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HTML Elements

Summary

Index page for HTML elements.

!DOCTYPE
A Document Type Declaration, or DOCTYPE, is an instruction that associates a particular SGML or XML document (for example, a webpage) with a Document Type Definition (DTD) (for example, the formal definition of a particular version of HTML). In the serialized form of the document, it manifests as a short string of markup that conforms to a particular syntax. Not including <!DOCTYPE> may trigger Quirks mode.
a
Defines a hyperlink, a destination of hyperlink, or both.
acronym
This element is deprecated in HTML5, in favor of the abbr element. It should no longer be used. The acronym element indicated an abbreviation or a word formed by the initial letter or letters (or major parts) of a compound term, like NATO, radar or Interpol.
address
The address element (<address>) encloses contact information of the owner or the author of the document or the article.
applet – obsolete
The applet element (<applet>) embeds a Java applet into a web page.
area
Represents either a hyperlink with some text and a corresponding area on an image map, or a dead area on an image map.
article
The article element (<article>) defines a self-contained composition within a page.
aside
The aside element (<aside>) indicates content that is only tangentially related to the rest of the content.
audio
The audio element (<audio>) is used for playing audio files and may display a minimal media player user interface.
b
The b element represents a span of text to be stylistically offset from the normal prose without conveying any extra importance.
base
The base element is used to specify a document’s base URL and base target that is used for resolving URI references (relative URLs) within the document.
basefont
The basefont element (<basefont>) allows specifying a default color and font-size for text on the entire page. The basefont element was deprecated in HTML4 and should no longer be used.
bdo
The bdo element (<bdo>) allows you to specify the direction in which text is to be rendered on the page. (“BDO” stands for Bi-Directional Override.)
bgSound
The bgsound element (<bgsound>) instructs the browser to load and play a sound file while the user is on that page. Don’t use it. Use the audio element instead.
big
The big element (<big>) indicates that the enclosed text should be display in a larger font size than surrounding text. This element is considered obsolete in HTML5. Use CSS instead.
blockquote
The blockquote element indicates an extended quotation.
body
The body element (<body>) represents the main content of the document.
br
The line break element, br, forces the current line of text to end and the text that follows it will being on a new line.
button
The button element represents a clickable button.
canvas
The canvas element (<canvas>) provides scripts with a resolution-dependent bitmap canvas, which can be used for rendering graphs, game graphics, or other visual images on the fly, by using the associated canvas API.
caption
The caption (<caption>) element represents the title of the table that is its parent.
center
The <center> element center-aligns text in an HTML page. The element is deprecated in HTML 4.01 and obsolete in HTML5. Use CSS instead.
cite
The cite element represents a reference to a creative work.
code
The code element specifies a fragment of computer code.
col
The col element (<col>) specifies properties for each column within a <colgroup> element in a <table>.
colgroup
The colgroup element (<colgroup>) specifies a group of one or more columns in a table for formatting. This element is useful for applying properties to entire columns, instead of repeating the properties for each cell, for each row.
custom
Represents a user-defined HTML tag (nonstandard)
datalist
The datalist element (<datalist>) represents a set of <option> elements that represent predefined options for other controls. It may be associated with an <input> element by adding a list attribute to the input element.
dd – description list data
The dd element represents the description, definition, or value, part of a term-description group in a definition list (dl). A dt (topic) is usually followed by one or more dd (definition) elements. Several consecutive dt are attributed to the dd element that immediately follows the group.
del
The del element indicates text that has been deleted from the document.
dfn
The dfn element indicates the defining instance of a term.
dir
The dir element <dir> is used to list directory titles. The dir element is deprecated in HTML 4.01, and obsolete in HTML5. Use CSS and the ul element instead.
div
The div element (<div>) is a generic block-level container that has no semantic value other than the one that you give it via id or class attributes. It can be used for a variety of purposes including the styling of common elements, or for grouping elements with common attributes.
dl – description list
The dl element is used to define a description list. The element encloses one or more description terms, enclosed in dt elements, and description definitions (definitions of the terms), enclosed within dd elements.
dt – description list topic
The dt element indicates a definition term within a definition list (dl). A dt (topic) is usually followed by one or more dd (definition) elements. Several consecutive dt are attributed to the dd element that immediately follows the group.
em
The em element indicates text that has emphasis.
EMBED
The HTML <embed> Element represents an integration point for an external content- typically, non-HTML content such as an application or some other type of interactive content which involves use of a third-party plugin as a handler (rather than being natively supported by the UA).
fieldset
The fieldset element is used to group related fields within a form.
figcaption
The figcaption (<figcaption>) defines a caption or legend for a figure element. This element is new in HTML5.
figure
The figure element (<figure>) represents self-contained content (such as an image), optionally with a caption, that can be referenced as a single unit from the main content of the document.
font
The font element is an obsolete tag that was used to specify the typeface, size, and color of the text it contained.
footer
The footer element (<footer>) represents content of the end of the nearest ancestor sectioning content or sectioning root element.
form
The form element (<form>) defines an HTML form for user input, subsequently to be submitted to a website or service.
frame
The frame element (<frame>) defines one particular window (frame) within a <frameSet>. The <frame> element is obsolete in HTML5.
frameSet
The frameset element (<frameset>) defines a collection of frames. The <frameset> element holds one or more <frame> elements. Each <frame> element can hold a separate document. The <frameset> tag is obsolete in HTML5.
head
The head element (<head>) represents a collection of metadata for the document.
header
The header element (<header>) represents the header of a section: a group of introductory or navigational aids.
hgroup
(Obsolete) The hgroup element (<hgroup>) is typically used to group a set of one or more h1-h6 elements — to group, for example, a section title and an accompanying subtitle. The hgroup element (<hgroup>) element is obsolete in HTML5.
hn
The h1 through h6 elements define levels of headings within a document.
hr
The hr element represents a paragraph-level thematic break in text.
html
The html element (<html>) represents the root of an HTML document. The <html> tag is the container for all other HTML elements; except for the <!DOCTYPE> tag.
html comment data-type
A syntactical production: The comment syntax indicates text within a document that is not displayed on the rendered page in the browser. A comment starts with <!-- and ends with -->.
i
The i element indicates that the contained text is in an alternate voice, mood, or language from the surrounding text.
iframe
The iframe element (<iframe>) introduces a new nested browsing context.

