Common HTML Tags

HTML Tags

Here is a list of common HTML tags along with a description and a brief example of how each is used.

Click a tag to see what it is and how it's used.
!	A	AREA	B
BGSOUND	BIG	BLOCKQUOTE	BODY
BR	CAPTION	CENTER	DD
DIV	DL	DT	EM
FONT	FORM	FRAME	FRAMESET
H	HEAD	HR	HTML
I	IMG	INPUT	LI
LISTING	MAP	MARQUEE	MENU
NOFRAMES	OL	OPTION	P
PRE	S	SELECT	SMALL
SPAN	STRIKE	STRONG	SUB
SUP	TABLE	TD	TEXTAREA
TITLE	TR	U	UL

Comment tag.
This tag specifies that anything between them will not be viewed by a web browser. It is useful to make comments within an HTML document.

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<A>
Anchor Tag.
Used with HREF= to create hyperlinks. Used with NAME= to create a named reference.

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<AREA>
Used to specify the shape of a "hot spot" in an image map.

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<B>
Specifies that the text between these tags should be displayed as bold.

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<BGSOUND>
This tag is used when referring to a song by 80's supergroup, The BeeGees.
Ok, I'm kidding, it is actually used to embed a background sound in a document.

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<BIG>
Enlarges a font size.

<big>This text will be displayed larger.</big>

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<BLOCKQUTE>
Specifies test as a quotation.

<blockquote>"Hello there!!"</blockquote>

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<BODY>
Specifies the beginning and end of the body of a document.

<body>All of the attributes making up your entire document will be between these tags.</body>

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<BR>
Inserts a line break.

This text will be displayed</br>
on two lines.

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<CAPTION>
Specifies a caption for a table. Only used with the TABLE tag.

<caption align=top> When used with the TABLE tag, this would appear above the table</caption>

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<CENTER>
Centers images, text and tables.

<center>This text will be centered in your document</center>

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<DD>
Used with the DL and DT tags to format text as a definition.

<dl><dt>Any Word<dd>The definition of that word</dl>

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<DIV>
Sets a division in a document. When used with the CLASS attribute, it give the enter division the same styles.

<div>This text is a section in a document</div>

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<DL>
Specifies a definition list. Used in conjunction with the DT and DD tags.

<dl><dt>Any Word<dd>The definition of that word</dl>

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<DT>
Specifies a definition. Used in conjuction with the DD and DL tags.

<dl><dt>Any Word<dd>The definition of that word</dl>

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<EM>
Emphasizes text, usually by displaying it as italics.

<em>This text will be emphasized.</em>

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<FONT>
Formats the style, size, and color of a text.

<font face="arial" size="+2" color="orange">This text will be orange arial, two pts bigger than the base font..</font>

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<FORM>
Specifies a form that the user will enter data into.

<FORM METHOD=POST ACTION="http://cgi.cityscape.net/cgi-bin/FormMail.pl">
<INPUT TYPE="hidden" NAME="recipient" VALUE="[email protected]"> <input type="hidden" name="subject" value="add a link"> <input type="hidden" name="redirect value="http://www.cityscape.net/thankyou2.html">
Please enter your name:<br> <input type="text" name="name" size=30,1 maxlength=50> (Do not hit return)<br> </form>

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<FRAME>
Defines frames or seperate windows within a webpage.

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<FRAMESET>
Defines the layout of frames in a webpage.

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<H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6>
Specifies a header. H1 will create the largest header and H6 the smallest.

<h1>This text will is a header.</h1>

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<HEAD>
Marks the heading area of an HTML document.

<head>Everything between these tags is considered the header of this document.</head>

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<HR>
Creates a horizontal rule which is helpful in seperating sections. This tag does not need a closing tag.

<hr size="5" width=50%>This tag will create a horizontal rule with a thickness of 5 pixels, and a width of 50% of the webpage.

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<HTML>
Specifies that the file is an HTML document. They should be the first and last tags in your document.

