Recently I had a need to add a very simple bit of functionality to my blog that would show/hide some bbcode examples. I didn't want to use Bootstrap/jQuery for such a simple task so I looked around and found this simple CSS trick that does exactly what I need by using a checkbox to trigger showing/hiding a pre element, effectively simulating a Bootstrap Accordion.

Here's what it looks like...

Hidden:

Visible:

The CSS is very simple:


To explain this - the :checked pseudo-class applies when the checkbox is selected/checked and the '+ pre' part is an adjacent selector for the pre element. Together this means 'when there is a checked checkbox next to a pre element'.

Now the HTML is like this...


As long as the pre element is immediately after the checkbox this will work. Apply your own styling to make it look how you want, no JavaScript/jQuery required!

You can also replace the pre element with just about anything else, as long as the style is updated and you use the new element after the checkbox.



-i