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    The Bare Bones Guide to HTML - Learn how to Design Web Sites
    -- THE BARE BONES GUIDE TO HTML --

    Version 4.0 Formatted -- February 1999 Dummy Book Store

    Skip the tutorial and use a beginners website builder :

    The latest version of this document is available at http://werbach.com/barebones/ , where you will also find the text version, translations, and background materials.

    The Bare Bones Guide to HTML lists all the tags that current browsers are likely to recognize. I have included all the elements in the official HTML 4.0 recommendation with common attributes, as well as Netscape and Microsoft extensions. This document is a quick reference, not a complete specification; for official information about HTML and its development, see the World Wide Web Consortium site at http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/ .

    The Guide is designed to be as concise as possible, and therefore it doesn't go into any detail about how to use the various tags. A few tags link to notes that address frequently-asked questions. If you're looking for more detailed step-by-step information, see my WWW Help Page .

    Table of Contents

    1. INTRODUCTORY MATERIAL
    2. HTML TAGS

      Important: If you are not clear about the differences between the various versions of HTML, I suggest that you read my discussion of the development of HTML , or the World Wide Web Consortium HTML activity statement.

    BASIC ELEMENTS
    Document Type
    <HTML></HTML>
    (beginning and end of file)
    Title
    <TITLE></TITLE>
    (must be in header)
    Header
    <HEAD></HEAD>
    (descriptive info, such as title)
    Body
    <BODY></BODY>
    (bulk of the page)

    STRUCTURAL DEFINITION
    Heading
    <H?></H?>
    (the spec. defines 6 levels)
    Align Heading
    <H? ALIGN=LEFT|CENTER|RIGHT></H?>
    Division
    <DIV></DIV>
    Align Division
    <DIV ALIGN=LEFT|RIGHT|CENTER|JUSTIFY></DIV>
    4.0
    Defined Content
    <SPAN></SPAN>
    Block Quote
    <BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE>
    (usually indented)
    4.0
    Quote
    <Q></Q>
    (for short quotations)
    4.0
    Citation
    <Q CITE="URL"></Q>
    Emphasis
    <EM></EM>
    (usually displayed as italic)
    Strong Emphasis
    <STRONG></STRONG>
    (usually displayed as bold)
    Citation
    <CITE></CITE>
    (usually italics)
    Code
    <CODE></CODE>
    (for source code listings)
    Sample Output
    <SAMP></SAMP>
    Keyboard Input
    <KBD></KBD>
    Variable
    <VAR></VAR>
    Definition
    <DFN></DFN>
    (not widely implemented)
    Author's Address
    <ADDRESS></ADDRESS>
    Large Font Size
    <BIG></BIG>
    Small Font Size
    <SMALL></SMALL>
    4.0
    Insert
    <INS></INS>
    (marks additions in a new version)
    4.0
    Time of Change
    <INS DATETIME=":::"></INS>
    4.0
    Comments
    <INS CITE="URL"></INS>
    4.0
    Delete
    <DEL></DEL>
    (marks deletions in a new version)
    4.0
    Time of Change
    <DEL DATETIME=":::"></DEL>
    4.0
    Comments
    <DEL CITE="URL"></DEL>
    4.0
    Acronym
    <ACRONYM></ACRONYM>
    4.0
    Abbreviation
    <ABBR></ABBR>

