Help talk:Link color

I am trying to modify my modern.css page so that visited links don't change to the defaulted purple (I'd rather they remained the standard blue). I've tried a few different approaches, but none seem to work – I clear my cache each time, but all visited links remain purple. Can anyone think of another approach? Here is what I inputted most recently:

.mw-body-content a:link:visited { color: #0000FF; } /* visited links */

–Ruby2010 (talk) 20:53, 31 December 2019 (UTC)

:I don't think that you can combine [//www.w3.org/TR/selectors-3/#the-link-pseudo-classes-link-and-visited the :link and :visited pseudo-classes] - I'm pretty sure that they're mutually exclusive. Try this selector-list: .mw-body-content a:link,

.mw-body-content a:visited { color: #0000FF; } /* visited links */ If that doesn't work, try removing the .mw-body-content class selector. --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 00:22, 1 January 2020 (UTC)

::Thanks for looking. I've just tried a few different variations of that, but all visited links are still appearing as purple. Hmmm... Ruby2010 (talk) 00:50, 1 January 2020 (UTC)

:::Oh. Well, this works for me. It's possible that your browser is overriding that - you may need to post at WP:VPT, linking back here. --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 19:46, 1 January 2020 (UTC)

:::Then again, the problem might be User:Ruby2010/common.css, which is entirely invalid: the first line (beginning mw.loader.load) isn't CSS at all (it's JavaScript, so belongs at User:Ruby2010/common.js if you wish to use it), whilst the rule that begins on the second line lacks a closing single brace after the display: none; declaration. If, as I suspect, MediaWiki combines your common.css with your modern.css in that order, your modern.css will be ignored since it's within the declaration-block of the incomplete rule whose selectors are .mw-special-Watchlist .mw-rollback-link. --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 23:16, 1 January 2020 (UTC)

::::That was it! I made a few edits and am now seeing the behavior I expected. I can't thank you enough for your help, Redrose64. Hope you had a happy new year's! Ruby2010 (talk) 03:00, 2 January 2020 (UTC)

I've looked at Help:Link color and can't figure out how to do what I want. I'd like to make the difference between visited and unvisited wikilinks more clear on my screen without changing other colors. Most likely would be to make unvisited wikilinks that are not redirects or redlinks a lighter blue. I've fooled with User:SchreiberBike/vector.css, but I don't really understand what I'm doing. Thanks for any help. SchreiberBike | ⌨  02:36, 11 June 2020 (UTC)

:I don't see why you would need to change other colours. It should be as simple as picking one of these two lines: .mw-body-content a:link { color: #0645AD; } /* unvisited links */

.mw-body-content a:visited { color: #0B0080; } /* visited links */ and altering the colour value to something else. You don't need the other line if you're not altering its colour. --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 19:34, 11 June 2020 (UTC)

::Thanks Redrose64. Either of those lines changes the color for all either visited or unvisited links. For example, when I use the second line, with the color changed to a purple, it changes all visited links including redirects (which used to be orange), red links (which used to be dark red), and links to disambiguation pages (which used to be olive) to purple. If instead I use the first line, it does the same to all unvisted links. I'd like to make the difference between visited and unvisited wikilinks (which are usually blue or a slightly darker blue) more clear without changing other colors. Thanks, SchreiberBike | ⌨  23:16, 11 June 2020 (UTC)

:::So, that can't be done? I'd think it's a common problem, or maybe it's my eyes (or monitor). SchreiberBike | ⌨  18:26, 21 June 2020 (UTC)

::::I'm having great difficulty finding the actual style sheets that are served along with Wikipedia pages. Analysis of those will show which rules are standalone and which depend upon the presence of others. --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 22:41, 21 June 2020 (UTC)

{{Resolved}}

Here's the {{para|reason}} parameter again for your convenience: this section only discusses change the color blue. It says nothing about red links, purple links or any other type of link. Please expand the section with the appropriate instructions or at the very least explain to the reader what link colors that can't be changed for everybody. Also this section needs to clearly state how inappropriate this mechanism is for general usage on Wikipedia. See talk

CapnZapp (talk) 12:52, 13 January 2021 (UTC)

:CapnZapp, could you please clarify: are you talking about a section of the page Help:Link color or some other page? —⁠andrybak (talk) 22:47, 21 July 2024 (UTC)

:: First of all, thank you for taking an interest, User:Andrybak. I'll try my best answering your questions, but before that, did you check out the article as it stood back when I started this talk section? Here's the relevant edit: {{diff2|1000074812}} Cheers CapnZapp (talk) 11:28, 22 July 2024 (UTC)

: For the record, fixed in Special:Diff/1002862008. —⁠andrybak (talk) 19:09, 22 July 2024 (UTC)

::Or maybe Special:Diff/1002844668/1002865899 might be a better diff to look at. - dcljr (talk) 21:08, 22 July 2024 (UTC)

This can be confusing. See:

• Help:Table#Color contrast with visited and unvisited links
• Help:Table#Color contrast of links in dark mode

See also:

• mw:Talk:Reading/Web/Accessibility for reading#Link color in dark mode is faded in table cells with background colors

--Timeshifter (talk) 11:51, 9 October 2024 (UTC)

Hi, this page doesn't seem to help me with my problems with the meanings of link colors. I've noticed that some links, particularly ones tied to notoriously bad people, are maroon with a red square around the text. The same applies to infamously good people, but for green. I feel I can deduce the meaning of said colors, but I haven't seen any mention of this subtle trait some pages have anywhere on the internet. 208.72.168.56 (talk) 03:18, 18 May 2025 (UTC)

:Please give examples of pages where you see this happening. Also, which browser you are using. --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 08:26, 18 May 2025 (UTC)