HTML element

Template:XMLElement

Specifies a base font size, typeface and color of the document. Used together with font elements. Deprecated in favor of stylesheets.

Template:XMLElement

Used to add JavaScript or other scripts to the document. The script code may be literally typed between the script tags and/or it may be in a separate resource whose URL is specified in script's optional src attribute. [3]

Template:XMLElement

Specifies a style for the document, usually:

<style type="text/css">…</style>

The CSS statements may be literally typed between the style tags and/or it may be in separate resources whose URLs are specified in @import directives such as:

<style> @import "url"; </style>. [4]

Template:XMLElement

Use for including generic objects within the head. Though rarely used as a head element, this could potentially be used to extract foreign data, relevant to the document, and associate this data with the current document.

Template:XMLElement

Can be used to specify author, publication date, expiry date, page description, keywords and any other metadata not provided through the other head elements and attributes. Because of their generic nature, meta elements specify key-value pairs.

In one form, meta elements can specify HTTP headers which should be sent before the actual content when the HTML page is served from web server to client. For example:

<meta http-equiv="foo" content="bar" />

This example specifies that the page should be served with an HTTP header called 'foo' that has a value 'bar'

In the general form, a meta element specifies name and associated content attributes describing aspects of the HTML page. To prevent possible ambiguity, a third optional scheme attribute may be supplied to specify a semantic framework that defines the meaning of the key and its value. For example

<meta name="foo" content="bar" scheme="DC" />

In this example, the meta element identifies itself as containing the 'foo' element, with a value of 'bar', from the DC or Dublin Core resource description framework.

Inline

Inline elements cannot be placed directly inside the body element for valid HTML. They must be wholly nested within block-level elements (see block elements below).

General phrase elements

Template:XMLElement

Emphasis (conventionally displayed in italics)

Template:XMLElement

strong emphasis (conventionally displayed bold). An oral user agent may use different voices for emphasis.

Template:XMLElement

A quotation containing only inline elements (for quotations containing block level elements see blockquote below). Quote elements may be nested. By the specification, the author should not include quotation marks. Rather, quotation marks — including nested quotation marks — should be rendered through stylesheet properties or the browser's default stylesheet. Practical concerns due to browser non-compliance may force authors to find work-arounds. The cite attribute gives the source, and must be a fully qualified URI.

Note: within semantic HTML, the display of a lengthy inline quotation as an indented block should be handled through stylesheet presentation. One method is to use an XSLT to select quotation elements exceeding a certain length (in terms of characters or words, etc.) for indented block presentation. An alternative, using Cascading Stylesheets, requires some presentational markup to manually classify the element as a lengthy quotation. For example:

<q class='lengthy'>An inline quotation of significant length (say 25 words, for example) goes here...</q>.

Template:XMLElement

A citation. Reference for a quote or statement in the document.

Template:XMLElement

Defining first instance of a term

Template:XMLElement

Contains an abbreviation, like abbr.

Template:XMLElement

Similar to the abbr element, but contains an acronym, like HTML .

Computer code phrase elements

These elements are useful primarily for documenting computer code development and user interaction through differentiation of source code (<code>), source code variables (<var>), user input (<kbd>), and terminal output (<samp>).

Template:XMLElement

A code snippet. Conventionally rendered in a monospace font: Code snippet.

Template:XMLElement

Sample output (from a program or script)

Template:XMLElement

Keyboard - text to be entered by the user

Template:XMLElement

Variable

Special inline elements

Template:XMLElement Template:XMLElement

Create _subscript or ^superscript text: Equivalent CSS: {vertical-align: sub} or {vertical-align: super}

Template:XMLElement

Deleted text. Typically rendered as a strikethrough: Deleted text.

Template:XMLElement

Inserted text. Often used to markup replacement text for <del>'d text. Typically rendered underlined: Inserted text.

Note, both ins and del elements may be used as block elements: containing other block and inline elements. However, these elements must still remain wholly within their parent element to maintain a well-formed HTML document. For example deleting text from the middle of one paragraph across several other paragraphs and ending in a final paragraph would need to use three separate del elements. Two del elements would be required as inline element to indicate the deletion of text in the first and last paragraphs, and a third, used as a block element, to indicate the deletion in the intervening paragraphs.

