This page is a collection of every HTML element to make sure everything looks good at an atomic level.
I have no idea where I copied this from originally, but I've been using it for years. If you know the original author, let me know, I'd love to credit and thank them.
Typography
Headline 1
Paragraph
Headline 2
- Unordered item
- Unordered item
Headline 3
- Ordered item
- Ordered item
Headline 4
Preformatted
Headline 5
Blockquote
Headline 6
Table Header | Table Header |
---|---|
Table Cell | Table Cell |
Base Stylesheet
Sections Linked
The main page header of this guide is an h1
element. Any header elements may include links, as depicted in the example.
The secondary header above is an h2
element, which may be used for any form of important page-level header. More than one may be used per page. Consider using an h2
unless you need a header level of less importance, or as a sub-header to an existing h2
element.
Third-Level Header Linked
The header above is an h3
element, which may be used for any form of page-level header which falls below the h2
header in a document hierarchy.
Fourth-Level Header Linked
The header above is an h4
element, which may be used for any form of page-level header which falls below the h3
header in a document hierarchy.
Fifth-Level Header Linked
The header above is an h5
element, which may be used for any form of page-level header which falls below the h4
header in a document hierarchy.
Sixth-Level Header Linked
The header above is an h6
element, which may be used for any form of page-level header which falls below the h5
header in a document hierarchy.
Grouping content
Paragraphs
All paragraphs are wrapped in p
tags. Additionally, p
elements can be wrapped with a blockquote
element if the p
element is indeed a quote. Historically, blockquote
has been used purely to force indents, but this is now achieved using CSS. Reserve blockquote
for quotes.
Horizontal rule
The hr
element represents a paragraph-level thematic break, e.g. a scene change in a story, or a transition to another topic within a section of a reference book. The following extract from Pandora’s Star by Peter F. Hamilton shows two paragraphs that precede a scene change and the paragraph that follows it:
Dudley was ninety-two, in his second life, and fast approaching time for another rejuvenation. Despite his body having the physical age of a standard fifty-year-old, the prospect of a long degrading campaign within academia was one he regarded with dread. For a supposedly advanced civilization, the Intersolar Commonwearth could be appallingly backward at times, not to mention cruel.
Maybe it won’t be that bad, he told himself. The lie was comforting enough to get him through the rest of the night’s shift.
The Carlton AllLander drove Dudley home just after dawn. Like the astronomer, the vehicle was old and worn, but perfectly capable of doing its job. It had a cheap diesel engine, common enough on a semi-frontier world like Gralmond, although its drive array was a thoroughly modern photoneural processor. With its high suspension and deep-tread tyres it could plough along the dirt track to the observatory in all weather and seasons, including the metre-deep snow of Gralmond’s winters.
Pre-formatted text
The pre
element represents a block of pre-formatted text, in which structure is represented by typographic conventions rather than by elements. Such examples are an e-mail (with paragraphs indicated by blank lines, lists indicated by lines prefixed with a bullet), fragments of computer code (with structure indicated according to the conventions of that language) or displaying ASCII art. Here’s an example showing the printable characters of ASCII:
! " # $ % & ' ( ) * + , - . / 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 : ; < = > ? @ A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z [ \ ] ^ _ ` a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z { | } ~
Blockquotes
The blockquote
element represents a section that is being quoted from another source.
Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.
Ordered list
The ol
element denotes an ordered list, and various numbering schemes are available through the CSS (including 1,2,3… a,b,c… i,ii,iii… and so on). Each item requires a surrounding <li>
and </li>
tag, to denote individual items within the list (as you may have guessed, li
stands for list item).
- This is an ordered list.
-
This is the second item, which contains a sub list
- This is the sub list, which is also ordered.
- It has two items.
- This is the final item on this list.
