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HTML Elements

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Conventionally in HTML, everything between the start of a start tag and the end of its corresponding end tag is called an element. The element content is the material between the start and end tag. In HTML, some tags are automatically empty, such as <br> and hence don’t have any element content or end tag. For example:

 

HTML Element

Start tag

Element content

End tag

<h1>My heading</h1>

<h1>

My heading

</h1>

<p>My paragraph</p>

<p>

My paragraph

</p

<br>

<br>

 

 

 

The following is a list of HTML elements / tags. HTML 5 is the latest available version of HTML as at the time of writing. Some elements allowable in previous HTML versions have been discontinued in it and it is advisable not to use these elements anymore. Conventions used to open and close elements in XHTML are not quite the same as those used in HTML.

 

Tag

Description

More

Further comments

<!-- … -->

A (potentially multiline) comment

Here

 

<!DOCTYPE>

Document type

Here

 

<a>

Hyperlink

Here

 

<abbr>

Abbreviation or acronym

Here

 

<acronym>

Acronym

Here

Not supported in HTML 5

<address>

Contact information for the author or owner of a document

Here

 

<applet>

Embedded applet

Here

Not supported in HTML 5 (instead use <embed> or <object>)

<area>

An area inside an image map

Here

 

<article>

Article

Here

New in HTML 5

<aside>

Content aside from the page content

Here

New in HTML 5

<audio>

Sound content

Here

New in HTML 5

<b>

Bold text

Here

 

<base>

The base URL/target for all relative URLs in a document

Here

 

<basefont>

Default font, colour and size of all text in a document

Here

Not supported in HTML 5 (instead use CSS)

<bdi>

Isolates a part of text that might be formatted in a different direction to other text outside that part

Here

New in HTML 5

<bdo>

Overrides the current text direction

Here

 

<big>

Big text

Here

Not supported in HTML 5 (instead use CSS)

<blockquote>

Section that is quoted from another source

Here

 

<body>

The body of the document

Here

 

<br>

A single line break (c.f. a carriage return)

Here

 

<button>

A clickable button

Here

 

<canvas>

Used to draw graphics via scripting (usually via JavaScript)

Here

New in HTML 5

<caption>

Table caption

Here

 

<center>

Centred text

Here

Not supported in HTML 5 (instead use CSS)

<cite>

Title of a work

Here

 

<code>

A piece of computer code

Here

 

<col>

Indicates column properties assigned to each column within a <colgroup> element

Here

 

<colgroup>

Specifies a group of one or more columns in a table

Here

 

<data>

Links content with a machine-readable translation

Here

New in HTML 5

<datalist>

A list of pre-defined options for an <input> control

Here

New in HTML 5

<dd>

Description or value of an entry in a description list

Here

 

<del>

Indicates text deleted from a document

Here

 

<details>

Additional details that a user can view or hide

Here

New in HTML 5

<dfn>

Defining instance of a term

Here

 

<dialog>

Dialog box or window

Here

 

<dir>

Directory list

Here

Not supported in HTML 5 (instead use <ul>)

<div>

Section in a document

Here

Usually assigned its own style

<dl>

Description list

Here

 

<dt>

Term or name in a description list

Here

 

<em>

Emphasised text

Here

Often used to italicise text, but ideally this should be done using CSS

<embed>

A container for an external (non-HTML) application

Here

New in HTML 5

<fieldset>

Groups related elements in a form

Here

 

<figcaption>

A caption for a <figure> element

Here

New in HTML 5

<figure>

Self-contained content

Here

New in HTML 5

<font>

Font, colour and size of text

Here

Not supported in HTML 5 (instead use CSS)

<footer>

Footer for a document or section

Here

New in HTML 5

<form>

An HTML form for user input

Here

 

<frame>

A window (frame) within a frameset

Here

Not supported in HTML 5

<frameset>

A set of <frame> elements

Here

Not supported in HTML 5

<h1>, <h2>, <h3>, <h4>, <h5>, <h6>

HTML headings

Here

Provides a hierarchy of headings

<head>

Provides information about the document

Here

 

<header>

Header for a document or section

Here

New in HTML 5

<hr>

Indicates a thematic change in the content

Here

Often rendered as a line across the window

<html>

Is the root node of an HTML document

Here

Only <!DOCTYPE> elements should appear outside the <html> element

<i>

A part of text in an alternate voice or mood

Here

 