    PRESENTATION FORMATTING
    Bold
    <B></B>
    Italic
    <I></I>
    4.0*
    Underline
    <U></U>
    (not widely implemented)
    Strikeout
    <STRIKE></STRIKE>
    (not widely implemented)
    4.0*
    Strikeout
    <S></S>
    (not widely implemented)
    Subscript
    <SUB></SUB>
    Superscript
    <SUP></SUP>
    Typewriter
    <TT></TT>
    (displays in a monospaced font)
    Preformatted
    <PRE></PRE>
    (display text spacing as-is)
    Width
    <PRE WIDTH=?></PRE>
    (in characters)
    Center
    <CENTER></CENTER>
    (for both text and images)
    N1
    Blinking
    <BLINK></BLINK>
    (the most derided tag ever)
    Font Size
    <FONT SIZE=?></FONT>
    (ranges from 1-7)
    Change Font Size
    <FONT SIZE="+|-?"></FONT>
    Font Color
    <FONT COLOR="#$$$$$$"></FONT>
    4.0*
    Select Font
    <FONT FACE="***"></FONT>
    N4
    Point size
    <FONT POINT-SIZE=?></FONT>
    N4
    Weight
    <FONT WEIGHT=?></FONT>
    4.0*
    Base Font Size
    <BASEFONT SIZE=?>
    (from 1-7; default is 3)
    MS
    Marquee
    <MARQUEE></MARQUEE>

    POSITIONING
    N3
    Multi-Column
    <MULTICOL COLS=?></MULTICOL>
    N3
    Column Gutter
    <MULTICOL GUTTER=?></MULTICOL>
    N3
    Column Width
    <MULTICOL WIDTH=?></MULTICOL>
    N3
    Spacer
    <SPACER>
    N3
    Spacer Type
    <SPACER TYPE=HORIZONTAL|VERTICAL|BLOCK>
    N3
    Size
    <SPACER SIZE=?>
    N3
    Dimensions
    <SPACER WIDTH=? HEIGHT=?>
    N3
    Alignment
    <SPACER ALIGN=LEFT|RIGHT|CENTER>
    N4
    Layer
    <LAYER></LAYER>
    N4
    Name
    <LAYER ID="***"></LAYER>
    N4
    Location
    <LAYER LEFT=? TOP=?></LAYER>
    N4
    Rel. Position
    <LAYER PAGEX=? PAGEY=?></LAYER>
    N4
    Source File
    <LAYER SRC="***"></LAYER>
    N4
    Stacking
    <LAYER Z-INDEX=?></LAYER>
    N4
    Stack Position
    <LAYER ABOVE="***" BELOW="***"></LAYER>
    N4
    Dimensions
    <LAYER HEIGHT=? WIDTH=?></LAYER>
    N4
    Clipping Path
    <LAYER CLIP=,,,></LAYER>
    N4
    Visible?
    <LAYER VISIBILITY=SHOW|HIDDEN|INHERIT></LAYER>
    N4
    Background
    <LAYER BACKGROUND="$$$$$$"></LAYER>
    N4
    Color
    <LAYER BGCOLOR="$$$$$$"></LAYER>
    N4
    Inline Layer
    <ILAYER></ILAYER>
    (takes same attributes as LAYER)
    N4
    Alt. Content
    <NOLAYER></NOLAYER>

