HTML 4.0 Tags

 

Alan and Lucy Richmond

 

The current HTML recommendation, HTML 4.0, is actually three recommendations; the main one and two sub-sets (Transitional and Frameset). There are a total of 91 possible tags, each with anywhere from 2 to 25 possible attributes. This article lists all the tags, their possible attributes (and which are required), and which recommendation they are part of, in a single, printable page. A handy resource to bookmark for quick information!
Name
Deprecated tags and attributes are shown in lower case. You are encouraged to avoid those tags and use alternatives. Most deprecations are related to presentation issues and can be handled using style sheets. The names are linked to further information.

 

Attributes
All possible attributes are shown. Groups of attributes common to almost all tags ( Core, International, and Event) are listed in Initial Caps. Required attributes are shown in big font. Attributes found only in the loose or Transitional DTD are shown in italics and those found only in the frameset DTD are shown in underline.

Follow the Tag Name links to get more complete information. This page serves as a quick reference. Literal alternates are shown thus: LTR | RTL (LTR means 'left-to-right' while RTL is the other direction). Attributes should normally be enclosed in double quotes, especially if they contain whitespace.

 

End Tag
Legend: Optional, Forbidden. In all other cases, the end tag is required.

 

Name Attributes End Tag Description
A ACCESSKEY = Character
CHARSET = Charset
COORDS = Coords
HREF = URL
HREFLANG = Language Code
NAME = CDATA
ONBLUR = Script
ONFOCUS = Script
REL = Link Type
REV = Link Type
SHAPE = Shape
TABINDEX = Number
TARGET = Frame Target
TYPE = Content Type
Core
International
Event
 
  anchor
ABBR Core
International
Event
 
  abbreviation (e.g. WDVL)
ACRONYM Core
International
Event
 
   
ADDRESS Core
International
Event
 
  information on author
applet height = length
width = length
align = Ialign
alt = text
archive = cdata
code = cdata
hspace = pixels
name = cdata
vspace = pixels
Core
 
  Java applet
AREA ALT = Text
ACCESSKEY = Character
COORDS = Coords
HREF = URL
NOHREF
ONBLUR = Script
ONFOCUS = Script
SHAPE = Shape
TABINDEX = Number
TARGET = Frame Target
Core
International
Event
 
F client-side image map area
B Core
International
Event
 
  bold text style
BASE HREF = URL
TARGET = Frame Target
 
F document base URI
basefont size = cdata
color = color
face = cdata
ID = id
 
F base font size
BDO DIR = LTR | RTL
ID = Id
STYLE = Style Sheet
TITLE = Text
International
 
  I18N BiDi over-ride
BIG Core
International
Event
 
  large text style
BLOCKQUOTE CITE = URL
Core
International
Event
 
  long quotation
BODY alink = color
background = URL
bgcolor = color
link = color
ONLOAD = Script
ONUNLOAD = Script
text = color
vlink = color
Core
International
Event
 
  document body
BR clear = left | all | right | none
Core
 
F forced line break
BUTTON ACCESSKEY = Character
DISABLED
NAME = CDATA
ONBLUR = Script
ONFOCUS = Script
TABINDEX = Number
TYPE = BUTTON | SUBMIT | RESET
VALUE = CDATA
Core
International
Event
 
  push button
CAPTION align = calign
Core
International
Event
 
  table caption
center Core
International
Event
 
  shorthand for DIV
align = center
CITE Core
International
Event
 
  citation
CODE Core
International
Event
 
  computer code fragment
COL ALIGN = LEFT | CENTER | RIGHT | JUSTIFY | CHAR
CHAR = Character
CHAROFF = Length
SPAN = Number
VALIGN = TOP | MIDDLE | BOTTOM | BASELINE
WIDTH = Multi Length
Core
International
Event
 
F table column
COLGROUP ALIGN = LEFT | CENTER | RIGHT | JUSTIFY | CHAR
CHAR = Character
CHAROFF = Length
SPAN = Number
VALIGN = TOP | MIDDLE | BOTTOM | BASELINE
WIDTH = Multi Length
Core
International
Event
 
