The following is a bare listing of all of the currently used HTML tags (up to version 3).
SYMBOLS USED
URL | URL of an external file (or just file name if in the same directory) |
? | Arbitrary number (i.e. <H?> means <Hl>, <H2>, <H3>, etc.) |
% | Arbitrary percentage (i.e. <HR WIDTH="%"> means <HR WIDTH="50%">, etc.) |
*** | Arbitrary text (i.e. ALT="[***]" means fill in with text) |
$$$$$$ | Arbitrary hex (i.e. BGCOLOR="#$$$$$$" means BGCOLOR="#00FF1C", etc.) |
,,, | Comma-delimited (i.e. COORDS=",,," means COORDS="0,0,50,50'', etc.) |
| | Alternatives (i.e. ALIGN="left|right|center" means pick one of these) |
COMPATIBILITY (remember, HTML is evolving and browser implementations vary)
(no notation) In the HTML 3.2 spec.; should work on all browsers | |
Nl.0 | Netscape extension introduced with Navigator version 1.0 |
Nl.l | Netscape extension introduced with Navigator version 1.1 |
N2.0 | Netscape extension introduced with Navigator version 2.0 |
H3.0b | Netscape extension introduced with Navigator version 3.0 beta |
GENERAL (all HTML documents should have these)
Document Type | <HTML></HTML> | (beginning and end of file) |
Title | <TITLE></TITLE> | (must be in header) |
Header | <HEAD></HEAD> | (descriptive info, such as title) |
Body | <BODY></BODY> | (bulk of the page) |
STRUCTURAL DEFINIflON (appearance controlled by the browser's preferences)
Heading | <H?></H?> | (the spec. defines 6 levels) |
Align Heading | <H? ALIGN="left|center|right"></H?> | |
Division | <DIV></DIV> | |
Align Division | <DIV ALIGN="left|right|center|justify"></DIV> | |
Block Quote | <BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE> | (usually indented) |
Emphasis | <EM></EM> | (usually displayed as italic) |
Strong Emphasis | <STRONG></STRONG> | (usually displayed as bold) |
Citation | <CITE></CITE> | (usually italics) |
Code | <CODE></CODE> | (for source code listings) |
Sample Output | <SAMP></SAMP> | |
Keyboard Input | <KBD></KBD> | |
Variable | <VAR></VAR> | |
Definition | <DFN></DFN> | (not widely implemented) |
Author's Address | <ADDRESS></ADDRESS> | |
Large Font Size | <BIG></BIG> | |
Small Font Size | <SMALL></SMALL> |
DIVIDERS
Paragraph | <P></P> | (closing tag optional but preferred) | |
Align Text | <P ALIGN="left|center|right"></P> | ||
Line Break | <BR> | (a single carriage return) | |
Clear Textwrap | <BR CLEAR="left|right|all"> | ||
Horizontal Rule | <HR> | ||
Alignment | <HR ALIGN="left|right|center"> | ||
Thickness | <HR SIZE="?"> | (in pixels) | |
Width | <HR WIDTH="?"> | (in pixels) | |
Width Percent | <HR WIDTH="%"> | (as a percentage of page width) | |
Solid Line | <HR NOSHADE> | (without the 3D cutout look) | |
Nl.0 | No Break | <NOBR></NOBR> | (prevents line breaks) |
Nl.0 | Word Break | <WBR> | (where to break a line if needed) |
PRESENTATION FORMATTING (author specifies text appearance)
Bold | <B></B> | ||
Italic | <I></I> | ||