    LINKS, GRAPHICS, AND SOUNDS
    Link Something
    <A HREF="URL"></A>
    Link to Location
    <A HREF="URL#***"></A>
    (if in another document)
    <A HREF="#***"></A>
    (if in current document)
    4.0*
    Target Window
    <A HREF="URL" TARGET="***"></A>
    4.0*
    Action on Click
    <A HREF="URL" ONCLICK="***"></A>
    (Javascript)
    4.0*
    Mouseover Action
    <A HREF="URL" ONMOUSEOVER="***"></A>
    (Javascript)
    4.0*
    Mouse out Action
    <A HREF="URL" ONMOUSEOUT="***"></A>
    (Javascript)
    Link to Email
    <A HREF="mailto:@"></A>
    N, MS
    Specify Subject
    <A HREF="mailto:@?SUBJECT=***"></A>
    (use a real question mark)
    Define Location
    <A NAME="***"></A>
    Display Image
    <IMG SRC="URL">
    Alignment
    <IMG SRC="URL" ALIGN=TOP|BOTTOM|MIDDLE|LEFT|RIGHT>
    N1
    Alignment
    <IMG SRC="URL" ALIGN=TEXTTOP|ABSMIDDLE|BASELINE|ABSBOTTOM>
    Alternate
    <IMG SRC="URL" ALT="***">
    (if image not displayed)
    Dimensions
    <IMG SRC="URL" WIDTH=? HEIGHT=?>
    (in pixels)
    <IMG SRC="URL" WIDTH=% HEIGHT=%>
    (as percentage of page width/height)
    Border
    <IMG SRC="URL" BORDER=?>
    (in pixels)
    Runaround Space
    <IMG SRC="URL" HSPACE=? VSPACE=?>
    (in pixels)
    N1
    Low-Res Proxy
    <IMG SRC="URL" LOWSRC="URL">
    Imagemap
    <IMG SRC="URL" ISMAP>
    (requires a script)
    Imagemap
    <IMG SRC="URL" USEMAP="URL">
    MS
    Movie Clip
    <IMG DYNSRC="***" START="***" LOOP=?>
    MS
    Background Sound
    <BGSOUND SRC="***" LOOP=?|INFINITE>
    Client-Side Map
    <MAP NAME="***"></MAP>
    (describes the map)
    Map Section
    <AREA SHAPE="DEFAULT|RECT|CIRCLE|POLY" COORDS=",,," HREF="URL"|NOHREF>
    N1
    Client Pull
    <META HTTP-EQUIV="Refresh" CONTENT="?; URL=URL">
    N2
    Embed Object
    <EMBED SRC="URL">
    (insert object into page)
    N2
    Object Size
    <EMBED SRC="URL" WIDTH=? HEIGHT=?>
    4.0
    Object
    <OBJECT></OBJECT>
    4.0
    Parameters
    <PARAM>

    DIVIDERS
    Paragraph
    <P></P>
    (closing tag often unnecessary)
    Align Text
    <P ALIGN=LEFT|CENTER|RIGHT></P>
    N
    Justify Text
    <P ALIGN=JUSTIFY></P>
    Line Break
    <BR>
    (a single carriage return)
    Clear Textwrap
    <BR CLEAR=LEFT|RIGHT|ALL>
    Horizontal Rule
    <HR>
    Alignment
    <HR ALIGN=LEFT|RIGHT|CENTER>
    Thickness
    <HR SIZE=?>
    (in pixels)
    Width
    <HR WIDTH=?>
    (in pixels)
    Width Percent
    <HR WIDTH="%">
    (as a percentage of page width)
    Solid Line
    <HR NOSHADE>
    (without the 3D cutout look)
    N1
    No Break
    <NOBR></NOBR>
    (prevents line breaks)
    N1
    Word Break
    <WBR>
    (where to break a line if needed)

    LISTS
    Unordered List
    <UL><LI></UL>
    (before each list item)
    Compact
    <UL COMPACT></UL>
    Bullet Type
    <UL TYPE=DISC|CIRCLE|SQUARE>
    (for the whole list)
    Bullet Type
    <LI TYPE=DISC|CIRCLE|SQUARE>
    (this & subsequent)
    Ordered List
    <OL><LI></OL>
    (before each list item)
    Compact
    <OL COMPACT></OL>
    Numbering Type
    <OL TYPE=A|a|I|i|1>
    (for the whole list)
    Numbering Type
    <LI TYPE=A|a|I|i|1>
    (this & subsequent)
    Starting Number
    <OL START=?>
    (for the whole list)
    Starting Number
    <LI VALUE=?>
    (this & subsequent)
    Definition List
    <DL><DT><DD></DL>
    (<DT>=term, <DD>=definition)
    Compact
    <DL COMPACT></DL>
    Menu List
    <MENU><LI></MENU>
    (before each list item)
    Compact
    <MENU COMPACT></MENU>
    Directory List
    <DIR><LI></DIR>
    (before each list item)
    Compact
    <DIR COMPACT></DIR>

