Question

Is it possible to style alternate table rows without defining classes on alternate <tr> tags?

With the following table, can CSS define alternate row styles WITHOUT having to give the alternate rows the class “row1/row2”? row1 can be default, so row2 is the issue.

<style>
.altTable td { }
.altTable .row2 td { background-color: #EEE; }
</style>

<table class="altTable">
 <thead><tr><td></td></tr></thead>
 <tbody>
  <tr><td></td></tr>
  <tr class="row2"><td></td></tr>
  <tr><td></td></tr>
  <tr class="row2"><td></td></tr>
 </tbody>
</table>

Answer 1

tr:nth-child(even) { background: #FFF; }
tr:nth-child(odd) { background: #EEE; }

Does not work in IE, but it’s a purely presentational thing, the content will work fine anyway, so I don’t think it’s a huge issue — depending on the % of regular IE users on your site.