Unordered list
The ul
element denotes an unordered list (ie. a list of loose items that don’t require numbering, or a bulleted list). Again, each item requires a surrounding <li>
and </li>
tag, to denote individual items. Here is an example list showing the constituent parts of the British Isles:
-
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland:
- England
- Scotland
- Wales
- Northern Ireland
- Republic of Ireland
- Isle of Man
-
Channel Islands:
- Bailiwick of Guernsey
- Bailiwick of Jersey
Sometimes we may want each list item to contain block elements, typically a paragraph or two.
-
The British Isles is an archipelago consisting of the two large islands of Great Britain and Ireland, and many smaller surrounding islands.
-
Great Britain is the largest island of the archipelago. Ireland is the second largest island of the archipelago and lies directly to the west of Great Britain.
-
The full list of islands in the British Isles includes over 1,000 islands, of which 51 have an area larger than 20 km2.
Definition list
The dl
element is for another type of list called a definition list. Instead of list items, the content of a dl
consists of dt
(Definition Term) and dd
(Definition description) pairs. Though it may be called a “definition list”, dl
can apply to other scenarios where a parent/child relationship is applicable. For example, it may be used for marking up dialogues, with each dt
naming a speaker, and each dd
containing his or her words.
- This is a term.
- This is the definition of that term, which both live in a
dl
. - Here is another term.
- And it gets a definition too, which is this line.
- Here is term that shares a definition with the term below.
- Here is a defined term.
dt
terms may stand on their own without an accompanyingdd
, but in that case they share descriptions with the next availabledt
. You may not have add
without a parentdt
.
Figures
Figures are usually used to refer to images:
Here, a part of a poem is marked up using figure:
When you wish to cite the source of a quote, you should do so using a figure also:
Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.
Text-level Semantics
There are a number of inline HTML elements you may use anywhere within other elements.
Links and anchors
The a
element is used to hyperlink text, be that to another page, a named fragment on the current page or any other location on the web. Example:
Stressed emphasis
The em
element is used to denote text with stressed emphasis, i.e., something you’d pronounce differently. Where italicizing is required for stylistic differentiation, the i
element may be preferable. Example:
You simply must try the negitoro maki!
Strong importance
The strong
element is used to denote text with strong importance. Where bolding is used for stylistic differentiation, the b
element may be preferable. Example:
Don’t stick nails in the electrical outlet.
Small print
The small element is used to represent disclaimers, caveats, legal restrictions, or copyrights (commonly referred to as ‘small print’). It can also be used for attributions or satisfying licensing requirements. Example:
Copyright © 1922-2011 Acme Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
Strikethrough
The s
element is used to represent content that is no longer accurate or relevant. When indicating document edits i.e., marking a span of text as having been removed from a document, use the del
element instead. Example:
Recommended retail price: £3.99 per bottle
Now selling for just £2.99 a bottle!
Citations
The cite
element is used to represent the title of a work (e.g. a book, essay, poem, song, film, TV show, sculpture, painting, musical, exhibition, etc). This can be a work that is being quoted or referenced in detail (i.e. a citation), or it can just be a work that is mentioned in passing. Example:
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, United Nations, December 1948. Adopted by General Assembly resolution 217 A (III).
Inline quotes
The q
element is used for quoting text inline. Example showing nested quotations:
John said, I saw Lucy at lunch, she told me
Mary wants you to get some ice cream on your way home
. I think I will get some at Ben and Jerry’s, on Gloucester Road.
Definition
The dfn
element is used to highlight the first use of a term. The title
attribute can be used to describe the term. Example:
Bob’s canine mother and equine father sat him down and carefully explained that he was an allopolyploid organism.
Abbreviation
The abbr
element is used for any abbreviated text, whether it be acronym, initialism, or otherwise. Generally, it’s less work and useful (enough) to mark up only the first occurrence of any particular abbreviation on a page, and ignore the rest. Any text in the title
attribute will appear when the user’s mouse hovers the abbreviation (although notably, this does not work in Internet Explorer for Windows). Example abbreviations:
BBC, HTML, and Staffs.