    BACKGROUNDS AND COLORS
    Tiled Bkground
    <BODY BACKGROUND="URL">
    MS
    Watermark
    <BODY BGPROPERTIES="FIXED">
    Bkground Color
    <BODY BGCOLOR="#$$$$$$">
    (order is red/green/blue)
    Text Color
    <BODY TEXT="#$$$$$$">
    Link Color
    <BODY LINK="#$$$$$$">
    Visited Link
    <BODY VLINK="#$$$$$$">
    Active Link
    <BODY ALINK="#$$$$$$">
    (More info at http://werbach.com/web/wwwhelp.html#color )

    SPECIAL CHARACTERS
    Special Character
    &#?;
    (where ? is the ISO 8859-1 code)
    <
    &lt;
    >
    &gt;
    &
    &amp;
    "
    &quot;
    Registered TM
    &#174;
    Registered TM
    &reg;
    Copyright
    &#169;
    Copyright
    &copy;
    Non-Breaking Space
    &nbsp;
    (Complete list at http://www.htmlhelp.com/reference/charset )

    FORMS
    Define Form
    <FORM ACTION="URL" METHOD=GET|POST></FORM>
    4.0*
    File Upload
    <FORM ENCTYPE="multipart/form-data"></FORM>
    Input Field
    <INPUT TYPE="TEXT|PASSWORD|CHECKBOX|RADIO|
    FILE|BUTTON|IMAGE|HIDDEN|SUBMIT|RESET">
    Field Name
    <INPUT NAME="***">
    Field Value
    <INPUT VALUE="***">
    Checked?
    <INPUT CHECKED>
    (checkboxes and radio boxes)
    Field Size
    <INPUT SIZE=?>
    (in characters)
    Max Length
    <INPUT MAXLENGTH=?>
    (in characters)
    4.0
    Button
    <BUTTON></BUTTON>
    4.0
    Button Name
    <BUTTON NAME="***"></BUTTON>
    4.0
    Button Type
    <BUTTON TYPE="SUBMIT|RESET|BUTTON"></BUTTON>
    4.0
    Default Value
    <BUTTON VALUE="***"></BUTTON>
    4.0
    Label
    <LABEL></LABEL>
    4.0
    Item Labelled
    <LABEL FOR="***"></LABEL>
    Selection List
    <SELECT></SELECT>
    Name of List
    <SELECT NAME="***"></SELECT>
    # of Options
    <SELECT SIZE=?></SELECT>
    Multiple Choice
    <SELECT MULTIPLE>
    (can select more than one)
    Option
    <OPTION>
    (items that can be selected)
    Default Option
    <OPTION SELECTED>
    Option Value
    <OPTION VALUE="***">
    4.0
    Option Group
    <OPTGROUP LABEL="***"></OPTGROUP>
    Input Box Size
    <TEXTAREA ROWS=? COLS=?></TEXTAREA>
    Name of Box
    <TEXTAREA NAME="***"></TEXTAREA>
    N2
    Wrap Text
    <TEXTAREA WRAP=OFF|HARD|SOFT></TEXTAREA>
    4.0
    Group elements
    <FIELDSET></FIELDSET>
    4.0
    Legend
    <LEGEND></LEGEND>
    (caption for fieldsets)
    4.0
    Alignment
    <LEGEND ALIGN="TOP|BOTTOM|LEFT|RIGHT"></LEGEND>

