diff --git a/pmd-ui/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/util/fxdesigner/util/codearea/syntaxhighlighting/ApexSyntaxHighlighter.java b/pmd-ui/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/util/fxdesigner/util/codearea/syntaxhighlighting/ApexSyntaxHighlighter.java
index 819a4df65e..cd41563968 100644
--- a/pmd-ui/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/util/fxdesigner/util/codearea/syntaxhighlighting/ApexSyntaxHighlighter.java
+++ b/pmd-ui/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/util/fxdesigner/util/codearea/syntaxhighlighting/ApexSyntaxHighlighter.java
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import static net.sourceforge.pmd.util.fxdesigner.util.codearea.syntaxhighlighti
 import static net.sourceforge.pmd.util.fxdesigner.util.codearea.syntaxhighlighting.HighlightClasses.BOOLEAN;
 import static net.sourceforge.pmd.util.fxdesigner.util.codearea.syntaxhighlighting.HighlightClasses.BRACE;
 import static net.sourceforge.pmd.util.fxdesigner.util.codearea.syntaxhighlighting.HighlightClasses.BRACKET;
+import static net.sourceforge.pmd.util.fxdesigner.util.codearea.syntaxhighlighting.HighlightClasses.IDENTIFIER;
 import static net.sourceforge.pmd.util.fxdesigner.util.codearea.syntaxhighlighting.HighlightClasses.KEYWORD;
 import static net.sourceforge.pmd.util.fxdesigner.util.codearea.syntaxhighlighting.HighlightClasses.MULTIL_COMMENT;
 import static net.sourceforge.pmd.util.fxdesigner.util.codearea.syntaxhighlighting.HighlightClasses.PAREN;
@@ -65,6 +66,7 @@ public class ApexSyntaxHighlighter extends SimpleRegexSyntaxHighlighter {
         .or(STRING.css, "'[^'\\\\]*(\\\\.[^'\\\\]*)*'")
         .or(BOOLEAN.css, asWord("(?i)true|false"))
         .or(ANNOTATION.css, "@[\\w]+")
+        .or(IDENTIFIER.css, asWord("[\\w_$]+"))
         .create(Pattern.DOTALL | Pattern.CASE_INSENSITIVE);
 
     public ApexSyntaxHighlighter() {
diff --git a/pmd-ui/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/util/fxdesigner/util/codearea/syntaxhighlighting/HighlightClasses.java b/pmd-ui/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/util/fxdesigner/util/codearea/syntaxhighlighting/HighlightClasses.java
index d1148ab687..ce52de1c36 100644
--- a/pmd-ui/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/util/fxdesigner/util/codearea/syntaxhighlighting/HighlightClasses.java
+++ b/pmd-ui/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/util/fxdesigner/util/codearea/syntaxhighlighting/HighlightClasses.java
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@ import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.List;
 
-
 /**
  * @author Clément Fournier
  * @since 6.0.0
@@ -33,23 +32,25 @@ public enum HighlightClasses {
     NULL("null", Constants.LITERAL),
     NUMBER("number", Constants.LITERAL),
 
-    KEYWORD("keyword"),
+    KEYWORD(Constants.KEYWORD),
     ANNOTATION("annotation"),
-    CLASS_IDENTIFIER("class-identifier"),
-    
+
+    IDENTIFIER(Constants.IDENTIFIER),
+    CLASS_IDENTIFIER("class-identifier", Constants.IDENTIFIER),
+
     // XPath specific
-    XPATH_ATTRIBUTE("attribute", Constants.XPATH),
-    XPATH_AXIS("axis", Constants.XPATH),
-    XPATH_FUNCTION("function", Constants.XPATH),
+    XPATH_ATTRIBUTE("attribute", Constants.XPATH, Constants.IDENTIFIER),
+    XPATH_AXIS("axis", Constants.XPATH, Constants.KEYWORD),
+    XPATH_FUNCTION(Constants.FUNCTION, Constants.XPATH, Constants.IDENTIFIER),
     XPATH_PATH("path", Constants.XPATH, Constants.PUNCTUATION),
-    XPATH_KIND_TEST("kind-test", "function", Constants.XPATH),
+    XPATH_KIND_TEST("kind-test", Constants.XPATH, Constants.FUNCTION),
 
     XML_CDATA_TAG("cdata-tag", Constants.XML),
     XML_CDATA_CONTENT("cdata-content", Constants.XML),
     XML_PROLOG("xml-prolog", Constants.XML),
-    XML_LT_GT("lt-gt", Constants.XML),
-    XML_TAG_NAME("tag-name", Constants.XML),
-    XML_ATTRIBUTE_NAME("attribute-name", Constants.XML);
+    XML_LT_GT("lt-gt", Constants.XML, Constants.PUNCTUATION),
+    XML_TAG_NAME("tag-name", Constants.XML, Constants.IDENTIFIER),
+    XML_ATTRIBUTE_NAME("attribute-name", Constants.XML, Constants.IDENTIFIER);
 
