CSS Basics: Hyphens

In the world of web design, CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) plays a crucial role in determining the visual appearance of a website. One of the lesser-known CSS properties is the "hyphens" property, which allows for better control over how words are hyphenated and broken across lines. In this article, we will explore the basics of the "hyphens" property and its usage.

What is the "hyphens" property?

The "hyphens" property is a CSS property that controls the hyphenation behavior of words when they are broken across lines. It specifies whether words can be hyphenated and where hyphenation is allowed.

The "hyphens" property accepts three values:

• none: Words are not hyphenated.
• auto: Words are hyphenated according to the language-specific hyphenation rules.
• manual: Words are hyphenated using the hyphenation hints provided by the author using the ­ character.

Usage and Examples

Let's take a look at some examples to understand how the "hyphens" property works:

p {
  hyphens: auto;
}

In this example, the "hyphens" property is set to "auto". This means that words will be hyphenated according to the language-specific hyphenation rules. The browser will determine where to break the words based on the available space and the language of the text.

p {
  hyphens: manual;
}

In this example, the "hyphens" property is set to "manual". This allows the author to provide hints for hyphenation using the ­ character. For example, the word "hyphenation" can be written as "hy­phen­a­tion" to indicate possible hyphenation points. The browser will use these hints to determine where to break the words.

Browser Support

The "hyphens" property is supported by most modern browsers, including Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge. However, it is important to note that browser support may vary depending on the version and platform.

Conclusion

The "hyphens" property in CSS provides control over how words are hyphenated and broken across lines. By using the "hyphens" property, web designers can improve the readability and aesthetics of their websites. Whether it's automatically hyphenating words based on language rules or manually providing hints for hyphenation, the "hyphens" property offers flexibility and control. Experiment with different values of the "hyphens" property to find the best hyphenation behavior for your website.

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