[csswg-drafts] [view-transitions] Rename “Transition Root” to something else (#12408)

bramus has just created a new issue for https://github.com/w3c/csswg-drafts:

== [view-transitions] Rename “Transition Root” to something else ==
When the spec talks about the [transition root pseudo-element](https://drafts.csswg.org/css-view-transitions-1/#viewtransition-transition-root-pseudo-element), sometimes abbreviated to “transition root”, it means the `::view-transition` pseudo element.

> transition root pseudo-element
> a ::view-transition. Initially a new ::view-transition

In #9908 we [resolved](https://github.com/w3c/csswg-drafts/issues/9908#issuecomment-2165621635) on adding a `transitionRoot` property to a `ViewTransition` instance that reflects the element hosting the VT.

There is a mismatch between the two uses of “transition root” here. In one case it’s the `::view-transition` pseudo-element and in the other case it’s the element that hosts the VT + `::view-transition` pseudo-element tree.

I think we should rename one of both, to prevent confusion. I am leaning towards renaming the “transition root pseudo element” because in the[ Scoped View Transitions explainer](https://github.com/WICG/view-transitions/blob/main/scoped-transitions.md), the term “scoped transition root” is also used to target the element hosting the VT.

In my talks I have often referred to the `::view-transition` pseudo-element as the “View Transition overlay”. Perhaps we should use that term for it?

Please view or discuss this issue at https://github.com/w3c/csswg-drafts/issues/12408 using your GitHub account


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Received on Friday, 27 June 2025 14:27:03 UTC