N3.0b | Underline | <U></U> | (not widely implemented yet) |
Strikeout | <STRIKE></STRIKE> | (not widely implemented yet) | |
N3.0b | Strikeout | <S></S> | (not widely implemented yet) |
Subscript | <SUB></SUB> | ||
Superscript | <SUP></SUP> | ||
Typewriter | <TT></TT> | (displays in a monospaced font) | |
Preformatted | <PRE></PRE> | (display text spacing as-is) | |
Width | <PRE WIDTH="?"></PRE> | (in characters) | |
Center | <CENTER></CENTER> | (for both text and images) | |
Nl.0 | Blinking | <BLINK></BLINK> | (the most derided tag ever) |
Font Size | <FONT SIZE="?"></FONT> | (ranges from 1-7) | |
Change Font Size | <FONT SIZE="+|-?"></FONT> | ||
Nl.0 | Base Font Size | <BASEFONT SIZE="?"> | (from 1-7; default is 3) |
Font Colour | <FONT COLOR="#$$$$$$"></FONT> | ||
N3.0b | Select Font | <FONT FACE="***"></FONT> | |
N3.0b | Multi-Column | <MULTICOL COLS="?"></MULTICOL> | |
N3.0b | Column Gutter | <MULTICOL GUTTER="?"></MULTICOL> | |
N3.0b | Column Width | <MULTICOL WIDTH="?"></MULTICOL> | |
N3.0b | Spacer | <SPACER> | |
N3.0b | Spacer Type | <SPACER TYPE="horizontal|vertical|block"> | |
N3.0b | Size | <SPACER SIZE="?"> | |
N3.0b | Dimensions | <SPACER WIDTH="?" HEIGHT="?"> | |
N3.0b | Alignment | <SPACER ALIGN="left|right|center"> |
LINKS AND GRAPHICS
Link Something | <A HREF="URL"></A> | ||
Link to Target | <A HREF="URL#***"></A> | (if in another document) | |
<A HREF="#***"></A> | (if in current document) | ||
N2.0 | Target Window | <A HREF="URL" TARGET="**'"></A> | |
Define Target | <A NAME="**'"></A> | ||
Display Image | <IMG SRC="URL"> | ||
Alignment | <IMG SRC="URL" ALIGN="top|bottom| middle|left|right"> | ||
Nl.0 | Alignment | <IMG SRC="URL" ALIGN="texttop|absmiddle| baseline|absbottom"> | |
Alternate | <IMG SRC="URL" ALT="[*]""> | (if image not displayed) | |
Dimensions | <IMG SRC="URL" WIDTH="?" HEIGHT="?"> | (in pixels) | |
Border | <IMG SRC="URL" BORDER="?"> | (in pixels) | |
Runaround Space | <IMG SRC="URL" HSPACE="?" VSPACE="?"> | (in pixels) | |
Nl.0 | Low-Res Proxy | <IMG SRC="URL" LOWSRC="URL"> | |
Imagemap | <IMG SRC="URL" ISMAP> | (requires a script) | |
Imagemap | <IMG SRC="URL" USEMAP="URL"> | ||
Map | <MAP NAME="***"></MAP> | (describes the map) | |
Section | <AREA SHAPE="RECT" COORDS=",,, " HREF="URL"|NOHREF> | ||
Nl.l | Client Pull | <META HTTP-EQUIV="Refresh" CONTENT="?; URL=URL"> | |
N2.0 | Embed Object | <EMBED SRC="URL"> | (insert object into page) |
N2.0 | Object Size | <EMBED SRC="URL" WIDTH="?" HEIGHT="?"> |
LISTS (lists can be nested)
Unordered List | <UL><LI></UL> | (<LI> before each list item) |
Compact | <UL COMPACT></UL> | |
Bullet Type | <UL TYPE="disc|circle|square"> | (for the whole list) |
<LI TYPE="disc|circle|square"> | (this & subsequent) | |
Ordered List | <OL><LI></OL> | (<LI> before each list item) |
Compact | <OL COMPACT></OL> | |
Numbering Type | <OL TYPE="A|a|I|i|1"> | (for the whole list) |
<LI TYPE="A|a|I|i|1"> | (this & subsequent) | |