 
     /** Name of the css class. */
@@ -62,6 +63,9 @@ public enum HighlightClasses {
 
 
     private static final class Constants {
+        static final String IDENTIFIER = "identifier";
+        static final String FUNCTION = "function";
+        static final String KEYWORD = "keyword";
         static final String LITERAL = "literal";
         static final String COMMENT = "comment";
         static final String PUNCTUATION = "punctuation";
diff --git a/pmd-ui/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/util/fxdesigner/util/codearea/syntaxhighlighting/JavaSyntaxHighlighter.java b/pmd-ui/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/util/fxdesigner/util/codearea/syntaxhighlighting/JavaSyntaxHighlighter.java
index 99ce7dda02..2c7f46ce97 100644
--- a/pmd-ui/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/util/fxdesigner/util/codearea/syntaxhighlighting/JavaSyntaxHighlighter.java
+++ b/pmd-ui/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/util/fxdesigner/util/codearea/syntaxhighlighting/JavaSyntaxHighlighter.java
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import static net.sourceforge.pmd.util.fxdesigner.util.codearea.syntaxhighlighti
 import static net.sourceforge.pmd.util.fxdesigner.util.codearea.syntaxhighlighting.HighlightClasses.BRACKET;
 import static net.sourceforge.pmd.util.fxdesigner.util.codearea.syntaxhighlighting.HighlightClasses.CHAR;
 import static net.sourceforge.pmd.util.fxdesigner.util.codearea.syntaxhighlighting.HighlightClasses.CLASS_IDENTIFIER;
+import static net.sourceforge.pmd.util.fxdesigner.util.codearea.syntaxhighlighting.HighlightClasses.IDENTIFIER;
 import static net.sourceforge.pmd.util.fxdesigner.util.codearea.syntaxhighlighting.HighlightClasses.KEYWORD;
 import static net.sourceforge.pmd.util.fxdesigner.util.codearea.syntaxhighlighting.HighlightClasses.MULTIL_COMMENT;
 import static net.sourceforge.pmd.util.fxdesigner.util.codearea.syntaxhighlighting.HighlightClasses.NULL;
@@ -62,6 +63,7 @@ public final class JavaSyntaxHighlighter extends SimpleRegexSyntaxHighlighter {
         .or(BOOLEAN.css, asWord("true|false"))
         .or(ANNOTATION.css, "@[\\w]+")
         .or(CLASS_IDENTIFIER.css, asWord("[A-Z][\\w_$]*"))
+        .or(IDENTIFIER.css, asWord("[\\w_$]+"))
         .create(Pattern.DOTALL);
 
 
diff --git a/pmd-ui/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/util/fxdesigner/util/codearea/syntaxhighlighting/XPathSyntaxHighlighter.java b/pmd-ui/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/util/fxdesigner/util/codearea/syntaxhighlighting/XPathSyntaxHighlighter.java
index 538905b9a4..25da70f5d7 100644
--- a/pmd-ui/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/util/fxdesigner/util/codearea/syntaxhighlighting/XPathSyntaxHighlighter.java
+++ b/pmd-ui/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/util/fxdesigner/util/codearea/syntaxhighlighting/XPathSyntaxHighlighter.java
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 package net.sourceforge.pmd.util.fxdesigner.util.codearea.syntaxhighlighting;
 
 import static net.sourceforge.pmd.util.fxdesigner.util.codearea.syntaxhighlighting.HighlightClasses.BRACKET;
+import static net.sourceforge.pmd.util.fxdesigner.util.codearea.syntaxhighlighting.HighlightClasses.IDENTIFIER;
 import static net.sourceforge.pmd.util.fxdesigner.util.codearea.syntaxhighlighting.HighlightClasses.KEYWORD;
 import static net.sourceforge.pmd.util.fxdesigner.util.codearea.syntaxhighlighting.HighlightClasses.MULTIL_COMMENT;
 import static net.sourceforge.pmd.util.fxdesigner.util.codearea.syntaxhighlighting.HighlightClasses.NUMBER;
@@ -61,6 +62,7 @@ public class XPathSyntaxHighlighter extends SimpleRegexSyntaxHighlighter {
             .or(NUMBER.css, "(\\.\\d++\\b|\\b\\d++\\.|(\\b\\d++(\\.\\d*+)?([eE][+-]?\\d+)?))")
             .or(STRING.css, "('([^']|'')*')|(\"([^\"]|\"\")*\")")
             .or(URI.css, "Q\\{[^{}]*}")
+            .or(IDENTIFIER.css, asWord("[\\w_$]+"))
             .create();
 
 
diff --git a/pmd-ui/src/main/resources/net/sourceforge/pmd/util/fxdesigner/less/syntax-highlighting.less b/pmd-ui/src/main/resources/net/sourceforge/pmd/util/fxdesigner/less/syntax-highlighting.less
index 5c8897f2da..2f45ffa0c0 100644
--- a/pmd-ui/src/main/resources/net/sourceforge/pmd/util/fxdesigner/less/syntax-highlighting.less
+++ b/pmd-ui/src/main/resources/net/sourceforge/pmd/util/fxdesigner/less/syntax-highlighting.less
@@ -4,11 +4,28 @@
 
 /*
   Rules for the syntax highlighters.
-  This file doesn't include highlight rules, so that highlight is not displayed
-  on controls that display node rich text if only this file is set as stylesheet.
+  This file doesn't include layer highlight rules (eg .xpath-highlight .depth-0), so that
+  layer highlight is not displayed on controls that display node rich text if only this
+  file is set as stylesheet.
  */
 
 
+.list-cell:focused .code {
+  // more readable styles on focused cells w/ blue background
+
+  &.identifier {
+    -fx-fill: white !important;
+  }
+
+  &.keyword, &.literal {
+    -fx-fill: #dddddd;
+  }
+
+  &.punctuation {
+    -fx-fill: black;
+  }
+}
+
 .code {
 
   /* Common classes */