css - Add a space (" ") after an element using :after

Turns out it needs to be specified via escaped unicode. This question is related and contains the answer.

The solution:

h2:after {     content: "\00a0"; } 

Explanation

It's worth noting that your code does insert a space

h2::after {   content: " "; } 

However, it's immediately removed.

From Anonymous inline boxes,

White space content that would subsequently be collapsed away according to the 'white-space' property does not generate any anonymous inline boxes.

And from The 'white-space' processing model,

If a space (U+0020) at the end of a line has 'white-space' set to 'normal', 'nowrap', or 'pre-line', it is also removed.

Solution

So if you don't want the space to be removed, set white-space to pre or pre-wrap.

h2 {    text-decoration: underline;  }  h2.space::after {    content: " ";    white-space: pre;  }

<h2>I don't have space:</h2>  <h2 class="space">I have space:</h2>

Do not use non-breaking spaces (U+00a0). They are supposed to prevent line breaks between words. They are not supposed to be used as non-collapsible space, that wouldn't be semantic.

I needed this instead of using padding because I used inline-block containers to display a series of individual events in a workflow timeline. The last event in the timeline needed no arrow after it.

Ended up with something like:

.transaction-tile:after {   content: "\f105"; }  .transaction-tile:last-child:after {   content: "\00a0"; } 

Used fontawesome for the gt (chevron) character. For whatever reason "content: none;" was producing alignment issues on the last tile.

There can be a problem with "\00a0" in pseudo-elements because it takes the text-decoration of its defining element, so that, for example, if the defining element is underlined, then the white space of the pseudo-element is also underlined.

The easiest way to deal with this is to define the opacity of the pseudo-element to be zero, eg:

element:before{   content: "_";   opacity: 0; } 

element::after {      display: block;     content: " "; } 

This worked for me.