    TABLES
    Define Table
    <TABLE></TABLE>
    4.0*
    Table Alignment
    <TABLE ALIGN=LEFT|RIGHT|CENTER>
    Table Border
    <TABLE BORDER></TABLE>
    (either on or off)
    Table Border
    <TABLE BORDER=?></TABLE>
    (you can set the value)
    Cell Spacing
    <TABLE CELLSPACING=?>
    Cell Padding
    <TABLE CELLPADDING=?>
    Desired Width
    <TABLE WIDTH=?>
    (in pixels)
    Width Percent
    <TABLE WIDTH=%>
    (percentage of page)
    4.0*
    Table Color
    <TABLE BGCOLOR="$$$$$$"></TABLE>
    4.0
    Table Frame
    <TABLE FRAME=VOID|ABOVE|BELOW|HSIDES|LHS|RHS|
    VSIDES|BOX|BORDER></TABLE>
    4.0
    Table Rules
    <TABLE RULES=NONE|GROUPS|ROWS|COLS|ALL></TABLE>
    MS
    Border Color
    <TABLE BORDERCOLOR="$$$$$$"></TABLE>
    MS
    Dark Border
    <TABLE BORDERCOLORDARK="$$$$$$"></TABLE>
    MS
    Light Border
    <TABLE BORDERCOLORLIGHT="$$$$$$"></TABLE>
    Table Row
    <TR></TR>
    Alignment
    <TR ALIGN=LEFT|RIGHT|CENTER|MIDDLE|BOTTOM>
    Table Cell
    <TD></TD>
    (must appear within table rows)
    Alignment
    <TD ALIGN=LEFT|RIGHT|CENTER VALIGN=TOP|MIDDLE|BOTTOM>
    No linebreaks
    <TD NOWRAP>
    Columns to Span
    <TD COLSPAN=?>
    Rows to Span
    <TD ROWSPAN=?>
    4.0*
    Desired Width
    <TD WIDTH=?>
    (in pixels)
    N3
    Width Percent
    <TD WIDTH="%">
    (percentage of table)
    4.0*
    Cell Color
    <TD BGCOLOR="#$$$$$$">
    Header Cell
    <TH></TH>
    (same as data, except bold centered)
    Alignment
    <TH ALIGN=LEFT|RIGHT|CENTER|MIDDLE|BOTTOM>
    No Linebreaks
    <TH NOWRAP>
    Columns to Span
    <TH COLSPAN=?>
    Rows to Span
    <TH ROWSPAN=?>
    4.0*
    Desired Width
    <TH WIDTH=?>
    (in pixels)
    N3
    Width Percent
    <TH WIDTH="%">
    (percentage of table)
    4.0*
    Cell Color
    <TH BGCOLOR="#$$$$$$">
    4.0
    Table Body
    <TBODY>
    4.0
    Table Footer
    <TFOOT></TFOOT>
    (must come before THEAD>
    4.0
    Table Header
    <THEAD></THEAD>
    Table Caption
    <CAPTION></CAPTION>
    Alignment
    <CAPTION ALIGN=TOP|BOTTOM|LEFT|RIGHT>
    4.0
    Column
    <COL></COL>
    (groups column attributes)
    4.0
    Columns Spanned
    <COL SPAN=?></COL>
    4.0
    Column Width
    <COL WIDTH=?></COL>
    4.0
    Width Percent
    <COL WIDTH="%"></COL>
    4.0
    Group columns
    <COLGROUP></COLGROUP>
    (groups column structure)
    4.0
    Columns Spanned
    <COLGROUP SPAN=?></COLGROUP>
    4.0
    Group Width
    <COLGROUP WIDTH=?></COLGROUP>
    4.0
    Width Percent
    <COLGROUP WIDTH="%"></COLGROUP>

