style 2nd element on the page with same class

Question

Hello is there a way with css to style the 2nd element on page with the same class slightly differently to the first.

For example I have two ul's on a page with a class of topbardropdownmenu. I want to give the 2nd ul a differen't background to the first. Is there a way to do this with out altering the html?

Answer 1

What holds the <ul> elements? I'll assume a <div id = "lists">

/* First element */
div > ul.topbardropdownmenu:first-child{

}

/* Rest of the elements */
div > ul.topbardropdownmenu{

}

...alternatively

div > ul.topbardropdownmenu:not(:first-child)

Answer 2

It depends which browsers your users are using, you might be able to use the nth-of-type css pseudo-selector:

ul.topbardropdownmenu:nth-of-type(2) {
   /* styles the second ul of class=topbardropdownmenu
}

If there's a particular pattern to the occurrence of these ul elements, you could use descendant and/or sibling selectors:

div > ul.topbardropdownmenu {
  /* styles all ul.topbardropdownmenu that are the immediate descendants of a div */
}

p + ul.topbardropdownmenu {
  /* styles all ul.topbardropdownmenu that immediately follow a p */
}