CSS-Tricks

For this issue of What’s !important, we have a healthy balance of old CSS that you might’ve missed and new CSS that you don’t want to miss. This includes random(), random-item(), folded corners using clip-path, backdrop-filter, font-variant-numeric: tabular-nums, the Popover API, anchored container queries, anchor positioning in general, DOOM in CSS, the customizable select element, :open, scroll-triggered animations, the toolbar element, and somehow, more.

https://css-tricks.com/whats-important-7/

A few wild examples of the customizable select have been floating around. Here are a few more from @patrickbrosset@mas.to that push the envelope.

https://css-tricks.com/abusing-customizable-selects/

Aren't z-index values one of those things we all sorta struggle with? How we choose them, how we manage them, how we balance the stacking contexts, etc.

@amit_sheen@mastodon.cloud
has a great way to approach it... all around tokens for intentional intentional layers.

https://css-tricks.com/the-value-of-z-index/

A really good look at the Popover and Dialog APIs... and what makes them different.

https://css-tricks.com/popover-api-or-dialog-api-which-to-choose/

Despite what’s been a sleepy couple of weeks for new Web Platform Features, we have an issue of What’s !important that’s prrrretty jam-packed. The web community had a lot to say, it seems, so fasten your seatbelts!

https://css-tricks.com/whats-important-6/

TIL: We can center an absolutely positioned element with justify-self:

.element {
position: absolute;
place-self: center;
inset: 0;
}

Juan Diego explains it nicely here:

https://css-tricks.com/yet-another-way-to-center-an-absolute-element/

Lee Meyer's sane, thoroughly reported, and well-grokked explanation of the recent CVE-2026-2441 vulnerability that was labeled a "CSS exploit" that "allowed a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code inside a sandbox via a crafted HTML page."

https://css-tricks.com/an-exploit-in-css/

SVG or raster? The short answer to that question is: there’s almost no difference at all if you are working on something very small and specific.

But it's more nuanced than that, and Mariana Beldi has all the nerdy details.

https://css-tricks.com/loading-smarter-svg-vs-raster-loaders-in-modern-web-design/

Poking at a new proposal that would allow an element to match an element when the pointer gets :near() it by a certain amount.

https://css-tricks.com/potentially-coming-to-a-browser-near-you/

Distinguishing “Components” and “Utilities” in Tailwind by Zell Liew

https://css-tricks.com/distinguishing-components-and-utilities-in-tailwind/

Interop 2026 is officially a thing and there's plenty of new (and even old) CSS features that we can look forward to being cross-browser compatible and consistent!

https://css-tricks.com/interop-2026/

Split the text, rotate and scale it, and translate the individual characters on scroll.

Phew, definitely not for the faint of heart but it's a super cool effect!

https://css-tricks.com/spiral-scrollytelling-in-css-with-sibling-index/

This issue of What’s !important is dedicated to our friends in the UK, who are currently experiencing a very miserable 43-day rain streak. Presenting: the five most interesting things to read about CSS from the last couple of weeks. Plus, the latest features from Chrome 145, and anything else you might’ve missed.

TL;DR: lots of content, but also lots of rain:

https://css-tricks.com/whats-important-5/

Is it impossible for @css@font-end.social to NOT take something to the next level, even his own work.

https://css-tricks.com/making-a-responsive-pyramidal-grid-with-modern-css/

Here's a math-y way to approximate the contrast-color() function from @khamer@me.dm while we're waiting on full support.

https://css-tricks.com/approximating-contrast-color-with-other-css-features/

The progress() function is sorta like clamp() but returns 1 or 0. Combine it with calc() and you can get weird with it.