Below are the tags available in HTML v3.2.  Click a link to jump to the full description of the tag.

Character Elements/Markups

The character elements in HTML are used to render text in a traditional way.  This method of text formatting uses the English standard that has developed over the years.  But there are no limitations placed on the way these elements are used by the web page designer.  In a block of text characters, elements enclose a section of text that is to be rendered differently.  As with most of the element tags, the character elements have have a beginning and ending tag and only the text inside the tags is altered.  The character elements do not effect the text wrap, they just act as markers to indicate the character type in the text section.

The character elements can also be used in nestings, but the way they are rendered is dependent on how pedantic the web browser is with the tags.  Properly implemented, the following text will be rendered in bold italic:  This is a <B><I>bold italic</I></B> text.  The following elements can also be used as character rendering tags or markups.

ABBREVIATION  <ABBREV>...</ABBREV>

This element is used to mark the section of the text as an abbreviation, there is no defined way that browsers should render the contents of its tag.

ACRONYM  <ACRONYM>...</ACRONYM>

This element is used to mark the section of the text as an acronym.  There is no defined way that browsers should render the contents of its tag.

AUTHOR  <AU>...</AU>

This element is used to render the text for the name of an author.

BIG  <BIG>...</BIG>

This element renders the text in a large font with respect to the surrounding text.

BOLD  <B>...</B>

This element renders the text within its tags in bold.

CITATION  <CITE>...</CITE>

The CITE element is used to render a reference to another document or book that has been used as a reference.  It is usually rendered as italic script.

CODE  <CODE>...</CODE>

The CODE element renders text in a mono-spaced font to depict a section of software code.

DEFINITION  <DFN>...</DFN>

This element is used for rendering a defining text for a term.

EMPHASIS  <EM>...</EM>

This is an emphasis character element that is usually rendered in an italics text.  It can be used in place of italics where a web browser does not implement <I>...</I>.

ITALIC  <I>...</I>

This element renders the text within its tags in italic.

KEYBOARD  <KBD>...</KBD>

The KBD element renders text in a keyboarded or typed fixed-width font.  This may be used for manuals and instructional text.

LISTING  <LISTING>...</LISTING>

These elements are used to markup a listing of products, addresses, etc.  The resulting text is fixed width type.

PERSON  <PERSON>...</PERSON>

These elements are used around the name of a person so that intelligent indexing systems can search through documents to locate particular names.

PLAINTEXT  <PLAINTEXT>...</PLAINTEXT>

This element is used to render the text within its tags in a fixed-width type.  It also has the secondary effect of turning off the HTML parser, so any marked-up text within the PLAINTEXT tags will be ignored and rendered in fixed-width text.  It will do this until the browser encounters a </PLAINTEXT> tag.

QUOTES  <Q>...</Q>

This element is used to render a quoted section.  As would be expected, the standard quote marks are applied to the beginning and end of the quoted section.

SAMP  <SAMP>...</SAMP>

The SAMP element renders text in a sequence of literal characters.

SMALL  <SMALL>...</SMALL>

This element renders the text in a small font with respect to the surrounding text.

Strike through  <S>...</S>

The S element places a strike through the text between the tags.  A strike through is a horizontal line through the center of the text.

Strike through  <STRIKE>...</STRIKE>

The STRIKE element places a strike through the text between the tags.  A strike through is a horizontal line through the center of the text.

STRONG  <STRONG>...</STRONG>

The strong element renders in a bold font for text between the tags.

SUBSCRIPT  <SUB>...</SUB>

This element renders the text in a subscript format with a font that is smaller than the surrounding font.  In the context of a MATH element, the SUB element can have an ALIGN attribute.

SUPERSCRIPT  <SUP>...</SUP>

This element renders the text in a superscript format with a font that is smaller than the surrounding font.  In the context of a MATH element, the SUP element can have an ALIGN attribute.

TYPEWRITER  <TT>...</TT>

This element is used to render text in a fixed-width typewriter font.