Template:XMLElement

The :isindex element requires server side support for indexing documents. Visually presents a one-line text input for keyword entry. When submitted, the query string is appended to the current URL and the document is displayed with these keywords highlighted. Generally if the server supports this feature it will add the isindex elements to documents without author intervention.

Links and anchors

Template:XMLElement

Creates an element that becomes a hyperlink with the href (hypertext reference) attribute set to a URL; additionally the attribute title may be set to a hover box text, some informative text about the link:

Template:XMLElement

In most graphical browsers, when the cursor hovers over the link, the cursor typically changes into a hand with a stretched index finger and the additional information pops up, not in a regular window, but in a special "hover box", usually similar to a Tooltip, which disappears when the cursor is moved away. Some browsers render alt text the same way, though this is technically incorrect.

Alternatively (and sometimes concurrently), the element becomes an anchor with the name attribute set, which preceded by a number sign ' # ', and appended to the URL, acts as a link target (a "document fragment"), typically causing a Web browser to scroll directly to that point of the page. Any element can be made into an anchor by using the id attribute,[5] so using <a name="foo"> is not necessary.

See also:link

Images and objects

Template:XMLElement

Includes an image with the src attribute, the required alt attribute provides alternative text in case the image cannot be displayed. Alt is intended as alternative text, although Microsoft Internet Explorer renders it as a tooltip if no title is given; the title attribute is the tooltip text.

Template:XMLElement

Specifies a line-break.

Template:XMLElement

Specifies a client-side image map.

Template:XMLElement

Specifies an area in the map.

Template:XMLElement

Includes an object in the page of the type specified by the type attribute. This may be in any MIME-type the Web browser understands, such as an embedded page, code to be handled by a plug-in such as Flash, a Java applet, a sound file, etc.

Template:XMLElement

This element may only appear inside an object element. Using attributes such as name and value, each <param/> sets a parameter for the object. Examples include width, height, font, background colour, etc, depending on what has been exposed in this way by the object's developers.

<embed>…</embed> (proprietary)

Calls a plug-in handler for the type specified by the type attribute. Used for embedding Flash files, sound files, etc. This is a proprietary Netscape extension to HTML; <object> is the W3C standard method.

<noembed>…</noembed> (proprietary)

Specifies alternative content, if the embed cannot be rendered.

Template:XMLElement

Includes a Java applet in the page. Deprecated; <object> is now preferred.

Span element

[[Span and div|Template:XMLElement]]

Creates an inline logical division. This may be used to identify a part of the HTML page, for example so as to apply an id or class attribute, which can then be referenced from CSS or DOM call. Like most HTML elements, span also supports inline CSS in its optional style attribute.

Block

Many HTML elements are designed for altering the semantic structure or meaning of a document. Some are block-level, but most are inline and can be included in the normal flow of text.

General block elements

Template:XMLElement

Creates a paragraph, perhaps the most common block level element. The closing tag is not required in HTML.

Template:XMLElement

Contains quoted material when the quotation itself includes block level elements (for instance, quoting several paragraphs). The cite attribute may give the source, and must be a fully qualified Uniform Resource Identifier. The blockquote element is often misunderstood. It is an element meant to contain quotations that are themselves block level. In other words, it contains a complete paragraph or many paragraphs. In HTML strict DTDs inline elements are prohibited from blockquote elements. For quotations not containing block level elements see the quote (q) element.

Template:XMLElement

Inserts a horizontal rule. Horizontal rules can also be handled through the CSS properties.

Headings

Template:XMLElement Template:XMLElement Template:XMLElement Template:XMLElement Template:XMLElement Template:XMLElement

Section headings at different levels. Use <h1> for the highest-level heading (the major sections), <h2> for the next level down (sub-section), <h3> for a level below that, and so on. The lowest level heading is <h6>.

Most web browsers will show <h1> as large text in a different font, and <h6> as small bold-faced text, but this can be overridden with CSS. The heading elements are not intended merely for creating large or bold text: they describe something about the document's structure and organization. Some programs use them to generate outlines and tables of contents.

Lists

Template:XMLElement

Creates a definition list (consisting of definition terms paired with definitions). Can also be used to specify speakers and quoted text.

Template:XMLElement

Creates a definition term.

Template:XMLElement

Creates a definition.

