*A
*ADDRESS
*APPLET
*AREA
*B
*BASE
*BASEFONT
*BIG
*BLOCKQUOTE
*BODY
*BR
*CAPTION
*CENTER
*CITE
*CODE
*DD
*DFN
*DIR
*DIV
*DL
*DT
*EM
*FONT
*FORM
*H1
*H2
*H3
*H4
*H5
*H6
*HEAD
*HR
*HTML
*I
*IMG
*INPUT
*ISINDEX
*KBD
*LI
*LINK
*MAP
*MENU
*META
*OL
*OPTION
*P
*PARAM
*PRE
*SAMP
*SCRIPT
*SELECT
*SMALL
*STRIKE
*STRONG
*STYLE
*SUB
*SUP
*TABLE
*TD
*TEXTAREA
*TH
*TITLE
*TR
*TT
*U
*UL
*VAR
The structure of the
element descriptions is as follows:
- A heading,
containing the element name and a short description of its meaning,
and, if needed, a warning that the element is not in HTML 2.0.
- A short description of the purpose of the element.
- A verbal description
of a
typical rendering by a (graphical) Web browser.
- A description of the basic syntax
(without attributes, except
obligatory or very common attributes).
- Possible attributes with their meanings and possible values,
in the form of a table.
- The allowed context, i.e. a specification which says where
the element may occur.
- The allowed contents of the element, i.e. the elements
(or other constructs)
which may occur between the start tag and the end tag.
If the
content is specified as being none, the element is a so-called
empty element which neither requires nor allows an end tag
or any contents.
- Examples, usually first
a simple example showing the very basic and primitive use,
with "everything defaulted", then
a more complicated example (if possible), showing options etc.
Most example HTML codes, displayed as a separate paragraph in monospaced
font,
are preceded by names like
Example PRE-1.html
which act as links to documents containing
the code, allowing the reader to easily check what the example looks
like on his browser and environment.
Notice that the renderings themselves are not included in this document;
this is intentional, in order to make explicit the difference
between an HTML structure and its visual appearance when using
a particular browser.
- Pragmatic notes about the usage of the element.
The ordering of these notes proceeds from questions like
"should I use this element at all, or should I use some other instead"
to various practical aspects of using it properly, then
to more and more technical issues.
The notes may include warnings about typical abuse
or common errors.
This presentation does not discuss
the XMP, LISTING, and PLAINTEXT
elements. They have been obsolete for a long time, and
PRE
should be used
instead.
Date of last update:
2010-12-16.