UNDERLINE  <U>...</U>

The U element underlines the text that is placed between its tags.

VARIABLE  <VAR>...</VAR>

This element is used in the depiction of a variable in a mathematical equation or an instructional manual.  The font of a VAR element is usually italic.

Possible elements inside tags:  ISO Latin-1 characters, character markups, A, BR, IMG.
Can be inside:  A, character markups, ADDRESS, Hn, P, PRE, DD, DT, LI

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<!--...-->        Comment Tags

Introduced in language version:    HTML 0

The COMMENT TAGS enable you to add information into your HTML script without it being displayed on screen or printed out from the browser.  You can type as many lines as you require between the tags.

E.g.
<!-- Whatever I type in here will not be displayed on a Web browser -->

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<!DOCTYPE>        Document Type

Introduced in language version:    HTML 0

The DOCUMENT TYPE tag is used to define the HTML standard in your web page.  It allows you to formally declare the HTML version within your document.  It is the first line in your HTML text and it is also known as the "public text identifier".  The following are the tags for the different versions of HTML:

Document simply uses HTML

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//IETF//DTD HTML//EN">

Document supports HTML 1.0

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//IETF//DTD HTML 1.0//EN">

Document supports HTML 2.0

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//IETF//DTD HTML 2.0//EN">

Document supports HTML 3.0

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//IETF//DTD HTML 3.0//EN">

Document supports HTML 3.2

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//IETF//DTD HTML 3.2//EN">

HTML 2.0 allows you to define how strictly the HTML version must be followed.  You can use these tags:

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//IETF//DTD HTML Strict Level 1//EN">
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//IETF//DTD HTML 2.0 Strict Level 1//EN">
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//IETF//DTD HTML Strict Level 2//EN">
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//IETF//DTD HTML 2.0 Strict Level 2//EN">

The document type specifications are formalities, ideally you should be using them.  As your HTML expertise increases it is a good habit to add these tags.  When the web browsers and search engines become very sophisticated, document types will begin to play a role in the way HTML pages are displayed and catalogued.

More definitions and specifications:

Level 2:
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//IETF//DTD HTML Level 2//EN">
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//IETF//DTD HTML 2.0 Level 2//EN">

Strict Level 2:
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//IETF//DTD HTML Strict//EN">
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//IETF//DTD HTML 2.0 Strict//EN">

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<A>...</A>        Hypertext Links

Introduced in language version:    HTML 0

A hypertext link is defined within the anchor tags <A>...</A>.  The attributes that allow linking are the HREF and NAME.  Anchor elements with the HREF attribute can contain text or images within the tag structure.  These images or text become the label for the jump or link.  The labels in a HTML script are usually rendered in a different way to the normal text (usually in a blue color) and thus indicate to the viewer of the document that a jump can be made by clicking on the text with a mouse.  Clearly, when a page is designed it is expected that the label is indicative of the place it will jump to.

The HREF attribute must be defined with a name or a URL.  This name or URL will tell the web browser where to jump.  The NAME attribute of an anchor element will define the place in the document to jump to, so this becomes the target of a jump.  In a large document, it is useful when a person is navigating through the areas of interest.  It saves time and ensures that the relevant sections are not overlooked.

The same target capabilities are given to the ID attribute.  The ID attribute is somewhat more flexible, in that it can be attributed to many more elements.  This is a HTML 3 feature that is designed to supersede the NAME attribute.

Linking to an external site:

<A HREF="http://domain.site.edu/information/"> INFORMATION </A>

In this anchor script, the INFORMATION text will be the only visible page marker.  It is usually rendered in blue color text.  Once it is clicked on or selected by a mouse, the browser will jump to the location indicated by the HREF (i.e. http://domain.site.edu/information).

Linking to an area in the same document:

<A NAME="molecule" > this metallic structure </A>
The unique structure of a <A HREF="#molecule"> titanium molecule</A>

In this example, an anchor destination has been established using the NAME attribute.  The name or fragment identifier is called "molecule", and for logical reasons the name must only be assigned once per destination.  Whenever a HREF anchor wants to link to this area in the document, it must use the '#' character; i.e.  <A HREF="molecule"> ................ </A>.