Template:XMLElement and Template:XMLElement

Main article: ordered list

Creates an ordered (enumerated) or unordered (bulleted) list. With ol, the type attribute can be used to specify the kind of ordering, but CSS gives more control: {list-style-type: foo}. The default is Arabic numbering. For ul, CSS can be used to specify the list marker: {list-style-type: foo}. The default marker is a disc.

Template:XMLElement

Creates a list item in ordered and unordered lists.

Template:XMLElement

Delimits a directory listing. Deprecated in favor of <ul>.

Template:XMLElement

Creates a menu listing. Should be more compact than an <ul> list, but badly supported. Deprecated in favor of <ul>.

Tables

Template:XMLElement

Creates a table

Template:XMLElement

Creates a row in the table.

Template:XMLElement

Creates a table header cell within a row; contents are conventionally displayed bold and centered. An aural user agent may use a louder voice for these items.

Template:XMLElement

Creates a table data cell within a row.

Template:XMLElement

Specifies a column group in a table.

Template:XMLElement

Specifies attributes for an entire column in a table.

Template:XMLElement

Specifies a caption for the entire table.

Template:XMLElement

Specifies the header part of a table. This section may be repeated by the user agent if the table is split across pages (in printing or other paged media).

Template:XMLElement

Specifies the main part of a table.

Template:XMLElement

Specifies the footer part of a table. Like <thead>, this section may be repeated by the user agent if the table is split across pages (in printing or other paged media)

Forms

These elements can be combined into a form or used separately as user-interface controls. Combined with a first-class javascript engine, these controls provide support for rich user interfaces.

Main article: HTML form

HTML specifies the elements that make up a form, and the method by which it will be submitted. However, some form of script either server-side or client side must be used to process the user's input once it is submitted.

Template:XMLElement

Creates a form.

Template:XMLElement

Create a selection list, from which the user can select a single option. May be rendered as a dropdown list.

Template:XMLElement

Creates an item in a select list.

Template:XMLElement

Creates a checkbox. Can be checked or unchecked.

Template:XMLElement

Creates a radio button. If multiple radio buttons are given the same name, the user will only be able to select one of them from this group.

Template:XMLElement

Creates a general-purpose button. But it's advised to use <button> if possible (i.e. if the client supports it) which provides richer possibilities.

Template:XMLElement

Creates a submit button.

Template:XMLElement

Creates a button using an image. The image URL may be specified with the src tag.

Template:XMLElement

Creates a reset button for resetting the form to default values.

Template:XMLElement

Creates a one-line text input. The size attribute specifies the default width of the input in character-widths. Maxlength sets the maximum number of characters the user can enter (which may be greater than size).

Template:XMLElement

Creates a variation of one-line text input. The only difference is that inputted text is masked: usually every character is shown as an asterisk or a dot. It should be noted, however, that the value is submitted to the server as clear text. So an underlying secure transport layer like HTTPS is needed if confidentiality is a concern.

Template:XMLElement

Is not visible in the rendered page, but allows a designer to maintain a copy of something that needs to be submitted to the server as part of the form. This may, for example, be data that this web user entered or selected on a previous form that needs to be processed in conjunction with the current form.

Template:XMLElement

Creates a label for a form input (e.g. radio button). Clicking on the label fires a click on the matching input.

Template:XMLElement

Create a multiple-line text area, the size of which is specified by cols and rows attributes. Text in between the tags appears in the text area when the page is loaded.

Other containers

[[Div (HTML tag)|Template:XMLElement]]

Creates a block logical division. This may be used to identify a part of the HTML document, for example so as to apply an id or class attribute, which can then be referenced from CSS or DOM calls. Like most HTML elements, div also supports inline CSS in its optional style attribute.

Template:XMLElement

Creates pre-formatted text. Text within this element is typically displayed in a non-proportional font exactly as it is laid out in the file (see ASCII art). Whereas browsers ignore white space (for example, hard returns, carriage-returns, line-feeds, tabs, and repeated-spaces) for all of the other HTML elements, the pre element signals that this white space should be rendered as authored. With the CSS properties: {white-space: pre; font-family: monospace;}, other elements can be presented in the same way. This element can contain any inline element except: image (img), object (object), big font size (big), small font size (small), superscript (sup), and subscript (sub).

Template:XMLElement

Used to markup contact information like address for the document or a section of it. Inline elements are the only permitted. Authors can use the break element br to insert a new line within this element.

