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The Markup

The markup is simple. All that is needed is a form, a text box and a submit button.

CSS3 Magic

The rest is done with CSS. This includes everything from gradients to rounded corners. CSS3 takes out a lot of the need for images, allowing elements to be more scalable as well as being easier to create. There are regular background colors included in the CSS for browsers that don’t support CSS3. They may not look as spiffy as the CSS3 version, but it will appear somewhat close.

#search-form {
	background: #e1e1e1; /* Fallback color for non-css3 browsers */
	width: 365px;

	/* Gradients */
	background: -webkit-gradient( linear,left top, left bottom, color-stop(0, rgb(243,243,243)), color-stop(1, rgb(225,225,225)));
	background: -moz-linear-gradient( center top, rgb(243,243,243) 0%, rgb(225,225,225) 100%);

	/* Rounded Corners */
	border-radius: 17px;
	-webkit-border-radius: 17px;
	-moz-border-radius: 17px;

	/* Shadows */
	box-shadow: 1px 1px 2px rgba(0,0,0,.3), 0 0 2px rgba(0,0,0,.3);
	-webkit-box-shadow: 1px 1px 2px rgba(0,0,0,.3), 0 0 2px rgba(0,0,0,.3);
	-moz-box-shadow: 1px 1px 2px rgba(0,0,0,.3), 0 0 2px rgba(0,0,0,.3);
}

/*** TEXT BOX ***/
input[type="text"]{
	background: #fafafa; /* Fallback color for non-css3 browsers */

	/* Gradients */
	background: -webkit-gradient( linear, left bottom, left top, color-stop(0, rgb(250,250,250)), color-stop(1, rgb(230,230,230)));
	background: -moz-linear-gradient( center top, rgb(250,250,250) 0%, rgb(230,230,230) 100%);

	border: 0;
	border-bottom: 1px solid #fff;
	border-right: 1px solid rgba(255,255,255,.8);
	font-size: 16px;
	margin: 4px;
	padding: 5px;
	width: 250px;

	/* Rounded Corners */
	border-radius: 17px;
	-webkit-border-radius: 17px;
	-moz-border-radius: 17px;

	/* Shadows */
	box-shadow: -1px -1px 2px rgba(0,0,0,.3), 0 0 1px rgba(0,0,0,.2);
	-webkit-box-shadow: -1px -1px 2px rgba(0,0,0,.3), 0 0 1px rgba(0,0,0,.2);
	-moz-box-shadow: -1px -1px 2px rgba(0,0,0,.3), 0 0 1px rgba(0,0,0,.2);
}

/*** USER IS FOCUSED ON TEXT BOX ***/
input[type="text"]:focus{
	outline: none;
	background: #fff; /* Fallback color for non-css3 browsers */

	/* Gradients */
	background: -webkit-gradient( linear, left bottom, left top, color-stop(0, rgb(255,255,255)), color-stop(1, rgb(235,235,235)));
	background: -moz-linear-gradient( center top, rgb(255,255,255) 0%, rgb(235,235,235) 100%);
}

/*** SEARCH BUTTON ***/
input[type="submit"]{
	background: #44921f;/* Fallback color for non-css3 browsers */

	/* Gradients */
	background: -webkit-gradient( linear, left top, left bottom, color-stop(0, rgb(79,188,32)), color-stop(0.15, rgb(73,157,34)), color-stop(0.88, rgb(62,135,28)), color-stop(1, rgb(49,114,21)));
	background: -moz-linear-gradient( center top, rgb(79,188,32) 0%, rgb(73,157,34) 15%, rgb(62,135,28) 88%, rgb(49,114,21) 100%);

	border: 0;
	color: #eee;
	cursor: pointer;
	float: right;
	font: 16px Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
	font-weight: bold;
	height: 30px;
	margin: 4px 4px 0;
	text-shadow: 0 -1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,.3);
	width: 84px;
	outline: none;

	/* Rounded Corners */
	border-radius: 30px;
	-webkit-border-radius: 30px;
	-moz-border-radius: 30px;

	/* Shadows */
	box-shadow: -1px -1px 1px rgba(255,255,255,.5), 1px 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,.4);
	-moz-box-shadow: -1px -1px 1px rgba(255,255,255,.5), 1px 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,.2);
	-webkit-box-shadow: -1px -1px 1px rgba(255,255,255,.5), 1px 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,.4);
}
/*** SEARCH BUTTON HOVER ***/
input[type="submit"]:hover {
	background: #4ea923; /* Fallback color for non-css3 browsers */

	/* Gradients */
	background: -webkit-gradient( linear, left top, left bottom, color-stop(0, rgb(89,222,27)), color-stop(0.15, rgb(83,179,38)), color-stop(0.8, rgb(66,143,27)), color-stop(1, rgb(54,120,22)));
	background: -moz-linear-gradient( center top, rgb(89,222,27) 0%, rgb(83,179,38) 15%, rgb(66,143,27) 80%, rgb(54,120,22) 100%);
}
input[type="submit"]:active {
	background: #4ea923; /* Fallback color for non-css3 browsers */

	/* Gradients */
	background: -webkit-gradient( linear, left bottom, left top, color-stop(0, rgb(89,222,27)), color-stop(0.15, rgb(83,179,38)), color-stop(0.8, rgb(66,143,27)), color-stop(1, rgb(54,120,22)));
	background: -moz-linear-gradient( center bottom, rgb(89,222,27) 0%, rgb(83,179,38) 15%, rgb(66,143,27) 80%, rgb(54,120,22) 100%);
}

Compatibility

CSS3 works in most new browsers, with the exception of Internet Explorer (any version). This has been tested cross-browser and cross-platform. If you have any issues, please comment below and I will try to patch them.

In addition, this tutorial is just to style the search form. You can slap these styles on a search form such as the WordPress search form for functionality.

Download SourceDemo

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