In the above example, the words "titanium molecule" would be rendered in a different color and script to the surrounding text, so a document user will know that it links to another place.  The anchor element is ideal for referring to a related reference within a large document.

To see a real working example of this, view the source of this page.  The NAME attribute is used to create hyperlinks to different points on the page (also referred to as bookmarks).

Linking to a remote document:

<A HREF="http://domain.site.edu/info/atoms.html#molecule"> INFORMATION</A>

In the previous examples a reference was made with an anchor HREF to a section in the same document identified by the "molecule" anchor NAME.  If the relevant information was actually on a HTML document in a site half way around the globe, we could still jump to it seamlessly (albeit slightly slower).  We do this by still invoking the anchor HREF but instead of using a local URL (uniform resource locator), we call up a URL that jumps to a server domain site in another place (i.e. http://domain.site.edu/information/).  This URL describes the server domain name and type.  It also points to a directory called /information/. In that directory, a HTML script file called "atoms.html" can be found.  This information is enough to bring up the document, but the #molecule extension placed directly behind the document name actually brings up the relevant section of the document that has the anchor NAME "molecule".

ATTRIBUTES

CLASS=name
This attribute is used to classify the anchor tag.  The classification names are selected to be logical and reflect the content.  Some programs search these classes to find relevant information in large collections of documents.

ID=name
This attribute sets an identification name (which must be unique within the document) for the information contained within the anchor.  The name can then be used as a hypertext link target or in conjunction with style sheets for formatting HTML.

LANG=ISO language
This attribute allows you to assign a language standard for the information contained between the DIV tags.

HREF=URL
This attribute gives the URL of the document or file that the hypertext link will go to.  When no path name is specified, the HREF is assumed to be relative to the currently open document.

TARGET=window
This attribute is used to load a page that is accessed by the anchor into a targeted window.  If the window does not exist, it will load a new browser window.  It is also used with frames to load the page that is accessed by the anchor into a named target window.  There are some target window names that are reserved for special uses, these include:

TITLE=name
This attribute is used to describe the link that is being accessed.  A title will appear in the browser status bar or just under the mouse cursor.

REL=relationship
This attribute is used to specify a relative relationship with the document that is being accessed with the hypertext link.

REV=reverse relationship
This defines a reverse relationship between the current document and the document that is being accessed via the anchor and hypertext link.

Possible elements inside tags:  ISO Latin-1 characters, character markups, BR, IMG
Can be inside:  ADDRESS, Hn, P, PRE, DT, DD, LI, character markups

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<ADDRESS>...</ADDRESS>        Address

Introduced in language version:    HTML 0

Details:

The ADDRESS element is placed around the address of an author, person or place.  Its main task is to provide a logical HTML marker for a contact address.  It is usually placed at the top or bottom of the page.  Most browsers will render the contents of the ADDRESS tags in italics, and in many cases, the contents of the ADDRESS tags are used as hypertext jumps to the address itself.

Possible elements inside tags:  ISO Latin-1 characters, character markups, A, BR, IMG
Can be inside:  BLOCKQUOTE, BODY, FORM

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<APPLET>...</APPLET>

Introduced in language version:    HTML 3.2

The APPLET element is used to allow the embedding of a Java application into a HTML document.  The APPLET element along with the associated PARAM elements pass the required values to the Java application.  A browser that is able to run Java applets will detect the tags and load the applet into the page.  It will load all the required information for the applet up to the last PARAM element.  The information after this is used to give browsers that do not run Java a set of alternative instructions and messages.  Browsers that are Java compatible will ignore this extra HTML code.  The following are attributes that the APPLET element can contain.

CODE="file"
This is the name of the file that contains the compiled applet subclass.  It is relative to the base URL (i.e., it should be saved in the same directory as the HTML page that calls it).  You can not specify an external URL in this attribute.

