HOME | DD

Synfull — CSS cursor tutorial

Published: 2009-01-17 20:51:30 +0000 UTC; Views: 42767; Favourites: 1035; Downloads: 986
Redirect to original
Description One of the nice advantages of CSS is the ability to have a custom cursor within your deviantART journal. The process of making a cursor is fairly quick and simple and you don’t need any CSS coding experience to get it to work.

The Requirements
The main requirement for using a CSS cursor within your deviantART journal is a premium membership. Sadly this is not a free feature, so if you have a ~ symbol next to your username you won’t be able to use this code on your own account.

To make a CSS cursor you first need 2 images. The first of these is a normal cursor which is the default image you want your cursor to display when on your journal. The second of these is the link cursor designed for when your cursor hovers over or click on a link. If you don’t want the image to change then simply use one image for both sections.

The images don’t have any size requirements though it is recommended you don’t make them much bigger than 25 x 25 pixels as large cursors can be impractical. The images are saved either as a .png or .gif and must be static as any animation won’t appear.

The Process
First the images need to be hosted on a website. This could be your deviantART account (or sta.sh) or some external image hosting site such as photobucket or imageshack. You just have to remember that these files can’t be deleted whilst the cursor is in use. Once they have been uploaded you need to attain the direct links to the images. The direct links will lead to a webpage where the image is shown on a plain background. These links can be acquired by right clicking on the image and selecting 'copy image URL/Location/Address'. (dependant on web browser).

These URLs then need to be pasted into the code shown below in the relevant places.

Once you have filled in the CSS code you then need to place it within the Skin CSS section of your journal. At the time of writing this tutorial (September 2012) this can be accessed by clicking the ‘Edit skin button on the journal submission page. Within Sta.sh writer this can be found in the lower right corner, where as it is located in the top left on the regular journal submission page.

The position of the code within any other CSS doesn’t really matter provided that it isn’t in the middle of another line of code. If you are unsure then it is best to place it at the very top or very bottom. This also makes it easier to locate in future in case there are any issues or you wish to edit it.

Once you have completed the steps above simply click save on the CSS page and save your journal and start enjoying your new CSS cursor.

The Code

a:link {cursor:url(url of link cursor), pointer;}
a:hover {cursor:url(url of link cursor), pointer;}
body {cursor:url(url of normal cursor), pointer;}

Example code
Below is an example of the code corrected filled in. It is very easy to accidently delete a bracket or comma which will break the code, so please take care when inputting your links.

a:link {cursor:url(http://fc02.deviantart.com/fs48/f/2009/171/7/2/Link_cursor_by_deviant.png), pointer;}
a:hover {cursor:url(http://fc02.deviantart.com/fs48/f/2009/171/7/2/Link_cursor_by_deviant.png), pointer;}
body {cursor:url(http://fc03.deviantart.com/fs48/f/2009/171/7/2/Normal_cursor_by_deviant.png), pointer;}

Troubleshooting
If you have any issues with your cursor then it is suggested you check:

- You haven’t accidently deleted anything from the code
- There aren’t any unnecessary spaces added by mistake
- The links are direct links and not links to a regular deviation page/gallery
- The code has been successfully pasted into the CSS section
- The correct CSS has been applied to your journal (not a previous copy)

If you are still unsure of the issue and need some assistance then you can contact me via note with a copy of the code you are using and I will try my best to fix the issue. Please don’t edit or add spaces to the code before sending it to me as this prevents me easily spotting the problem. It is also important that it is sent in a note as this allows me to access the code intact rather than formatted versions displayed in dA comments.

Please also note that I don’t have any knowledge of desktop cursors or general CSS coding. Please direct any questions regarding other elements of CSS to a CSS related group and take into account these tips when asking for help




Other tutorials

You can find all of my other tutorials on this page: [link]
Related content
Comments: 409

CheekyNana In reply to ??? [2010-07-06 18:56:41 +0000 UTC]

Stupid question [probably], but is there any way to get them outside of the Journal - say, in a Custom Box? [Oh, and I used it here , thank you so much! ]

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Synfull In reply to CheekyNana [2010-07-06 20:33:18 +0000 UTC]

Not a silly question, but i don't have an answer. I don't know much about CSS at all, just simply understand how this code works.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

CheekyNana In reply to Synfull [2010-07-07 06:13:42 +0000 UTC]

Fair enough - thanks anyway Syn! [Or do you prefer Karen?]

