* HTML 3.2 Quick Reference *

HTML 3.2 Reference
based on the HTML 3.2 DTD.

	`A, ADDRESS, APPLET, AREA, B, BASE, BIG, BLOCKQUOTE, BODY, BR, CAPTION, CENTER, CITE, CODE, COMMENTS, DD, DFN, DIR, DIV, DL, DOCTYPE, DT, EM, FONT, FORM, HEAD, Hn, 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`
Head Elements	`BASE, HEAD, ISINDEX, LINK, META, SCRIPT, STYLE, TITLE`
Text Formatting	`ADDRESS, B, BIG, BLOCKQUOTE, CENTER, CITE, CODE, DFN, DIV, EM, FONT, Hn, I, KBD, PRE, SAMP, SMALL, STRIKE, STRONG, SUB, SUP, TT, U, VAR`
Dividers	`BR (Line Break), HR (Horizontal Rule), P (Paragraph)`
Forms	`FORM, INPUT, OPTION, SELECT, TEXTAREA`
Graphics and Links	`A, AREA, IMG, MAP`
List Elements	`DD, DIR, DL, DT, LI, MENU, OL, UL`
Miscellaneous	`APPLET, BODY, COMMENTS, DOCTYPE, HTML, PARAM`
Tables	`CAPTION, TABLE, TD, TH, TR`

<A [attributes]> contents </A>

( this links to another page or an anchor in another page or the current document, using the complete URL for remote documents )

NAME="anchor-name": ( creates a destination, which can be linked to from another document, or somewhere else in the same document )

HREF="url" or "url#anchor-name" or "#anchor-name": ( link to another document, or an anchor-name destination in another document, or an anchor-name in the same document )

REL="relationship" or REV="relationship": ( the relationship of the link's destination to the current document; or vice versa when the REV attribute is being used )

TITLE="title": ( title of the document you're linking to; not implemented by most browsers; currently used for informational purposes only )

<ADDRESS> contents </ADDRESS>: ( defines an address or other contact information; typically in italics, and sometimes right-justified or indented )

<APPLET [attributes]> parameters, etc. </APPLET>

( defines an embedded Java applet; likely to be replaced by a more generic embedding element )

CODEBASE="url": ( tells the browser/viewer which directory the applet subclass bytecodes are in; basically, it's the base URL of the applet )

CODE="url" HEIGHT="pixels" WIDTH="pixels": ( these are required attributes; they specify the class file, along with height and width of the applet display area )

NAME="applet name": ( specifies the name of the applet, which allows communication between multiple applets that reside in the same document )

ALT="text": ( specifies parsed character data to be displayed if the browser understands the APPLET tag but can't/won't run them )

ALIGN="top|middle|bottom|left|right": ( specifies the display alignment; all alignments may not be available in all browsers )

HSPACE="pixels" VSPACE="pixels": ( specifies the reserved space around the applet, in pixels; you can use one or the other, or both together )

<AREA [attributes]>

( specifies a clickable region of an image using coordinates and a general shape of the region; used within the MAP element )

SHAPE="rect|circle|poly|default": ( indicates the general shape of the region specified by the coordinates )

COORDS="x,y,...": ( the clickable region, in pixels, using comma-separated x,y coordinates; the upper-left corner is "0,0"; not needed for default shapes )

HREF="url" or NOHREF: ( destination of the clickable region; if overlapping regions, first listed is regarded; use NOHREF for no-action regions )

ALT="text": ( provides alternative text for individual areas; allows non-graphical browsers to reasonably handle image maps; this is required )

<B> text </B>: ( bold text; this is physical formatting, meaning the author specifies the appearance; use STRONG instead when possible )

<BASE HREF="url">: ( provides the absolute URL to be used for any relative URLs in the document; must be placed in the HEAD section )

<BIG> text </BIG>: ( defines bigger text; this is physical formatting, meaning the author specifies the appearance; use FONT instead to choose sizes )

<BLOCKQUOTE> contents </BLOCKQUOTE>: ( defines a block of quoted text; many browsers will indent the block and/or render it in italics )

<BODY [attributes]> document-body </BODY>

( introduces the body of the document; comes after the HEAD section and occupies the remainder of the document )

BACKGROUND="url": ( specify an image to be used as the background; all images are automatically tiled )

BGCOLOR="..." TEXT="..." LINK="..." VLINK="..." ALINK="...": ( specify colors for background, text, links, visited links, and active links using #rrggbb or color name specifications )

: Color Names: aqua, black, blue, fuchsia, gray, green, lime, maroon, navy, olive, purple, red, ilver, teal, white, yellow.

