When some one works on a website design, it is important that the look will remain same in all browsers. But creating a consistent interface for users is a constant struggle for every application designer. Building consistency on the web is especially tough because the visual rendering differences across browsers and operating systems are wildly different and almost arbitrary in what can and cannot be done.

As is, the input with the type=”submit” is either too ugly (Firefox), a little buggy (Internet Explorer) or completely inflexible (Safari). I tried a lot to make them look same in all the browsers, but couldn’t find any easy way. Finally, I have got the solution form one of my friends, Mr. Kevin Hale. In one of his tutorials, he showed how easily we can do it by using images and a little trick with css.

Here I want to share the technique, if anybody finds it helpful, then let me know, I will try to come with some more examples in the future.

In this example, the first one acts as a submit button, while the other two work as links. You can change them according to what you want.

The HTML Part:

<form name="form1" method="post" action="">
<div class="buttons">
    <button type="submit" class="positive" name="save">
        <img src="images/apply2.png" alt=""/>
        Save
    </button>

    <a href="" class="regular"><!-- class="regular"-->
        <img src="images/textfield_key.png" alt=""/>
        Change Password
    </a>

    <a href="#" class="negative">
        <img src="images/cross.png" alt=""/>
        Cancel
    </a>
</div>
</form>

The CSS Part:

.buttons a, .buttons button{
    display:block;
    float:left;
    margin:0 7px 0 0;
    background-color:#f5f5f5;
    border:1px solid #dedede;
    border-top:1px solid #eee;
    border-left:1px solid #eee;

    font-family:"Lucida Grande", Tahoma, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif;
    font-size:12px;
    line-height:130%;
    text-decoration:none;
    font-weight:bold;
    color:#565656;
    cursor:pointer;
    padding:5px 10px 6px 7px; /* Links */
}
.buttons button{
    width:auto;
    overflow:visible;
    padding:4px 10px 3px 7px; /* IE6 */
}
.buttons button[type]{
    padding:5px 10px 5px 7px; /* Firefox */
    line-height:17px; /* Safari */
}
*:first-child+html button[type]{
    padding:4px 10px 3px 7px; /* IE7 */
}
.buttons button img, .buttons a img{
    margin:0 3px -3px 0 !important;
    padding:0;
    border:none;
    width:16px;
    height:16px;
}

/* STANDARD */

button:hover, .buttons a:hover{
    background-color:#dff4ff;
    border:1px solid #c2e1ef;
    color:#336699;
}
.buttons a:active{
    background-color:#6299c5;
    border:1px solid #6299c5;
    color:#fff;
}

/* POSITIVE */

button.positive, .buttons a.positive{
    color:#529214;
}
.buttons a.positive:hover, button.positive:hover{
    background-color:#E6EFC2;
    border:1px solid #C6D880;
    color:#529214;
}
.buttons a.positive:active{
    background-color:#529214;
    border:1px solid #529214;
    color:#fff;
}

/* NEGATIVE */

.buttons a.negative, button.negative{
    color:#d12f19;
}
.buttons a.negative:hover, button.negative:hover{
    background:#fbe3e4;
    border:1px solid #fbc2c4;
    color:#d12f19;
}
.buttons a.negative:active{
    background-color:#d12f19;
    border:1px solid #d12f19;
    color:#fff;
}

/* REGULAR */

button.regular, .buttons a.regular{
    color:#336699;
}
.buttons a.regular:hover, button.regular:hover{
    background-color:#dff4ff;
    border:1px solid #c2e1ef;
    color:#336699;
}
.buttons a.regular:active{
    background-color:#6299c5;
    border:1px solid #6299c5;
    color:#fff;
}

See the demo

Tags: css, SEO, submit button