CODEBASE="codebase URL"
This attribute allows you to specify the URL where the applet resides.  You can also use notation to specify the applet directory relative to the current document URL.  If this attribute is not specified, the URL will default to the current document's URL.

ALT="string"
This provides browsers that cannot run Java applications a text message to display.  Clearly, the browser should know that it is reading in an APPLET element and be able to display the text string.

NAME="applet_instance"
This specifies a name for the applet instance.  In effect, other applets on the same page are able to communicate (if they are set up to do so).

ALIGN="alignment"
This attribute sets the alignment of the applet display area.  Some of the values you can specify include:  MIDDLE, LEFT, RIGHT, BOTTOM, TOP, TEXTTOP, ABSMIDDLE, ABSBOTTOM and BASELINE.

VSPACE="pixels"   HSPACE="pixels"
This attribute allows you to specify an invisible border around the applet.  In this border, nothing can be written, drawn or displayed.  The VSPACE (vertical space) specifies the number of pixels above and below the applet.  The HSPACE (horizontal space) specifies the number of pixels to the left and right of the applet.

This is a very simple example of a Java applet without any parameters to pass:

<applet CODE="Strobe.class" WIDTH=150 HEIGHT=1500>
Java applet that creates a disco strobe that fills the page. </applet>

The PARAM element is placed within the APPLET tags and is used to pass parameters to the applet.  They are specified as name/value pairs.  The details of the names to use and the range of values you can define are generally given or explained by the author of the Java applet.

<PARAM NAME=Parameter VALUE="value">

Here is another example using PARAM elements (a lot of them):
<applet CODE="Flag.class" WIDTH=180 HEIGHT=95>
<param NAME=res VALUE="5">
<param NAME=backR VALUE="100">
<param NAME=backG VALUE="0">
<param NAME=backB VALUE="6">
<param NAME=pattern VALUE="4">
<param NAME=speed VALUE="34">
<param NAME=curve VALUE="3">
<param NAME=wind VALUE="45">
<param NAME=nation VALUE="2">
Your browser doesn't support Java.
</applet>

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<BASE...>        Base

Introduced in language version:    HTML 0

The BASE element is ideal for when a document has been moved from its original URL, but the related images, files and links have not.  By using the BASE tag you can load a HTML document from any site or URL and access all the related files used by the HTML page from the original URL.  If the BASE address is not specified, the browser will automatically use the URL where the page is loaded to access all the related files

Example:
The original URL of a HTML page is http://www.somesite.com/Main.  A person would like to move it to http://www.html.com/coollinks but does not have the space for all the images and files.  All they need to do is access the HTML document on http://www.html.com/coollinks and place the following BASE tag in the Head of the document.

<HEAD>
                <TITLE>Somesite.com</TITLE>
                <BASE HREF="http://www.somesite.com/Main">
</HEAD>

ATTRIBUTES

HREF="URL"
THe full URL specification of the documents home, so no matter where the HTML document is loaded from, it will still be able to access the images, links and files.

TARGET="window"
The TARGET attribute allows you to specify a window name (usually specified in a FRAMES set up) to load any of the links on the page into.  So when you load a document with the BASE tag and TARGET attribute set and you click on a link, the following will occur:

1. The document the link calls up will appear in the window specified by the TARGET attribute.
2. If the window does not exist, the browser will open and name a new window for you.

The following BASE tag will load any links found on the somesite.html page into the window named section1.

<HEAD>
<TITLE>Somesite Features</TITLE>
<BASE HREF="http://www.somesite.com/Main/somesite.html" TARGET="section1">
</HEAD>

TARGET="preset calls"
The TARGET attribute has some preset options to load links into windows.  These include:

TARGET="_blank"
This will load a link document into a new window that does not have any particular name.
TARGET="_parent"
This attribute will load a link document into the immediate parent of the current document.
TARGET="_self"
This attribute will load a link document into the window that it was called from.
TARGET="_top"
This attribute will load a link document into the full window of the browser, i.e. replace all the frame pages, etc.

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<BASEFONT>        Basefont