<iframe>

An inline frame

Here

 

<img>

An image

Here

 

<input>

A (single-line) input control

Here

 

<ins>

Indicates text added to a document

Here

 

<kbd>

Keyboard input

Here

 

<keygen>

A key-pair generator field (for forms)

Here

New in HTML 5

<label>

A label for an <input> element

Here

 

<legend>

Caption for a <fieldset> element

Here

 

<li>

A list item

Here

 

<link>

Defines the relationship between a document and an external resource

Here

Most commonly used to link to style sheets

<main>

Main content of a document

Here

New in HTML 5

<map>

A client-side image-map

Here

 

<mark>

Marked/highlighted text

Here

New in HTML 5

<menu>

Menu or list of commands

Here

 

<menuitem>

A menu item/command that a user can invoke from a popup menu

Here

New in HTML 5

<meta>

Metadata about an HTML document

Here

 

<meter>

A scalar measurement within a specific range (a gauge)

Here

New in HTML 5

<nav>

Navigation links

Here

New in HTML 5

<noframes>

Alternate content for users whose browsers do not support frames

Here

Not supported in HTML 5

<noscript>

Alternate content for users whose browsers do not support client-side scripts

Here

 

<object>

Embedded object

Here

 

<ol>

Ordered list

Here

 

<optgroup>

Group of related options in a drop-down list

Here

 

<option>

An option in a drop-down list

Here

 

<output>

The result of a calculation

Here

New in HTML 5

<p>

Paragraph

Here

 

<param>

Parameter for an object

Here

 

<picture>

A container for multiple image resources

Here

New in HTML 5

<pre>

Preformatted text

Here

 

<progress>

Represents the progress of a task

Here

New in HTML 5

<q>

Short quotation

Here

 

<rp>

Indicates what to show in browsers that do not support ruby annotations

Here

New in HTML 5

<rt>

Explanation / pronunciation of characters

Here

New in HTML 5. For East Asian typography

<ruby>

Ruby annotation

Here

New in HTML 5. For East Asian typography

<s>

Text that is no longer correct

Here

 

<samp>

Sample output from a computer program

Here

 

<script>

Client-side script

Here

Usually written in JavaScript

<section>

Section in a document

Here

New in HTML 5

<select>

A drop-down list

Here

 

<small>

Smaller text

Here

 

<source>

Allows multiple media resources for media elements

Here

New in HTML 5. Links together associated <video> and <audio>

<span>

Section in a document

Here

Usually defined with its own style

<strike>

Strikethrough text

Here

Not supported in HTML 5 (instead use <del> or <s>)

<strong>

Defines more important text

Here

Commonly used as a way of highlighting text or making it bold

<style>

Style information for a document

Here

 

<sub>

Subscripted text

Here

 

<summary>

Heading for a <details> element

Here

New in HTML 5

<sup>

Superscripted text

Here

 

<table>

Table

Here

 

<tbody>

Body of a table

Here

 

<td>

Table cell (within a table row)

Here

 

<textarea>

Multiline input control

Here

 

<tfoot>

Footer content of a table

Here

 

<th>

Table header cell

Here

 

<thead>

Header content of a table

Here

 

<time>

Date / time

Here

New in HTML 5

<title>

Title for document

Here

Appears in <head>

<tr>

Table row (within a table)

Here

 

<track>

Text track for a media element

Here

New in HTML 5 for  <video> and <audio>

<tt>

Teletype text

Here

Not supported in HTML 5 (instead use CSS)

<u>

Text that should be stylistically different from normal text

Here

Commonly used for underlining

<ul>

Unordered list

Here

 

<var>

Variable

Here

 

<video>

Video or movie

Here

New in HTML 5

<wbr>

Possible line-break

Here

New in HTML 5

 

In practice, we can group HTML elements into a smaller number of categories:

 

(a)    Basic elements (and tags that don’t contain anything)

(b)   Audio / video

(c)    Formatting

(d)   Forms and inputs

(e)    Frames

(f)     Images

(g)    Links

(h)   Lists

(i)     Metadata

(j)     Programming (i.e. scripting)

(k)    Tables

(l)     Styles (and other miscellaneous elements)

 

Some of the formatting elements are called phrase elements, as they are typically used primarily to delineate specific types of text.

 

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