List with Tooltips Template

An elegant list where hovering over an item displays a helpful, non-intrusive tooltip.

This template is perfect for providing definitions, hints, or extra information without cluttering the main interface. The tooltip content is stored in a data attribute.

A screenshot of a list where one item is being hovered, revealing a small tooltip pop-up above it.

Get Source Code Preview

About this Template

This component demonstrates a modern, pure-CSS approach to creating tooltips. The text for each tooltip is stored in a data-tooltip attribute directly in the HTML of the list item. The tooltip itself is generated using the ::before and ::after pseudo-elements, which means no extra HTML elements are required. The visibility and animation of the tooltip are controlled entirely by the :hover pseudo-class and CSS transitions.

Features

Pure CSS Tooltips: The entire effect is created without any JavaScript.
Content from Data Attributes: Tooltip text is pulled from an HTML data-tooltip attribute using the CSS attr() function.
Animated & Positioned: Tooltips fade and scale into view smoothly and include a small "arrow" pointing to their parent item.
Self-Contained: The component is fully self-contained and ready to drop into any project.
Accessible Placeholder: While these CSS-only tooltips are not fully accessible to all users (especially non-sighted keyboard users), they serve as an excellent starting point. A fully accessible version would require JavaScript to create and manage the tooltip with ARIA roles.

Code Breakdown

Each list item, li, has a class of .tooltip-item and a data-tooltip attribute containing the tooltip text. We set position: relative on the list item so we can position its pseudo-elements relative to it.

The main body of the tooltip is created with the ::before pseudo-element. The content property is set to attr(data-tooltip) to pull in the text. By default, it's hidden with opacity: 0. The small triangular arrow is created using the ::after pseudo-element, using a clever border trick.

When the user hovers over a .tooltip-item, the .tooltip-item:hover::before and .tooltip-item:hover::after rules are activated. These change the opacity to 1, making the tooltip and its arrow visible. The transition property on the base pseudo-elements ensures this change happens smoothly.

Code

Here's the full code for the template:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <title>List with Tooltips</title>
    <style>
        /* ==========================================================================
           Styles for Demo Preview Only
           ========================================================================== */
        body {
            font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", Arial, sans-serif;
            background-color: #f1f5f9;
            color: #334155;
            margin: 0;
            padding: 2rem;
            display: flex;
            justify-content: center;
        }

/* ==========================================================================
           List with Tooltips Component Styles - Copy from here
           ========================================================================== */
        .tooltip-list-template {
            --tooltip-font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", Arial, sans-serif;
            --tooltip-primary-text-color: #1e293b;
            --tooltip-bg-color: #ffffff;
            --tooltip-border-color: #e2e8f0;
            --tooltip-color: #ffffff;
            --tooltip-box-bg: #1e293b;
            --tooltip-transition-speed: 0.2s;

font-family: var(--tooltip-font-family);
            color: var(--tooltip-primary-text-color);
            width: 100%;
            max-width: 600px;
            background-color: var(--tooltip-bg-color);
            border: 1px solid var(--tooltip-border-color);
            border-radius: .5rem;
            padding: 2rem;
        }

.tooltip-list-template *,
        .tooltip-list-template *::before,
        .tooltip-list-template *::after {
            box-sizing: border-box;
        }
        
        .tooltip-list-template .list-header {
            text-align: center;
            margin-bottom: 2rem;
        }

.tooltip-list-template .list-header h2 {
            font-size: 1.75rem;
            margin: 0;
        }
        
        .ingredient-list {
            list-style: disc;
            padding-left: 1.5rem;
            margin: 0;
        }
        
        .tooltip-item {
            padding: .25rem 0;
            position: relative; /* This is crucial for positioning the tooltip */
            border-bottom: 1px dashed #cbd5e1;
            cursor: help;
        }

/* The tooltip box */
        .tooltip-item::before {
            content: attr(data-tooltip); /* Get content from the data-attribute */
            position: absolute;
            bottom: 100%; /* Position above the element */
            left: 50%;
            transform: translateX(-50%);
            
            background-color: var(--tooltip-box-bg);
            color: var(--tooltip-color);
            padding: 0.5rem 0.75rem;
            border-radius: .25rem;
            font-size: .875rem;
            white-space: nowrap;
            
            opacity: 0; /* Hidden by default */
            pointer-events: none; /* Prevents the tooltip from interfering with the mouse */
            margin-bottom: 10px; /* Space between tooltip and item */
            transition: opacity var(--tooltip-transition-speed) ease-in-out;
        }
        
        /* The tooltip arrow */
        .tooltip-item::after {
            content: '';
            position: absolute;
            bottom: 100%;
            left: 50%;
            transform: translateX(-50%);

border: 5px solid transparent;
            border-top-color: var(--tooltip-box-bg);
            
            opacity: 0; /* Hidden by default */
            pointer-events: none;
            margin-bottom: 0px; /* Space between arrow and tooltip text box */
            transition: opacity var(--tooltip-transition-speed) ease-in-out;
        }
        
        /* Show tooltip on hover */
        .tooltip-item:hover::before,
        .tooltip-item:hover::after {
            opacity: 1;
        }

</style>
</head>
<body>

<div class="tooltip-list-template">
    <header class="list-header">
        <h2>Potion of Minor Inconvenience</h2>
    </header>

<ul class="ingredient-list">
        <li>Three drops of <span class="tooltip-item" data-tooltip="The silent judgment of a nearby cat.">Feline Condescension</span>.</li>
        <li>A pinch of <span class="tooltip-item" data-tooltip="The one you can't quite get out of your head.">That Song You Hate</span>.</li>
        <li>One freshly picked <span class="tooltip-item" data-tooltip="That feeling when you walk into a room and forget why.">Moment of Forgetfulness</span>.</li>
        <li>A whisper of <span class="tooltip-item" data-tooltip="The tiny, imperceptible wobble of a coffee table.">Subtle Instability</span>.</li>
        <li>A single, preserved <span class="tooltip-item" data-tooltip="Guaranteed to occur just as you're falling asleep.">Unexplained Itch</span>.</li>
    </ul>
</div>

</body>
</html>

View Output