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HTML Quick Reference


The following is an incomplete reference of HTML tags and attributes. It attempts to touch upon the most commonly used HTML elements and should be considered a quick reference rather than a complete guide.

Basic Tags
<html></html>
The HTML tags surround all the rest of the HTML content in the page.
<head></head>
The Head section contains the title and other information that isn't displayed on the Web page itself
<body></body>
The Body section contains the visible elements of the document

Header Tags
<title></title>
Establishes the title of the document. The title appears on the browser's title bar and becomes the name of any favorites or bookmarks created for the page.

Body Attributes
<body bgcolor="?">
Sets the background color, using name or hex value
<body text="?">
Sets the text color, using name or hex value
<body link="?">
Sets the color of links, using name or hex value
<body vlink="?">
Sets the color of followed links, using name or hex value
<body alink="?">
Sets the color of links on click

Text Tags
<pre></pre>
Creates preformatted text
<hl></hl> ( or <h2> <h3> <h4> <h5> <h6> )
Creates a header line of text. Numbers 2-6 creates various levels of subheadings.
<b></b>
Creates bold text
<i></i>
Creates italic text
<tt></tt>
Creates teletype, or typewriter-style text
<cite></cite>
Creates a citation, usually italicizing text
<em></em>
Emphasizes a word (by default, this italicizes text)
<strong></strong>
Makes text appear stronger on the page (by default, this italicizes bolds text)

Links
<a href="URL"></a>
Creates a hyperlink to another page
<a href="mailto:EMAIL"></a>
Creates a hyperlink that attempts to open an email message addresses to the EMAIL address when clicked
<a name="NAME"></a>
Identifies a unique, named location within a document
<a href="#NAME"></a>
Creates a hyperlink pointing to a specific, named location within a document

Formatting
<p></p>
Creates a new paragraph
<p align="?">
Aligns a paragraph to the left, right, or center
<br>
Inserts a line break
<blockquote></blockquote>
Indents text from both sides
<ol></ol>
Creates a numbered list
<li></li>
Precedes each list item, and adds a number
<ul></ul>
Creates a bulleted list
<div align="?">
A generic tag used to format large blocks of HTML, also used for stylesheets

Graphical Elements
<img src="name">
Adds an image
<img src="name" align="?">
Aligns an image: left, right, center; bottom, top, middle
<img src="name" border="?">
Sets size of border around an image
<hr>
Inserts a horizontal rule
<hr size="?">
Sets size (height) of rule
<hr width="?">
Sets width of a horizontal line in percentage or absolute value
<hr noshade>
Creates an unbeveled horizontal line

Tables
<table></table>
Creates a table
<tr></tr>
Sets off each row in a table
<td></td>
Sets off each cell in a row
<th></th>
Identifies the table header (cells with bold, centered text)

Table Attributes
<table border=#>
Sets width of border around table cells
<table cellspacing=#>
Sets amount of space between table cells
<table cellpadding=#>
Sets amount of space between a cell's border and its contents
<table width=# or %>
Sets width of table — in pixels or as a percentage of document width
<tr align=?> or <td align=?>
Sets alignment for cell(s) (left, center, or right)
<tr valign=?> or <td valign=?>
Sets vertical alignment for cell(s) (top, middle, or bottom)
<td colspan=#>
Sets number of columns a cell should span
<td rowspan=#>
Sets number of rows a cell should span (default=1)
<td nowrap>
Prevents the lines within a cell from being broken to fit

Forms
For functional forms, you'll have to run a CGI script. The HTML just creates the appearance of a form.
<form></form>
Creates all forms
<select multiple name="NAME" size="4"></select>
Creates a scrolling menu. Size determines the number of menu items visible without scrolling.
<option>
Sets off each menu item
<select name="NAME"></select>
Creates a pulldown menu
<option></option>
Sets off each menu item
<textarea name="NAME" cols="40" rows="8"></textarea>
Creates a text box area. Columns set the width; rows set the height.
<input type="checkbox" name="NAME"></input>
Creates a checkbox. Text follows tag.
<input type="radio" name="NAME" value="x"></input>
Creates a radio button. Text follows tag
<input type="text" name="foo" size="20"></input>
Creates a one-line text area. Size sets length, in characters.
<input type="submit" value="NAME"></input>
Creates a Submit button
<input type="image" border=0 name="NAME" src="name.gif"></input>
Creates a Submit button using an image
<input type="reset"></input>
Creates a Reset button

 

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