img
:

input
The input element (<input/>) is a multipurpose element for representing form widgets. The type of widget depends on the type attribute.
input type ‘button’
The button type of the input element represents a button with no default behavior. Compare with the button element which offers default behaviours with via attributes.
checkbox
The checkbox type of the <input> element represents a state or option that can be toggled.
color
The color type of the <input> element provides a widget for selecting a color value.
date
The date type of the <input> element represents a widget for specifying a date value (year, month, day), with no time zone or time information.
datetime-local
The datetime-local type of the <input> element represents a widget for setting a date-time value (year, month, day, hours, minutes, seconds, milliseconds) with no time zone information.
input type ‘email’
The email type of the <input> element represents a field for entering an e-mail address.
file
The file type of the <input> element represents widget for specifying a file.
hidden
The hidden type of the <input> element represents a value that is hidden from the user, but which is sent with the form data; the value can be set programatically.
image
The image type of the <input> element represents an image. The user can either use the image as a button to submit the form, or select a coordinate of the image to be submitted with the form data.
month
The month of the <input> element represents a widget for entering a month value.
number
The number type of the <input> element represents a widget for entering a number.
password
The password type of the <input> element represents a one-line plain-text edit control for entering a password, which renders input text in such a way as to hide the characters (e.g., a series of asterisks).
radio
The radio type of the <input> element represents a radio button control.
range
An input field for setting a number value that falls in a given range.
reset
An input form button that resets the form to default values.
search
An input text field that is used for search queries.
submit
An input form button that submits the form data to the server.
tel
An input field intended for entering a telephone number; does not enforce any syntax.
text
The input element with a type attribute whose value is “text” represents a one-line plain text edit control for the input element’s value.
time
An input field for entering a specific time value.
url
An input field for entering a single, absolute URL value.
week
An input field for entering a value that represents a specific week.
ins
The ins element represents a range of text that has been inserted (added) into a document.
isIndex
(Obsolete) A special-purpose single-line text input field
kbd
The 'kbd element denotes user input. Typically this is keyboard input (hence “kbd”), but it may also be used to represent other user input, e.g. voice commands or gestures.
label
Specifies a label for another element on the page.
legend
The legend element represents a title or explanatory caption for the contents of its parent fieldset element.
li – list item
The li element represents one list item.
link
Enables the current document to establish links to external documents.
listing
(Obsolete) Renders text of the element (usually in monospace font) without interpreting contain HTML markup; obsoleted by pre and code elements.
main
Represents the main content of the body of a document or application.
map
Contains coordinate data for client-side image maps.
mark
Represents a run of text that is contextually-important for some reason, such as text that has been marked or highlighted.
marquee
Nonstandard. Defines a scrolling area (usually horizontal) of text.
media
Presents audio or video data to the user. The media element provides the audio and video objects which are used to play sound and video content.
menu
The menu element represents information as a list of items or commands.
meta
The <meta> element embeds various kinds of metadata that cannot be expressed using the title, base, link, style, and script elements.
meter
The HTML <meter> element represents a value within a specified range. This value can be any real number.
nav
The HTML Navigation Element (<nav>) represents a section of navigation links: a page that links to other pages, or to parts within the page
nextID
An identifier, automatically generated by the early NeXT web editor.
noBR
Indicates that the enclosed text should not be broken across lines; use the CSS property white-space instead.
noFrames
Recognized as a deprecated element. Intended to provide content for browsers that cannot, or are configured not to, display frames.
noscript
The HTML NoScript Element (<noscript>) defines a section of html to be inserted if a script type on the page is unsupported or if scripting is currently turned off in the browser.
object
The <object> element represents can represent an external resource, which, depending on the type of the resource, will either be treated as an image, as a nested browsing context, or as an external resource to be processed by a plugin.
ol – ordered list
The ol element is used to define an ordered list. The element encloses one or more list items, enclosed in li elements.
optgroup
Allows authors to group choices logically in a select element.
option
Denotes one choice in a select element.
p
The p (for paragraph) element (<p>) represents a paragraph.
param
This element defines parameters for plugins invoked by object elements.
picture
Control which image resource a user agent presents to a user, based on media query and/or support for a particular image format.
