Setting first line of a blockquote or div

[AlexBell]

I often set the first paragraph of a blockquote to the left - (text-indent: 0)

Is the CSS which I can apply to the blockquote so that the first paragraph in it is not indented?

It's easy to ensure that the first paragraph after a blockquote is not indented, but I'm talking about the first paragraph within the blockquote.

[dgatwood]

Originally Posted by AlexBell

I often set the first paragraph of a blockquote to the left - (text-indent: 0)

Is the CSS which I can apply to the blockquote so that the first paragraph in it is not indented?

It's easy to ensure that the first paragraph after a blockquote is not indented, but I'm talking about the first paragraph within the blockquote.

You mean like this?

// Make first paragraph directly enclosed by blockquote be flush left.
blockquote > p {
    text-indent: 0;
}

// Make subsequent paragraphs directly enclosed by blockquote be
// indented as usual.
blockquote > p + p {
    text-indent: 2em; // or whatever
}

The > selector is the child selector, matching the p tag when it is immediately inside the blockquote tag. Or if you remove that selector and replace it with just whitespace, the rule applies to any p tag that's a descendant of the blockquote tag.

The + selector is the next sibling selector, matching the p tag when it is immediately after another p tag. Or use the ~ selector if your reading system supports it, but that isn't guaranteed in EPUB-2-based readers.

If you know that the paragraph tag will be the first child of its parent, you could also do:

// Make most paragraphs directly enclosed by blockquote be
// indented as usual.
blockquote > p {
    text-indent: 2em; // or whatever
}

// Make first paragraph directly enclosed by blockquote be flush left.
blockquote > p:first-child {
    text-indent: 0;
}

That approach has the approach of working correctly without the need to add more rules if you have non-p tags inside the blockquote tag, but the disadvantage of not modifying the p tag if there are other tags before it. Then again, if there are other tags before it, you could probably just use those with the + selector instead, so....

[AlexBell]

Thanks, that's most helpful.