Time
The time
element is used to represent either a time on a 24 hour clock, or a precise date in the proleptic Gregorian calendar, optionally with a time and a time-zone offset. Example:
Queen Elizabeth II was proclaimed sovereign of each of the Commonwealth realms on and , after the death of her father, King George VI.
Code
The code
element is used to represent fragments of computer code. Useful for technology-oriented sites, not so useful otherwise. Example:
When you call the activate()
method on the robotSnowman
object, the eyes glow.
Used in conjunction with the pre
element:
function getJelly() {
echo $aDeliciousSnack;
}
Variable
The var
element is used to denote a variable in a mathematical expression or programming context, but can also be used to indicate a placeholder where the contents should be replaced with your own value. Example:
If there are n pipes leading to the ice cream factory then I expect at least n flavours of ice cream to be available for purchase!
Sample output
The samp
element is used to represent (sample) output from a program or computing system. Useful for technology-oriented sites, not so useful otherwise. Example:
The computer said Too much cheese in tray two but I didn’t know what that meant.
Keyboard entry
The kbd
element is used to denote user input (typically via a keyboard, although it may also be used to represent other input methods, such as voice commands). Example:
To take a screenshot on your Mac, press ⌘ Cmd + ⇧ Shift + 3.
Superscript and subscript text
The sup
element represents a superscript and the sub element represents a sub
. These elements must be used only to mark up typographical conventions with specific meanings, not for typographical presentation. As a guide, only use these elements if their absence would change the meaning of the content. Example:
The coordinate of the ith point is (xi, yi). For example, the 10th point has coordinate (x10, y10).
f(x, n) = log4xn
Italicised
The i
element is used for text in an alternate voice or mood, or otherwise offset from the normal prose. Examples include taxonomic designations, technical terms, idiomatic phrases from another language, the name of a ship or other spans of text whose typographic presentation is typically italicised. Example:
There is a certain je ne sais quoi in the air.
Emboldened
The b
element is used for text stylistically offset from normal prose without conveying extra importance, such as key words in a document abstract, product names in a review, or other spans of text whose typographic presentation is typically emboldened. Example:
You enter a small room. Your sword glows brighter. A rat scurries past the corner wall.
Marked or highlighted text
The mark
element is used to represent a run of text marked or highlighted for reference purposes. When used in a quotation it indicates a highlight not originally present but added to bring the reader’s attention to that part of the text. When used in the main prose of a document, it indicates a part of the document that has been highlighted due to its relevance to the user’s current activity. Example:
I also have some kittens who are visiting me these days. They’re really cute. I think they like my garden! Maybe I should adopt a kitten.
Edits
The del
element is used to represent deleted or retracted text which still must remain on the page for some reason. Meanwhile its counterpart, the ins
element, is used to represent inserted text. Both del
and ins
have a datetime
attribute which allows you to include a timestamp directly in the element. Example inserted text and usage:
She bought two five pairs of shoes.
Tabular data
Tables should be used when displaying tabular data. The thead
, tfoot
and tbody
elements enable you to group rows within each a table.
If you use these elements, you must use every element. They should appear in this order: thead
, tfoot
and tbody
, so that browsers can render the foot before receiving all the data. You must use these tags within the table element.
Ingredients | Serves 12 | Serves 24 |
---|---|---|
Ingredients | Serves 12 | Serves 24 |
Milk | 1 quart | 2 quart |
Cinnamon Sticks | 2 | 1 |
Vanilla Bean, Split | 1 | 2 |
Cloves | 5 | 10 |
Mace | 10 blades | 20 blades |
Egg Yolks | 12 | 24 |
Cups Sugar | 1 ½ cups | 3 cups |
Dark Rum | 1 ½ cups | 3 cups |
Brandy | 1 ½ cups | 3 cups |
Vanilla | 1 tbsp | 2 tbsp |
Half-and-half or Light Cream | 1 quart | 2 quart |
Freshly grated nutmeg to taste |