor to edit your site header template.

You will be unstyled version (in the picture below) first because we haven’t styled it yet but we will.

Badge were unstyled

Step#11(D): Click the nav menu widget handle and add CSS class

We added this CSS class not to get conflict with other CSS classes or rules so it doesn’t get overwritten.

nav Menu CSS class

Step#11(E): Add Custom CSS to the Nav menu widget 

				
					/*
* nav-menu is the CSS class we defined in Elementor CSS classes
* Nav is the CSS we define in Appearence - Menu 
*/
.nav-menu .elementor-item{
    position: relative;
}

.nav-menu .elementor-item .nav{
    position: absolute;
    right:0;
    top: -5px;
    background-color: #000;
    border-radius: 30px;
    width: 45px;
    font-size: .8rem;
    text-transform: capitalize;
    display: flex;
    align-items: center;
    justify-content: center;
    color: #fff;
    
}

Result

Step#11(F): Live badge

By using before and after pseudo-elements CSS we can add the live badge features and then we can animate with @keyframes CSS.

				
					.live-badge::before{
    content:'';
    color: red;
    position: absolute;
    left:5px;
    top:5px;
    background: red;
    border-radius: 50%;
    width: 10px;
    height: 10px;
}
before and after badge css

To animate the red dot, we need to add keyframes. So we had over to Animista – CSS animations on Demand this is my favorite CSS animation site.

				
					.live-badge::before{
    content:'';
    color: red;
    position: absolute;
    left:5px;
    top:5px;
    background: red;
    border-radius: 50%;
    width: 10px;
    height: 10px;
    /* We define the animation name as heart heartbeat*/
     -webkit-animation: heartbeat 1.5s ease-in-out infinite both;
	        animation: heartbeat 1.5s ease-in-out infinite both;
}


/* ----------------------------------------------
 * Generated by Animista on 2021-10-22 22:8:1
 * Licensed under FreeBSD License.
 * See https://animista.net/license for more info. 
 * w: https://animista.net, t: @cssanimista
 * ---------------------------------------------- */

/**
 * ----------------------------------------
 * animation heartbeat
 * ----------------------------------------
 */
@-webkit-keyframes heartbeat {
  from {
    -webkit-transform: scale(1);
            transform: scale(1);
    -webkit-transform-origin: center center;
            transform-origin: center center;
    -webkit-animation-timing-function: ease-out;
            animation-timing-function: ease-out;
  }
  10% {
    -webkit-transform: scale(0.91);
            transform: scale(0.91);
    -webkit-animation-timing-function: ease-in;
            animation-timing-function: ease-in;
  }
  17% {
    -webkit-transform: scale(0.98);
            transform: scale(0.98);
    -webkit-animation-timing-function: ease-out;
            animation-timing-function: ease-out;
  }
  33% {
    -webkit-transform: scale(0.87);
            transform: scale(0.87);
    -webkit-animation-timing-function: ease-in;
            animation-timing-function: ease-in;
  }
  45% {
    -webkit-transform: scale(1);
            transform: scale(1);
    -webkit-animation-timing-function: ease-out;
            animation-timing-function: ease-out;
  }
}
@keyframes heartbeat {
  from {
    -webkit-transform: scale(1);
            transform: scale(1);
    -webkit-transform-origin: center center;
            transform-origin: center center;
    -webkit-animation-timing-function: ease-out;
            animation-timing-function: ease-out;
  }
  10% {
    -webkit-transform: scale(0.91);
            transform: scale(0.91);
    -webkit-animation-timing-function: ease-in;
            animation-timing-function: ease-in;
  }
  17% {
    -webkit-transform: scale(0.98);
            transform: scale(0.98);
    -webkit-animation-timing-function: ease-out;
            animation-timing-function: ease-out;
  }
  33% {
    -webkit-transform: scale(0.87);
            transform: scale(0.87);
    -webkit-animation-timing-function: ease-in;
            animation-timing-function: ease-in;
  }
  45% {
    -webkit-transform: scale(1);
            transform: scale(1);
    -webkit-animation-timing-function: ease-out;
            animation-timing-function: ease-out;
  }
}

Beautiful Hover effects

You can achieve amazing hover effects with before and after pseudo-elements. Here is the Codepen you can check out and it is created by me.

Partial Underline color effects to the heading tag

Partial Underline effects with linear gradient and before & after pseudo-elements

If you want to do the same thing to your headings, you can achieve the same things with before and after pseudo-elements or by using a linear gradient.

Step#13(A): Give A CSS class to your heading

Partial Underline effects with color

Step#13(B): Add CSS to the Custom CSS area

Adding CSS to custom CSS area 
				
					/*
* Global Style
*/
:root {
  --heading-color: #fbfbfb;
  --underline-clr-bg: blue;
  --font-weight: 800;
}

/* 
* Heading Style
* This CSS can look weird, if you have long text
*/


.partial_bg_heading .elementor-heading-title{
  color: var(--heading-color);
  font-weight: var(--font-weight);
  background: linear-gradient(
    to bottom,
    transparent 60%,
    var(--underline-clr-bg) 60%
  );
  background-repeat: no-repeat;
}

If you want to do it with before and after pseudo-elements, you can buy the Unlimited-Elements widget from Gumroad

Basic and Advanced heading effects

If you have other examples and want to contribute, please do consider using comments.

Thank you

Reference :

  1. http://snifflevalve.com/elementor-tutorials/elementor-pro-portfolio-widget-filter-bar-label/
  2. https://css-tricks.com/snippets/css/a-guide-to-flexbox/
  3. https://letswp.io/link-underline-animation/
  4. https://codepen.io/mxttsco/pen/KgodYm
  5. https://speckyboy.com/underline-text-effects-css/

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