[[Iframe|Template:XMLElement]]

Includes another HTML document in the page. Although not formally deprecated in HTML 4.01, "The object element allows HTML authors to specify everything required by an object for its presentation by a user agent [and] thus subsumes some of the tasks carried out by" iframe [6]

Unlike an object element, an iframe (inline frame) element may be the "target" frame for links defined in other elements and it may be "selected" by a browser as the focus for printing, viewing HTML source etc.[7]

The iframe element was not included in the version 1.1 XHTML specification, despite having never been formally deprecated. Those serving their web content as XHTML 1.1 must use the object element.

(Also see Frames below.)

Frames

An HTML document may contain a header and a body or a header and a frameset, but not both. For frames the Frames DTD must be used.

Template:XMLElement

Delimit the frameset. The frames layout is given by comma separated lists in the rows and cols attributes.

Template:XMLElement

Delimit a single frame, or region, within the frameset. A different document linked with the src attribute appears inside.

Template:XMLElement

Contains a normal <body> element with child elements that will appear in web browsers that don't support frames.

Template:XMLElement

An inline frame inside a normal HTML <body>, which embeds another HTML document. A similar effect can also be achieved using the object element. These approaches differ in some ways (World Wide Web Consortium [8]).

See also Framing (World Wide Web).

Presentational markup

Official

The use of presentational markup is discouraged. The equivalent CSS should be used instead. Deprecated elements are only valid in the Transitional and Frameset variants of HTML 4.01 and XHTML1.0. They are invalid in the Strict variants of HTML 4.01, XHTML1.0 and XHTML 1.1. <b>…</b> and <i>…</i> are invalid in the current draft of XHTML2.0.

Template:XMLElement

Creates a block-level centered division. May also center-align all text. Deprecated in favor of <div> or another element with centering defined using CSS.

Template:XMLElement

Use boldface type. Equivalent CSS: {font-weight: bold}

Template:XMLElement

Use italic type. Equivalent CSS: {font-style: italic}

Template:XMLElement

Creates bigger text. Equivalent CSS: {font-size: larger}.

Template:XMLElement

Creates smaller text. Equivalent CSS: {font-size: smaller}

Template:XMLElement

Template:XMLElement

Create strike-through text: Strikethrough Equivalent CSS: {text-decoration: line-through}

Template:XMLElement

Use a typewriter-like (fixed-width) font. Equivalent CSS: {font-family: monospace}

Template:XMLElement

Use an underlined font. Equivalent CSS: {text-decoration: underline}

Template:XMLElement

<font [color=color] [size=size] [face=face]>…</font>

Can specify the font color with the color attribute, typeface with the face attribute, and absolute or relative size with the size attribute.

Examples (all the examples are deprecated, use CSS equivalents if possible):

1. <font color="green">text</font> creates green text.
2. <font color="#1f4099">text</font> creates text with hexadecimal color #1f4099.
3. <font size="4">text</font> creates text with size 4. Sizes are from 1 to 7. The standard size is 3, unless otherwise specified in the <body> or other tags.
4. <font size="+1">text</font> creates text with size 1 bigger than the standard.. <font size="-1">text</font> is opposite.
5. <font face="Courier">text</font> makes text with Courier font.

Equivalent CSS for font attributes:

• <font size="N"> corresponds to {font-size: Yunits} (the HTML specification does not define the relationship between size N and unit-size Y, nor does it define a unit).
• <font color="red"> corresponds to {color: red}
• <font face="Courier"> corresponds to {font-family: "Courier"}

Unofficial

These are unofficial presentational elements that may not be supported in all browsers.

<blink>…</blink> (unofficial)

Causes text to blink. Can be done with CSS where supported: {text-decoration: blink}

<marquee>…</marquee> (unofficial)

Creates scrolling text. No equivalent with CSS; use scripting instead.

<nobr>…</nobr> (unofficial)

Causes text to not return at end of line. Can be done with CSS: {white-space: nowrap}

HTML comment

<source lang="html4strict"> </source>

Encloses a comment. This is an SGML construct and not limited to HTML, so it may appear anywhere in the document, even before the DTD or after </html>. None of its enclosed contents are rendered. For compatibility with some pre-1995 browsers, the contents of <style> and <script> elements are still sometimes surrounded by comment delimiters.

External links

• Complete lists of elements and attributes for HTML 4.01