<BR>

( produces a simple line break; can use multiple line breaks, but some browsers collapse it to one line break )

CLEAR="left|all|right|none": ( controls the flow of text around an image or table )

<CAPTION ALIGN="top|bottom"> text </CAPTION>: ( defines the caption of a table; only valid within the TABLE tag; the caption may be aligned either above or below the table )

<CENTER> contents </CENTER>: ( centers the contents between the left and right margins; used primarily to center inline images, tables, and forms )

<CITE> text </CITE>: ( defines text that cites a book or other work; most browsers display it in italics )

<CODE> text </CODE>: ( text that should be shown in a fixed-width font; for many lines of fixed-width font, use the PRE tag instead )

: ( allows you to add comments to the source code to leave special notes or whatever )

<DD> definition: ( comes directly after, and is indented under, a DT element; it defines the term; there is no closing tag )

<DFN> text </DFN>: ( used for text that defines a term and is not part of a definition list; some browsers may display the text in italics )

<DIR COMPACT> list entries </DIR>: ( a menu list made up of LI tags; these may be arranged in columns and provided in a "compact" manner )

<DIV ALIGN="left|center|right"> contents </DIV>: ( defines the alignment of text; the CENTER element is likely to be replaced in the near future with this center element )

<DL COMPACT> list entries </DL>: ( a definition list or glossary, made up of DT and DD elements; the list can be arranged in a more "compact" manner )

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "quoted string">: ( basically, helps validators validate your document, and benefits some speech-readers; should be the first line in your document )

     example: <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN"> - this is for HTML 3.2

<DT> term: ( this is used in the DL element and gives the term to be defined; there is no closing tag )

<EM> text </EM>: ( emphasized text; this is logical formatting, meaning the browser specifies the appearance based on the text's logical meaning )

<FONT [attributes]> text </FONT>

( provides a local size or color change to the text )

SIZE="[+|-]1|2|3|4|5|6|7": ( the size can be changed within a range of seven sizes; use the + or - sign to change size relative to the regular size )

COLOR="#rrggbb" or "color name": ( change the color of the text using either the color's hex value or color name )

<FORM [attributes]> form tags </FORM>

( creates a fill-out form; the information is processed by a cgi-bin script; contains INPUT, SELECT, OPTION , and TEXTAREA )

ACTION="url": ( specifies the url to which the form results will be sent; this should be a cgi-bin script or program )

METHOD=GET|POST: ( specifies the HTTP method to be used to submit the form information to the server; POST is the recommended method )

ENCTYPE="media type": ( specifies encoding for the form's contents; certain media types may require certain methods such as POST )

<HEAD> head section </HEAD>: ( provides general information, or meta-information, about the document; the contents are not displayed as part of the document text )

     Head Contents: BASE, ISINDEX, LINK, META, SCRIPT, STYLE, and TITLE.

<Hn ALIGN="left|center|right"> heading </Hn>: ( n ranges from 1 to 6, from the top-level to bottom-level heading; alignment can be specified but is not required )

<HR [attributes]>

( creates a horizontal rule; there is no closing tag )

ALIGN="left|center|right": ( specifies the alignment of the horizontal rule on the screen; the default is centered )

NOSHADE: ( draws the line as a solid black bar; the default is a shaded bar )

SIZE="pixels": ( specifies the vertical width, the thickness, of the horizontal rule based on pixels )

WIDTH="...": ( the horizontal width, in pixels or as a percentage of the display width, of the horizontal rule )

<HTML> document </HTML>: ( marks the opening and closing of an HTML document )

<I> text </I>: ( defines italic text; this is physical formatting, meaning the author specifies the appearance; use EM instead when possible )