plainText
The plaintext element (<plaintext>) is a deprecated tag that was used to indicate that the contents should be interpretted as raw text, without parsing any HTML entities or child tags.
pre
The pre tag defines preformatted text. Text in a pre element is displayed in a fixed-width font and preserves both spaces and line breaks.
progress
The HTML <progress> element represents the completion progress of a task.
q – quote
The q element represents some phrasing content quoted from another source.
rt
The rt element marks the ruby text component of a ruby annotation.
ruby
The ruby element allows one or more spans of phrasing content to be marked with ruby annotations. Ruby annotations are short runs of text presented alongside base text, primarily used in East Asian typography as a guide for pronunciation or to include other annotations.
s – strikethrough
The s element represents contents that are no longer accurate and must be marked accordingly in order to allow keeping it in the document.
samp
The samp element represents output from a program or computing system.
script
The script element enables dynamic script and data blocks to be included in documents. It can contain code/data directly or it can link to external sources. It is mainly used with JavaScript.
section
Defines sections in a document, such as chapters, headers, footers, or any other sections of the document. It is new to HTML5.
select
The select element is used to create a drop-down list. Used with option tags inside the select element to define the available options in the list.
small
Presentational-only element to define text that will appear small. Used for fine print.
source
Allows developer to specify multiple alternative media resources for media elements, such as <video> and <audio>. It does not represent anything on its own, and is used with src attribute to specify the URL.
span
Groups inline elements in a document. The span element is both style and semantics neutral; it does not assign any style attributes or semantic meaning on its own.
strike
Deprecated presentational element defining strikethrough text. It is deprecated in HTML4 and not supported in HTML5. Consider the del or s elements instead.
strong
The strong element indicates text that is of great importance, seriousness, or urgency.
style
Defines style information for an HTML document. Inside the style element you specify how HTML elements should render in a browser. Each HTML document can contain multiple style tags.
sub
Defines subscript text. Subscript text appears half a character below the baseline.
sup
Defines superscript text. Superscript text appears half a character above the baseline.
table
The <table> element is a wrapper for an HTML table. It defines the start and end of a table, and can contain other table elements, such as <tr>.
tbody
The tbody tag is used to group the body content in an HTML table.
td
Defines a standard Cell in an HTML table.
textarea
The textarea tag defines a multi-line text input control. A text area can hold an unlimited number of characters, and the text renders in a fixed-width font (usually Courier).
tfoot
The tfoot tag is used to group footer content in an HTML table.
th
The th tag defines a header cell in an HTML table.
thead
The thead element (<thead>) identifies header rows at the top of a table, usually containing column labels. It may contain one or more rows of <th> or <td> cells.
time
The time tag defines either a time (24 hour clock), or a date in the Gregorian calendar, optionally with a time and a time-zone offset. It does not render differently in any of the major browsers. This element can be used as a way to encode dates and times in a machine-readable way so that, for example, user agents can offer to add birthday reminders or scheduled events to the user’s calendar.
title
Defines the title of the current document.
tr
The tr element represents a row of cells in a table.
track
The track tag specifies text tracks for media elements (audio and video). This element is used to specify subtitles, caption files or other files containing text, that should be visible when the media is playing. Track is new to HTML5 and is not yet supported in any major browser.
tt
The teletype element (<tt>) creates monospaced text. It’s use is deprecated in favour of semantic elements like <code> and CSS styles. However, the tt element is still widely supported in browsers.
u
Underlines text inline. Deprecated in HTML4, redefined in HTML5. In HTML5 it is used to express “an unarticulated, though explicitly rendered, non-textual annotation,” such as a proper name in Chinese or a spelling error.
ul – unordered list
The ul element is used to define an unordered list. The element encloses one or more list items, enclosed in li elements.
var
Defines a variable.
video
The video tag represents an embedded video
wbr
The Word Break Opportunity (wbr) element represents a position within text where the browser may optionally break a line, though its line-breaking rules would not otherwise create a break at that location.
xml
Defines a simple XML data that can be embedded directly in an HTML page.
xmp
(Obsolete) Renders text between the start and end tags without interpreting the HTML in between and using a monospaced font. Non-conforming in HTML5. Use code or pre instead.

See also

Related articles

HTML

This is the list of HTML and related Elements from the past to the present.

The root element

Document metadata

Scripting

Sections

Grouping content

Text-level semantics

Edits

Embedded content

Tables

Forms

Interactive

Previous HTML Elements

See also