Starting Number | <OL START="?"> | (for the whole list) |
<LI VALUE="?"> | (this & subsequent) | |
Definition List | <DL><DT><DD></DL> | (<DT>=term, <DD>=definition) |
Compact | <DL COMPACT></DL> | |
Menu List | <MENU><LI></MENU> | (<LI> before each list item) |
Compact | <MENU COMPACT></MENU> | |
Directory List | <DIR><LI></DIR> | (<LI> before each list item) |
Compact | <DIR COMPACT></DIR> |
BACKGROUNDS AND COLOURS
Tiled Bkground | <BODY BACKGROUND="URL"> | |
Bkground Colour | <BODY BGCOLOR="#$$$$$$"> | (order is red/green/blue) |
Text Colour | <BODY TEXT="#$$$$$$"> | |
Link Colour | <BODY LINK="#$$$$$$"> | |
Visited Link | <BODY VLINK="#$$$$$$"> | |
Active Link | <BODY ALINK="#$$$$$$"> |
SPECIAL CHARACTERS (these must all be in lower case)
Special Character &#?; | (where ? is the ISO 8859-1 code) |
< | < |
> | > |
& | & |
" | " |
Registered TM | ® |
Registered TM | ® |
Copyright | © |
Copyright | © |
Non-Breaking Space | |
FORMS (generally require a script on your server)
Define Form | <FORM ACTION="URL" METHOD="get|post"></FORM> | ||
N2.0 | File Upload | <FORM ENCTYPE="multipart/form-data"></FORM> | |
Input Field | <INPUT TYPE="text|password|checkbox|
radio|image|hidden|submit|reset"> | ||
Field Name | <INPUT NAME="***"> | ||
Field Value | <INPUT VALUE="***"> | ||
Checked? | <INPUT CHECKED> | (checkboxes and radio boxes) | |
Field Size | <INPUT SIZE="?"> | (in characters) | |
Max Length | <INPUT MAXLENGTH="?"> | (in characters) | |
Selection List | <SELECT></SELECT> | ||
Name of List | <SELECT NAME="***"></SELECT> | ||
# of Options | <SELECT SIZE="?"></SELECT> | ||
Multiple Choice | <SELECT MULTIPLE> | (can select more than one) | |
Option | <OPTION> | (items that can be selected) | |
Default Option | <OPTION SELECTED> | ||
Input Box Size | <TEXTAREA ROWS="?" COLS="?"></TEXTAREA> | ||
Name of Box | <TEXTAREA NAME="***"></TEXTAREA> | ||
N2.0 | Wrap Text | <TEXTAREA WRAP="off |virtual|physical"></TEXTAREA> |
FRAMES (define and manipulate specific regions of the screen)
N2.0 | Frame Document | <FRAMESET></FRAMESET> | (instead of <BODY>) |
N2.0 | Row Heights | <FRAMESET ROWS=",,,"></FRAMESET> | (pixels or %) |
N2.0 | Row Heights | <FRAMESET ROWS="*"></FRAMESET> | (* = relative size) |
N2.0 | Column Widths | <FRAMESET COLS=", , ," ></FRAMESET> | (pixels or %) |
N2.0 | Column Widths | <FRAMESET COLS="*"></FRAMESET> | (* = relative size) |
N3.0b | Borders | <FRAMESET FRAMEBORDER="yes|no"> | |
N3.0b | Border Width | <FRAMESET BORDER="?"> | |
N3.0b | Border Colour | <PRAMESET BORDERCOLOR="#$$$$$$"> | |
N2.0 | Define Frame | <FRAME> | (contents of an individual frame) |
N2.0 | Display Document | <FRAME SRC="URL"> | |
N2.0 | Frame Name | <FRAME NAME="***|_blank|_self|_parent|_top"> | |
N2.0 | Margin Width | <FRAME MARGINWIDTH="?"> | (left and right margins) |
N2.0 | Margin Height | <FRAME MARGINHEIGHT="?"> | (top and bottom margins) |
