The State of CSS 2026 survey results are out, and they reveal an interesting paradox. Anchor positioning, the ability to pin an element (a tooltip, menu or popover) to another element in pure CSS, is both the most anticipated new feature and the source of the biggest headaches. View Transitions and the if() function follow. What does it mean for building websites?
Why developers want anchor positioning
For years we’ve relied on JavaScript libraries for tooltips, dropdowns and popovers, libraries that calculated an element’s position, watched the window edges and recalculated on scroll. Anchor positioning moves all of that into CSS: you tie an element to another one and the browser handles the placement, including flipping the menu when it doesn’t fit. Less code, fewer bugs, better performance.
Why it hurts at the same time
According to the survey, the biggest problem is inconsistent browser implementation. A feature that behaves perfectly in one browser differs in details or is missing in another. For a production site that means writing fallbacks, testing more combinations and deciding when it’s finally safe to rely on the new thing. A useful aid is the Baseline label, which tells you when a feature is available across the major browsers.
View Transitions and if()
In second place came View Transitions, smooth animated transitions between states or pages without heavy frameworks. In third the if() function, which allows conditional values directly in styles. They share one trait: they replace what used to require JavaScript with plain CSS.
Context: new browsers and tooling
The survey lands as Chrome 152, Firefox 154 and Safari 26.6 have shipped. The ecosystem is moving fast elsewhere too: Angular 22, Astro 7, TypeScript 7 and npm 12 have all been released. Developers have more to keep up with than ever.
What to take away
- Try new features on non-critical elements. A tooltip or popover is an ideal place for your first experience with anchor positioning.
- Prepare fallbacks. Where a feature is missing, the site must still work, even if more simply.
- Follow Baseline. Decide by real support, not by enthusiasm for demos.
- Remove unnecessary JavaScript. Every script replaced by CSS makes a site faster and improves Core Web Vitals.
- Think about accessibility. Native elements and the popover API are more accessible than hand-built components.
Conclusion
Modern CSS makes websites faster and simpler, but you need to know when and how to adopt new features. Need a site that uses current technology yet works everywhere? At Full-Net Servis we design and build it for you. Get in touch.