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Synfull In reply to CheekyNana [2010-07-07 16:41:32 +0000 UTC]

I don't mind either

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

CheekyNana In reply to Synfull [2010-07-07 20:28:20 +0000 UTC]

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Indae In reply to ??? [2010-06-13 10:41:26 +0000 UTC]

I can't get mine to work :/

Due to something odd with the new downloads system when i click download on [link] and [link] , it doesn't give me a url ? is this just my computer ?
So i tried uploading it to photobucket, and i got these url's [link] [link] But for some reason when i put this
}
a:link {
cursor:url([link] ), pointer;
}
a:hover {
cursor:url([link] ), pointer;
}
body {
cursor:url([link] ), pointer;
}
in my journal CSS and click preview, it comes up with
CSS Error:
{} mismatch (token: )

Is this something you can help me with ? If not, i'm sorry for bugging you
But thank you for the great tutorial

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Synfull In reply to Indae [2010-06-13 11:25:17 +0000 UTC]

Can you send me the code in a note please. I can't copy and paste it from the comment because the links go to [link]

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Indae In reply to Synfull [2010-06-13 11:29:27 +0000 UTC]

Okay

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

RowanHM In reply to ??? [2010-05-02 02:14:20 +0000 UTC]

cool... rely helpful
oh yea btw animation doesnt work... i tried making the emote blink but its just still on the first frame. shame rely...

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

FudgecakeKamy In reply to ??? [2010-03-22 23:30:24 +0000 UTC]

Your tutorial is very useful for me I just want to make sure is this how it looks?



}
a:link {
cursor:url([link] ), pointer;
}
a:hover {
cursor:url([link] ), pointer;
}
body {
cursor:url([link] ), pointer;

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Synfull In reply to FudgecakeKamy [2010-03-22 23:59:13 +0000 UTC]

looks fine to me. best thing to do is stick it in and try if you want to test it

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

FudgecakeKamy In reply to Synfull [2010-03-23 00:06:29 +0000 UTC]

One question

Do i put the code in the journal entry or the css code box?

Thanks for your help!!

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Synfull In reply to FudgecakeKamy [2010-03-23 00:26:12 +0000 UTC]

css box

👍: 0 ⏩: 2

FudgecakeKamy In reply to Synfull [2010-03-23 01:59:00 +0000 UTC]

I put in the css box but it said that i can't put in there because i can't combine it.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Synfull In reply to FudgecakeKamy [2010-03-23 13:03:00 +0000 UTC]

I don't really know enough about CSS to help you. Sorry you'd be best off heading over to #eCSSited or another group if you're stuck

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

FudgecakeKamy In reply to Synfull [2010-03-23 19:49:31 +0000 UTC]

Okay thank you

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

FudgecakeKamy In reply to Synfull [2010-03-23 00:27:50 +0000 UTC]

Okay thanks so much!!

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

FuzzyAcornIndustries In reply to ??? [2010-03-03 16:42:59 +0000 UTC]

While I didn't use your exact coding, I did figure out how to use this. And yes, I can confirm that this doesn't work for animations.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Synfull In reply to FuzzyAcornIndustries [2010-03-03 20:26:05 +0000 UTC]

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Raindropmemory In reply to ??? [2010-02-22 02:01:01 +0000 UTC]

I search for this tutorial for so long and found yours!
Thank you very much~!!

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Synfull In reply to Raindropmemory [2010-02-22 08:45:28 +0000 UTC]

no problem

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

paperthin-z In reply to ??? [2010-02-03 16:47:23 +0000 UTC]

do i have to create my own cursor design?

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Synfull In reply to paperthin-z [2010-02-04 10:03:54 +0000 UTC]

There's a few packs around like [link] which offer pre-made cursors, otherwise you you would need to do the artwork

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

paperthin-z In reply to Synfull [2010-02-05 05:39:56 +0000 UTC]

okay thanks sooo much

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Jackce-Art In reply to ??? [2010-01-27 01:09:16 +0000 UTC]

and what if I don't have a suscription?