O table column group
DD Core
International
Event
 
O definition description
DEL CITE = URL
DATETIME = Date Time
Core
International
Event
 
  deleted text
DFN Core
International
Event
 
  instance definition
dir compact
Core
International
Event
 
  directory list
DIV align = left | center | right | justify
Core
International
Event
 
  generic language/style container
DL compact
Core
International
Event
 
  definition list
DT Core
International
Event
 
O definition term
EM Core
International
Event
 
  emphasis
FIELDSET Core
International
Event
 
  form control group
font color = color
face = cdata
size = cdata
Core
International
 
  local change to font
FORM ACTION = URL
ACCEPT-CHARSET = Charset
ENCTYPE = Content Type
METHOD = GET | POST
ONRESET = Script
ONSUBMIT = Script
TARGET = Frame Target
Core
International
Event
 
  interactive form
FRAME FRAMEBORDER = 1 | 0
LONGDESC = URL
MARGINHEIGHT = Pixels
MARGINWIDTH = Pixels
NORESIZE
SCROLLING = YES | NO | AUTO
SRC = URL
Core
 
F subwindow
FRAMESET COLS = MultiLengths
ONLOAD = Script
ONUNLOAD = Script
ROWS = MultiLengths
Core
 
  window subdivision
H1,H2,H3
H4,H5,H6
align = left | center | right | justify
Core
International
Event
 
  heading
HEAD PROFILE = URL
International
 
O document head, contains BASE, LINK, META, SCRIPT, STYLE, TITLE.
HR align = left | right | center
noshade
size = pixels
width = length
Core
Event
 
F horizontal rule
HTML version = cdata
International
 
O document root element
I Core
International
Event
 
  italic text style
IFRAME align = Ialign
FRAMEBORDER = 1 | 0
HEIGHT = Length
LONGDESC = URL
MARGINHEIGHT = Pixels
MARGINWIDTH = Pixels
NAME = CDATA
SCROLLING = YES | NO | AUTO
SRC = URL
WIDTH = Length
Core
 
  inline subwindow
IMG ALT = Text
SRC = URL
align = Iallign
border = Length
HEIGHT = Length
hspace = pixels
ISMAP
LONGDESC = URL
USEMAP = URL
vspace = pixels
WIDTH = Length
Core
International
Event
 
F Embedded image
INPUT ACCEPT = ContentText
ACCESSKEY = Character
align = Ialign
ALT = CDATA
CHECKED
DISABLED
MAXLENGTH = Number
NAME = CDATA
ONBLUR = Script
ONCHANGE = Script
ONFOCUS = Script
ONSELECT = Script
READONLY
SIZE = CDATA
SRC = URL
TABINDEX = Number
TYPE = Input Type
USEMAP = URL
VALUE = CDATA
Core
International
Event
 
F form control
INS CITE = URL
DATATIME = DateTime
Core
International
Event
 
  inserted text
isindex prompt = txt
Core
International
 
F single line prompt
KDB Core
International
Event
 
  text to be entered by the user
LABEL ACCESSKEY = Character
FOR = Idref
ONBLUR = Script
ONFOCUS = Script
Core
International
Event
 
  form field label text
LEGEND ACCESSKEY = Character
align = lalign
Core
International
Event
 
  fieldset legend
LI type = li style
value = number
Core
International
Event
 
O list item
LINK CHARSET = Charset
HREF = URL
HREFLANG = Language Code
MEDIA = Media Desc
REL = Link Type
REV = Link Type
TARGET = Frame Target
TYPE = Content Type
Core
International
Event
 
F a media-independent link
MAP NAME = CDATA
Core
International
Event
 
  client-side image map area
menu compact
Core
International
Event
 
  menu list
META CONTENT = CDATA
HTTP-EQUIV = Name
NAME = Name
SCHEME = CDATA
International
 
F generic meta information
NOFRAMES Core
International
Event
 
  alternate content container for non frame-based rendering
NOSCRIPT Core
International
Event
 
  alternate content container for when a script is not executed
OBJECT align = ialign
ARCHIVE = URL
border = length
CLASSID = URL
CODEBASE = URL
CODETYPE = Content Type
DATA = URL
DECLARE
HEIGHT = Length
hspace = pixels
NAME = CDATA
STANDBY = Text
TABINDEX = Number
TYPE = Content Type
USEMAP = URL
vspace = pixels
WIDTH = Length
Core
International
Event
 
  generic embedded object
OL compact
start = number
type = ol type
Core
International
Event
 
  ordered list
OPTGROUP LABEL = Text
DISABLED
Core
International
Event
 
  option group
OPTION DISABLED
LABEL = Text
SELECTED
VALUE = CDATA
Core
International
Event
 
