Custom checkbox using only CSS and HTML

Question

I need to create a custom checkbox using only html and CSS. So far I have:

HTML/CSS:

.checkbox-custom {
  opacity: 0;
  position: absolute;
}
.checkbox-custom,
.checkbox-custom-label {
  display: inline-block;
  vertical-align: middle;
  margin: 5px;
  cursor: pointer;
}
.checkbox-custom + .checkbox-custom-label:before {
  content: '';
  background: #fff;
  border-radius: 5px;
  border: 2px solid #ddd;
  display: inline-block;
  vertical-align: middle;
  width: 10px;
  height: 10px;
  padding: 2px;
  margin-right: 10px;
  text-align: center;
}
.checkbox-custom:checked + .checkbox-custom-label:before {
  content: "";
  display: inline-block;
  width: 1px;
  height: 5px;
  border: solid blue;
  border-width: 0 3px 3px 0;
  transform: rotate(45deg);
  -webkit-transform: rotate(45deg);
  -ms-transform: rotate(45deg);
  border-radius: 0px;
  margin: 0px 15px 5px 5px;
}

<div>
  <input id="checkbox-1" class="checkbox-custom" name="checkbox-1" type="checkbox">
  <label for="checkbox-1" class="checkbox-custom-label">First Choice</label>
</div>
<div>
  <input id="checkbox-2" class="checkbox-custom" name="checkbox-2" type="checkbox">
  <label for="checkbox-2" class="checkbox-custom-label">Second Choice</label>
</div>

The checked checkbox should be a checkmark with the square bordered around it instead of just a checkmark. Searching for answers, I have only found cases where the checkmark is displayed using a UTF-8 character or an image. I am not able to use either of these for what I am trying to accomplish. I am only able to use plain CSS and HTML. Any suggestions?

codepen here: http://codepen.io/alisontague/pen/EPXagW?editors=110

Answer 1

The problem is that you are using the same pseudo element for the square border and the checkmark. The simple solution would be to continue using the :before pseudo element for the border, and then use an :after pseudo element for the checkmark.

Updated Example

You would have to absolutely position the :after pseudo element relative to the parent .checkbox-custom label element.

Here is the updated code:

.checkbox-custom {
  display: none;
}
.checkbox-custom-label {
  display: inline-block;
  position: relative;
  vertical-align: middle;
  margin: 5px;
  cursor: pointer;
}
.checkbox-custom + .checkbox-custom-label:before {
  content: '';
  background: #fff;
  border-radius: 5px;
  border: 2px solid #ddd;
  display: inline-block;
  vertical-align: middle;
  width: 10px; height: 10px;
  padding: 2px; margin-right: 10px;
}
.checkbox-custom:checked + .checkbox-custom-label:after {
  content: "";
  padding: 2px;
  position: absolute;
  width: 1px;
  height: 5px;
  border: solid blue;
  border-width: 0 3px 3px 0;
  transform: rotate(45deg);
  top: 2px; left: 5px;
}

<h3>Checkboxes</h3>
<div>
  <input id="checkbox-1" class="checkbox-custom" name="checkbox-1" type="checkbox">
  <label for="checkbox-1" class="checkbox-custom-label">First Choice</label>
</div>
<div>
  <input id="checkbox-2" class="checkbox-custom" name="checkbox-2" type="checkbox">
  <label for="checkbox-2" class="checkbox-custom-label">Second Choice</label>
</div>