<IMG SRC="url" [attributes]>

( inserts an image file into the current document )

ALT="text": ( provides alternative text to be displayed for text-only browsers and those with image-loading disabled )

ALIGN="top|middle|bottom|left|right": ( this specifies the position of the image and the flow of text around it )

WIDTH="pixels" HEIGHT="pixels": ( suggested width and height in pixels of the image; the addition of these attributes can help speed download )

BORDER="pixels": ( puts a border around the image; use a zero value to make the border disappear on clickable images )

HSPACE="pixels" VSPACE="pixels": ( specifies the area, in pixels, to leave on each side of the image; helps keep text or other images from butting-up against the image )

USEMAP="url": ( indicates SRC is a client-side image map; the URL points to the MAP element related to the image map )

<A HREF="url"><IMG SRC="url" ISMAP></A>: ( server-side image map; indicates the path to the .map file and the image map; much more complex than a client-side image map )

( specifies the type of input used in a FORM element )

NAME="name": ( required for all input types except submit and reset; this is the symbolic name of the input, not the display name )

VALUE="value": ( specify default contents of text and password, labels of submit and reset, and values of checked checkboxes and radio buttons )

CHECKED: ( specifies that this checkbox or radio button is checked by default; only useful with these input types )

SIZE="size": ( physical size of text and password input fields in characters; if this is not present, the default is 20 characters )

MAXLENGTH="length": ( the maximum number of characters allows in text and password fields; default is unlimited )

SRC="url": ( specifies an image in the image input type which, when clicked, performs the form submission and sends the x,y coordinates )

ALIGN="top|middle|bottom|left|right": ( this is used to specify the alignment of the image on the screen; used with the image input type )

<ISINDEX PROMPT="message">: ( turns the document into a keyword-searchable index; placed in the HEAD section; a prompt message can be specified )

<KBD> text </KBD>: ( this specifies text that should be shown in a fixed-width font; for many lines of this, use PRE instead )

<LI [attributes]> text

( defines one entry in the following types of lists: OL , UL, MENU , DIR; there is no closing tag, although it's optional )

TYPE="disc|square|circle" with UL, and TYPE="1|a|A|i|I" with OL: ( specifies the type of numbering or bullet used for individual ordered and unordered list entries )

VALUE="number": ( specifies the starting value of a numbered list )

<LINK [attributes]>

( indicates a relationship between the document and other documents or objects; placed in the HEAD section; there's no closing tag )

HREF="url": ( gives the path of the relationship or reverse relationship )

REL="relationship" or REV="reverse relationship": ( specifies that this document is either related or reverse-related to the indicated URL )

TITLE="title": ( may allow the browser to display the title of the document before retrieving it; not extensively used, however )

<MAP NAME="name"> area tags </MAP>: ( defines a client-side image map; it names a collection of AREA tags which specify clickable regions )

<MENU COMPACT> list entries </MENU>: ( a menu list made up of LI tags; the list can be compacted; may soon become obsolete since UL PLAIN serves same function )

<META [attributes]>

( used within the HEAD section to embed document meta-information not defined by other HTML elements )

HTTP-EQUIV="HTTP header field name": ( binds the element to an HTTP response header )

NAME="field name": ( this refers to an arbitrary user-selected name; if not specified, the HTTP-EQUIV attribute is used as the name )

Examples: <META HTTP-EQUIV="expires" CONTENT="23-May-1996 09:00:00 GMT">
          <META NAME="author" CONTENT="Chance Warner">
          <META NAME="description" CONTENT="Features HTML tags from...">

<OL [attributes]> list entries </OL>

( introduces an ordered ( numbered ) list made up of LI tags )

TYPE="1|a|A|i|I": ( changes the numbering style, to the specified type, for the entire list )

START="value": ( this is the starting sequence number; basically, the first item on the list will be this number )

COMPACT: ( reduces interitem spacing )

<OPTION> text

( this specifies a choice in a SELECT element, which in turn is part of a FORM )

SELECTED: ( specifies that this option is selected by default )

VALUE="value": ( specifies the value to be returned if this option is selected; if the value is not specified the content of the option is used instead )