O selectable choice
P align = left | center | right | justify
Core
International
Event
 
O paragraph
PARAM NAME = CDATA
ID = Id
TYPE = Content Type
VALUE = CDATA
VALUETYPE = DAT | REF | OBJECT
 
F named property value
PRE width = number
Core
International
Event
 
  preformatted text
Q CITE = URL
Core
International
Event
 
  short inline quotation
s Core
International
Event
 
  strike-through text style
SAMP Core
International
Event
 
  sample program output, scripts, etc.
SCRIPT TYPE = Content Type
CHARSET = Charset
DEFER
language = cdata
SRC = URL
TITLE = Text
 
  script statements
SELECT DISABLED
MULTIPLE
NAME = CDATA
ONBLUR = Script
ONCHANGE = Script
ONFOCUS = Script
SIZE = Number
TABINDEX = Number
Core
International
Event
 
  option selector
SMALL Core
International
Event
 
  small text style
SPAN Core
International
Event
 
  generic language/style container
strike Core
International
Event
 
  strike-through text
STRONG Core
International
Event
 
  strong emphasis
STYLE TYPE = Content Type
MEDIA = MediaDesc
TITLE = Text
International
 
  style info
SUB Core
International
Event
 
  subscript
SUP Core
International
Event
 
  superscript
TABLE align = talign
bgcolor = color
BORDER = Pixels
CELLPADDING = Length
CELLSPACING = Length
FRAME = Tframe
SUMMARY = Text
WIDTH = Length
Core
International
Event
 
   
TBODY ALIGN = LEFT | CENTER | RIGHT | JUSTIFY | CHAR
CHAR = Charset
CHAROFF = Length
VALIGN = TOP | MIDDLE | BOTTOM | BASELINE
Core
International
Event
 
O table body
TD ABBR = Text
ALIGN = LEFT | CENTER | RIGHT | JUSTIFY | CHAR
AXIS = CDATA
bgcolor = color
CHAR = Character
CHAROFF = Length
COLSPAN = Number
HEADERS = IDREFS
height = pixels
nowrap
ROWSPAN = Number
SCOPE = Scope
VALIGN = TOP | MIDDLE | BOTTOM | BASELINE
width = pixels
Core
International
Event
 
O table data cell
TEXTAREA COLS = Number
ROWS = Number
ACCESSKEY = Character
DISABLES
NAME = CDATA
ONBLUR = Script
ONCHANGE = Script
ONFOCUS = Script
ONSELECT = Script
READONLY
TABINDEX = Number
Core
International
Event
 
  multi-line text field
TFOOT ALIGN = LEFT | CENTER | RIGHT | JUSTIFY | CHAR
CHAR = Character
CHAROFF = Length
VALIGN = TOP | MIDDLE | BOTTOM | BASELINE
Core
International
Event
 
O table footer
TH ABBR = Text
ALIGN = LEFT | CENTER | RIGHT | JUSTIFY | CHAR
AXIS = CDATA
bgcolor = color
CHAR = Character
CHAROFF = Length
COLSPAN = Number
HEADERS = IDREF
height = pixels
nowrap
ROWSPAN = Number
SCOPE = Scope
VALIGN = TOP | MIDDLE | BOTTOM | BASELINE
width = pixels
Core
International
Event
 
O table header cell
THEAD ALIGN = LEFT | CENTER | RIGHT | JUSTIFY | CHAR
CHAR = Character
CHAROFF = Length
VALIGN = TOP | MIDDLE | BOTTOM | BASELINE
Core
International
Event
 
O table header
TITLE International
 
  document title
TR ALIGN = LEFT | CENTER | RIGHT | JUSTIFY | CHAR
bgcolor = color
CHAR = Character
CHAROFF = Length
VALIGN = TOP | MIDDLE | BOTTOM | BASELINE
Core
International
Event
 
O table row
TT Core
International
Event
 
  teletype or monospaced text style
u Core
International
Event
 
  underlined text style
UL compact
type = ul style
Core
International
Event
 
  unordered list
VAR Core
International
Event
 
  instance of a variable or program argument

See also: Index of Elements. at the W3C.