    FRAMES
    4.0*
    Frame Document
    <FRAMESET></FRAMESET>
    (instead of <BODY>)
    4.0*
    Row Heights
    <FRAMESET ROWS=,,,></FRAMESET>
    (pixels or %)
    4.0*
    Row Heights
    <FRAMESET ROWS=*></FRAMESET>
    (* = relative size)
    4.0*
    Column Widths
    <FRAMESET COLS=,,,></FRAMESET>
    (pixels or %)
    4.0*
    Column Widths
    <FRAMESET COLS=*></FRAMESET>
    (* = relative size)
    4.0*
    Borders
    <FRAMESET FRAMEBORDER="yes|no"></FRAMESET>
    4.0*
    Border Width
    <FRAMESET BORDER=?></FRAMESET>
    4.0*
    Border Color
    <FRAMESET BORDERCOLOR="#$$$$$$"></FRAMESET>
    N3
    Frame Spacing
    <FRAMESET FRAMESPACING=?></FRAMESET>
    4.0*
    Define Frame
    <FRAME>
    (contents of an individual frame)
    4.0*
    Display Document
    <FRAME SRC="URL">
    4.0*
    Frame Name
    <FRAME NAME="***"|_blank|_self|_parent|_top>
    4.0*
    Margin Width
    <FRAME MARGINWIDTH=?>
    (left and right margins)
    4.0*
    Margin Height
    <FRAME MARGINHEIGHT=?>
    (top and bottom margins)
    4.0*
    Scrollbar?
    <FRAME SCROLLING="YES|NO|AUTO">
    4.0*
    Not Resizable
    <FRAME NORESIZE>
    4.0*
    Borders
    <FRAME FRAMEBORDER="yes|no">
    4.0*
    Border Color
    <FRAME BORDERCOLOR="#$$$$$$">
    4.0*
    Unframed Content
    <NOFRAMES></NOFRAMES>
    (for non-frames browsers)
    4.0
    Inline Frame
    <IFRAME></IFRAME>
    (takes same attributes as FRAME)
    4.0
    Dimensions
    <IFRAME WIDTH=? HEIGHT=?></IFRAME>
    4.0
    Dimensions
    <IFRAME WIDTH="%" HEIGHT="%"></IFRAME>

    SCRIPTS AND JAVA
    Script
    <SCRIPT></SCRIPT>
    Location
    <SCRIPT SRC="URL"></SCRIPT>
    Type
    <SCRIPT TYPE="***"></SCRIPT>
    Language
    <SCRIPT LANGUAGE="***"></SCRIPT>
    4.0*
    Other Content
    <NOSCRIPT></NOSCRIPT>
    (if scripts not supported)
    Applet
    <APPLET></APPLET>
    File Name
    <APPLET CODE="***">
    Parameters
    <APPLET PARAM NAME="***">
    Location
    <APPLET CODEBASE="URL">
    Identifier
    <APPLET NAME="***">
    (for references)
    Alt Text
    <APPLET ALT="***">
    (for non-Java browsers)
    Alignment
    <APPLET ALIGN="LEFT|RIGHT|CENTER">
    Size
    <APPLET WIDTH=? HEIGHT=?>
    (in pixels)
    Spacing
    <APPLET HSPACE=? VSPACE=?>
    (in pixels)
    N4
    Server Script
    <SERVER></SERVER>

    MISCELLANEOUS
    Comment
    <!-- *** -->
    (not displayed by the browser)
    Prologue
    <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0//EN">
    Searchable
    <ISINDEX>
    (indicates a searchable index)
    Prompt
    <ISINDEX PROMPT="***">
    (text to prompt input)
    Send Search
    <A HREF="URL?***"></a>
    (use a real question mark)
    URL of This File
    <BASE HREF="URL">
    (must be in header)
    4.0*
    Base Window Name
    <BASE TARGET="***">
    (must be in header)
    Relationship
    <LINK REV="***" REL="***" HREF="URL">
    (in header)
    N4
    Linked File
    <LINK TYPE="***" SRC="***"></LINK>
    Meta Information
    <META>
    (must be in header)
    Style Sheets
    <STYLE></STYLE>
    (implementations vary)
    4.0
    Bidirect Off
    <BDO DIR=LTR|RTL></BDO>
    (for certain character sets)

     
 
     
     
     
     
     Copyright �1995-2001 
  Kevin 
                                Werbach 
. Redistribution 
                                is permitted, so long as there is no charge and 
                                this document is included without alteration in 
                                its entirety. This Guide is not a product of Bare 
                                Bones Software. More information is available 
                                at 
 http://werbach.com/barebones 
. 

     Valid HTML 4.0! 

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     
 
     
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