<P ALIGN="left|center|right"> contents </P>: ( starts a new paragraph; the closing tag is optional, but should be used if an alignment is specified )

<PARAM NAME="name" VALUE="value">: ( allows the user to customize the applet's operation; placed within the APPLET element )

<PRE WIDTH="number"> contents </PRE>: ( text shown in a fixed-width font; formatting in source shows in document; width specifies max. number of characters per line )

<SAMP> text </SAMP>: ( defines text that should be shown as literal characters ( characters displayed as they were typed ) in a fixed-width font )

<SCRIPT> javascipt </SCRIPT>: ( this is an executable javascript; place in the HEAD section; contain it in a comments field to hide it from non-javascript browsers )

<SELECT NAME="name"> option entries </SELECT>

( contains a list of OPTION elements; the name is a symbolic name returned to the server; this is part of a FORM )

SIZE="number": ( specifies the number of options physically visible )

MULTIPLE: ( this allows the user to select more than one option and causes no option to be the default )

<SMALL> text </SMALL>: ( defines smaller text; this is physical formatting, meaning the author specifies the appearance of the text )

<STRIKE> text </STRIKE>: ( defines text that should be shown with a horizontal line through it )

<STRONG> text </STRONG>: ( strongly emphasized text; this is logical formatting, meaning the browser specifies appearance based on the text's logical meaning )

<STYLE> stylesheet info </STYLE>: ( placed in the HEAD section; this gives authors much more control over display )

<SUB> text </SUB>: ( defines text that should be displayed in a smaller font than usual, lower on the line than usual )

<SUB> text </SUB>: ( defines text that should be displayed in a smaller font, higher on the line than usual )

<TABLE [attributes]> table content </TABLE>

( contains the entire table; only directly contains the CAPTION and TR tags; whereas TR has its own allowable elements )

ALIGN="left|center|right": ( specifies the alignment of the entire table on the page relative to the window )

WIDTH="pixels or percentage": ( specifies the entire width of the table; the default unit is pixels; width defaults to 100% relative to current left and right margins )

BORDER="pixels": ( draws the table with a border; the thickness is specified in pixels )

CELLSPACING="pixels" and CELLPADDING="pixels": ( the former specifies the spacing between cells, and the latter specifies spacing within cells )

<TD [attributes]> cell content

( defines a data cell; the number of TD or TH elements defines the number of columns in the table; it's used within a TR element only )

NOWRAP: ( causes the cell contents to not wrap when reaching the end of the cell, but continues on past the border )

ROWSPAN="number" and COLSPAN="number": ( specifies the number of rows or columns spanned by the cell )

HALIGN and VALIGN="top|middle|bottom|baseline": ( specifies the horizontal and vertical alignment of the data within the individual cell )

<TEXTAREA NAME="name"> content </TEXTAREA>

( specifies a multi-line text area; you must specify a name to identify the field; the content is used as an initial value )

ROWS="number" COLS="number": ( specifies the number of lines in the field and the number of characters wide the text area is )

<TH [attributes]> header: ( defines a header cell; the number of TD or TH elements defines the number of columns in the table; used within TR elements only )

     (Same attributes as TD)

<TITLE> document title </TITLE>: ( defines the title of the document; must be placed in the HEAD section; should be less than 64 characters in length )

<TR [attributes]> table cells

( defines a row of cells that are defined with TH and TD tags; closing tag may be omitted, but is recommended )

HALIGN and VALIGN="top|middle|bottom|baseline": ( horizontal and vertical alignment of all cells in the row; if alignment is specified for an individual cell, it'll override this setting )

<TT> text </TT>: ( teletype; defines text that should be shown in a fixed-width font )

<U> text </U>: ( defines text that should be shown with a line underneath it; can easily be confused with clickable text )

<UL [attributes]> list entries </UL>

( introduces an unordered list which is made up of LI tags; use OL tag for numbered lists instead )

TYPE="disc|square|circle": ( changes the bullet style for the entire list; specifying a style for an individual list item will override this setting )

COMPACT: ( reduces interitem spacing )

<VAR> text </VAR>: ( defines text that represents a variable, which is usually displayed in italics )