Head First HTML with CSS

how to style links
The element and its multiple personalities
Have you noticed that links act a little differently when it comes
to style? Links are chameleons of the element world because,
depending on the circumstance, they can change their style at a
moment’s notice. Let’s take a closer look:
Here’s a link you’ve never clicked on
before. This is called an “unvisited link”,
or just ‘link”, and it’s blue by default.
And here’s a link you
have clicked on before.
We call these “visited
links”. Usually, visited
links are displayed
in a different color
than unvisited links so
that you can tell the
difference. In most
browsers, visited links
are purple by default.
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And if you hold your mouse over a link without
clicking, this is called “hovering”. On some
browsers you’ll see a tool tip that displays the
text of the “title” attribute. And, if you pay
close attention, on some Web pages, you’ll see a
different style as you hover.
Unlike other elements, the style of an element changes depending
on its state. If the link has never been clicked on, it has one style, and
if it has been clicked on, another. And if you hover over a link, it can
have yet another style. Perhaps there’s more to styling elements
than meets the eye? You betcha... let’s take a look.