<html>
This is where your entire document will go.
</html>

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<I>
Specifies that the text between these tags should be displayed as italics.

<i>This text will be in italics.</i>

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<IMG>
Places a graphic file into your document.

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<INPUT>
Specifies a type of form control such as check box or radio button.

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<LI>
Denotes and individual item in a list.

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<LISTING>
Displays text in fixed-width type.

<listing>This is fixed-width text</listing>

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<MAP>
Specifies a collection of "hot spots" for an image map.

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<MARQUEE>
Displays text as a scrolling marquee.

<marquee>This will scroll across the webpage.</marquee>

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<MENU>
Denotes a list of items.

<menu>
<li>This text will be the first menu item
<li>This text will be the second menu item
</menu>

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<NOFRAMES>
Used to create a page that is compatible with both frames capable browsers and non-frames browsers. Frames capable browsers will ignore the text between the NOFRAMES tags.

<frameset>
<noframes>Your browser does not support frames>
</frameset>

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<OL>
Specifies that a list will an ordered list. Each item in the list will be preceded by a number or letter reference.

<ol>
<li>This text will be item number 1.
<li>This text will be item number 2.
</ol>

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<OPTION>
Denotes one choice in a list box.

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<P>
Inserts a new paragraph on a webpage. Doe's not require the closing tag.

<p>This text will be seperated form the text above it.</p>

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<PRE>
Displays text exectly as it is typed with spaces and breaks.

<pre>This text
will
appear on the page, just like it is here.</pre>

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<S>
Display text in strikethrough type.

<s>This text will be display as strikethrough.</s>

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<SELECT>
Denotes a list of dropdown list.

<select name="Cars" multiple size="1">
    <option value="1">BMW
    <option value="2">PORSCHE
    <option value="3" selected>MERCEDES
</select>

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<SMALL>
Decreases the font size.

<small>This text will be smaller.</small>

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<SPAN>
Affects enclosed text with style information.

<span class=.clssmall>This text will take on the settings defined under .clssmall in the style sheet.</span>

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<STRIKE>
Specifies that the text between these tags should be displayed as strikethrough.

<strike>This text will be displayed as strikethrough.</strike>

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<STRONG>
Emphasizes text, usually displays as bold.

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<SUB>
Specifies that the text between these tags should be displayed as in subscript.

This text will be normal.<sub>This text will be subscript.bold.</sub>

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<SUP>
Specifies that the text between these tags should be displayed in superscript.

This text will be normal.<sup>This text will be superscript.</sup>

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<TABLE>
Creates a table in an HTML document.

 <table border=1 width=80%>
<tr>
    <td>Row 1, Column 1 text.</td>
    <td>Row 1, Column 2 text.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
    <td>Row 2, Column 1 text.</td>
    <td>Row 2, Column 2 text.</td>
</tr>
</table>

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<TD>
Creates a cell in a table..

 <table border=1 width=80%>
<tr>
    <td>Row 1, Column 1 text.</td>
    <td>Row 1, Column 2 text.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
    <td>Row 2, Column 1 text.</td>
    <td>Row 2, Column 2 text.</td>
</tr>
</table>

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<TEXTAREA>
Creates a box for viewers to enter text into.

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<TITLE>
Specifies the title of an HTML document.

<title>This text will be displayed in the title bar of a viewer's browser.</title>

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<TR>
Creates a row in a table.

 <table border=1 width=80%>
<tr>
    <td>Row 1, Column 1 text.</td>
    <td>Row 1, Column 2 text.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
    <td>Row 2, Column 1 text.</td>
    <td>Row 2, Column 2 text.</td>
</tr>
</table>

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<U>
Specifies that the text between these tags should be underlined.

<u>This text will be underlined.</u>

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<UL>
Specifies that a list will an unordered list. Each item in the list will be preceded by a bullet.

<ul>
<li>This text will be the first item.
<li>This text will be the second item.
</ul>

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In the example you can see that capitalization is not important when using HTML tags.
You can use either uppercase or lowercase for the tags in your HTML document.

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