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Synfull In reply to Jackce-Art [2010-01-27 09:37:00 +0000 UTC]

You can't use it. Simple as.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Jackce-Art In reply to Synfull [2010-01-27 16:47:06 +0000 UTC]

oooooow.... xD ok

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Neenagirl2220 In reply to ??? [2010-01-18 03:56:23 +0000 UTC]

Cool ^^ I tried it, but where are you supposed to put the code? I messed up on that part.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Synfull In reply to Neenagirl2220 [2010-01-19 18:58:05 +0000 UTC]

Need to place it in the CSS box of your journal (click the tab at the top, middle box)

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Neenagirl2220 In reply to Synfull [2010-01-19 19:17:39 +0000 UTC]

Okay ^^

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Sap-Green In reply to ??? [2010-01-04 19:18:57 +0000 UTC]

ERM ERM, can you have a customized cursor on the scrollbars in journal CSSs?

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Synfull In reply to Sap-Green [2010-01-04 19:32:25 +0000 UTC]

Sorry but i only know how to stick things into the CSS

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Sap-Green In reply to Synfull [2010-01-04 19:44:37 +0000 UTC]

alright thanks

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Anjellyjoy In reply to ??? [2010-01-01 09:18:05 +0000 UTC]

Thank you for making this, now I know how to add a cursor!

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Synfull In reply to Anjellyjoy [2010-01-01 11:18:11 +0000 UTC]

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

blakeg14 In reply to ??? [2009-12-15 19:07:16 +0000 UTC]

Thanks for the code.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Synfull In reply to blakeg14 [2009-12-15 21:10:58 +0000 UTC]

No problem

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Sap-Green In reply to ??? [2009-11-14 20:14:20 +0000 UTC]

D: aw, I was hoping there'd be something about hovering onto scroll bars too, seems not, but good to know this anyway

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Synfull In reply to Sap-Green [2009-11-15 00:06:32 +0000 UTC]

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

TheGigglingCherry In reply to ??? [2009-11-13 03:34:30 +0000 UTC]

Hey there. I'm not a great coder and I don't quite understand the codes.
What exactly do I delete? Backspace wise I mean.
and does it work in IE? because I haven't seen any of these cursers before. Is it only for the user to see?
also you get the emotes code by: Download, right click, properties, then the link correct?
lol sorry for all these questions

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Synfull In reply to TheGigglingCherry [2009-11-13 09:00:03 +0000 UTC]

what do i backspace

you take out the parts which say 'link to link cursor' or 'link to normal cursor'

Does it work in IE

I just logged on via IE and it doesn't appear to show up. Why are you even using IE? Go get FF

is it only for the user to see?

No, anyone looking at your journal should see it

how do i get the code?

Its in the artists comments below between the two ----- lines

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

TheGigglingCherry In reply to Synfull [2009-11-13 13:39:05 +0000 UTC]

oh...okay. My mom like IE, so yeah...and this is a shared computer and stuff.
Oh well, thanks anyway.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

bigfunkychiken In reply to ??? [2009-11-08 03:38:49 +0000 UTC]

Thx it worked perfectly [link] ! only it took me a long time to get everything right because i have no knowlage in CSS...

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Synfull In reply to bigfunkychiken [2009-11-08 13:29:35 +0000 UTC]

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Full-Cheese In reply to ??? [2009-10-28 01:22:44 +0000 UTC]

....how small do they have to be?

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Synfull In reply to Full-Cheese [2009-10-28 01:53:35 +0000 UTC]

i don't believe there is a size restriction, but i suggest making it 25x25 or under

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Full-Cheese In reply to Synfull [2009-10-28 01:55:20 +0000 UTC]

cheers

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

K-i-e-r-i In reply to ??? [2009-09-29 00:08:13 +0000 UTC]

Thanks Syn!

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Synfull In reply to K-i-e-r-i [2009-09-29 08:44:11 +0000 UTC]

No problem

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

artist-enjoi-drawing In reply to ??? [2009-08-22 21:16:33 +0000 UTC]

it works now! Thanks for the great tutorial syn!

👍: 0 ⏩: 1


<= Prev | | Next =>