N2.0 | Scrollbar? | <FRAME SCROLLING="yes|no|auto"> | |
N2.0 | Not Resizable | <FRAME NORESIZE> | |
N3.0b | Borders | <FRAME FRAMEBORDER="yes|no"> | |
N3.0b | Border Colour | <FRAME BORDERCOLOR="#$$$$$$"> | |
N2.0 | Unframed Content | <NOFRAMES></NOFRAMES> | (for non-frames browsers) |
TABLES
Define Table | <TABLE></TABLE> | ||
Table Border | <TABLE BORDER></TABLE> | (either on or off) | |
Table Border | <TABLE BORDER="?"></TABLE> | (you can set the value) | |
Cell Spacing | <TABLE CELLSPACING="?"> | ||
Cell Padding | <TABLE CELLPADDING="?"> | ||
Desired Width | <TABLE WIDTH="?"> | (in pixels) | |
Width Percent | <TABLE WIDTH="%"> | (percentage of page) | |
Table Row | <TR></TR> | ||
Alignment | <TR ALIGN="left|right|center" VALIGN="top|middle|bottom"> | ||
Table Cell | <TD></TD> | (must appear within table rows) | |
Alignment | <TD ALIGN="left|right|center" VALIGN="top|middle|bottom"> | ||
No linebreaks | <TD NOWRAP> | ||
Columns to Span | <TD COLSPAN="?"> | ||
Rows to Span | <TD ROWSPAN="?"> | ||
Nl.1 | Desired Width | <TD WIDTH="?"> | (in pixels) |
Nl.1 | Width Percent | <TD WIDTH="%"> | (percentage of table) |
N3.0b | Cell Colour | <TD BGCOLOR="#$$$$$$"> | |
Table Header | <TH></TH> | (same as data, except bold centered) | |
Alignment | <TH ALIGN="left|right|center" VALIGN="top|middle|bottom"> | ||
No Linebreaks | <TH NOWRAP> | ||
Columns to Span | <TH COLSPAN="?"> | ||
Rows to Span | <TH ROWSPAN="?"> | ||
N1.1 | Desired Width | <TH WIDTH="?"> | (in pixels) |
N1.1 | Width Percent | <TH WIDTH="%"> | (percentage of table) |
N3.0b | Cell Colour | <TH BGCOLOR="#$$$$$$"> | |
Table Caption | <CAPTION></CAPTION> | ||
Alignment | <CAPTION ALIGN="top|bottom"> | (above/below table) |
JAVA
Applet | <APPLET></APPLET> | |
File Name | <APPLET CODE="***"> | |
Parameters | <APPLET PARAM NAME="***"> | |
Location | <APPLET CODEBASE="URL"> | |
Identifier | <APPLET NAME="***"> | (for references) |
Alt Text | <APPLET ALT="[***]"> | (for non-Java browsers) |
Alignment | <APPLET ALIGN="left|right|center"> | |
Size | <APPLET WIDTH="?" HEIGHT="?"> | (in pixels) |
Spacing | <APPLET HSPACE="?" VSPACE="?"> | (in pixels) |
MlSCELLANEOUS
Comment | <!-- *** --> | (not displayed by the browser) | |
Prologue | <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN"> | ||
Searchable | <ISINDEX> | (indicates a searchable index) | |
Prompt | <ISINDEX PROMPT="***"> | (text to prompt input) | |
Send Search | <A HREF="URL?***"></A> | (use a real question mark) | |
URL of This File | <BASE HREF="URL"> | (must be in header) | |
N2.0 | Base Window Name | <BASE TARGET="***"> | (must be in header) |
Relationship | <LINK REV="***" REL="***" HREF="URL"> | (in header) | |
Meta Information | <META> | (must be in header) | |
Style Sheets | <STYLE></STYLE> | (not widely supported yet) | |
Scripts | <SCRIPT></SCRIPT> | (not widely supported yet) |
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