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HTML

HTML is a markup language used to define the structure and layout of web pages. It uses tags like <h1> and <p> to divide content into headings, paragraphs, and other semantic elements. An HTML document contains a <head> section for metadata and a <body> section for visible content. Tags have opening and closing parts like <p>content</p> and can be nested to show a document outline and hierarchy. Web browsers read HTML tags to display web pages correctly based on the document structure.

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2K views

HTML

HTML is a markup language used to define the structure and layout of web pages. It uses tags like <h1> and <p> to divide content into headings, paragraphs, and other semantic elements. An HTML document contains a <head> section for metadata and a <body> section for visible content. Tags have opening and closing parts like <p>content</p> and can be nested to show a document outline and hierarchy. Web browsers read HTML tags to display web pages correctly based on the document structure.

Uploaded by

Anonymous UMP87OCWXw
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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HTML Introduction

What is HTML?
HTML is a markup language for describing web documents (web pages).

HTML stands for Hyper Text Markup Language

A markup language is a set of markup tags

HTML documents are described by HTML tags

Each HTML tag describes different document content

HTML Example
A small HTML document:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>Page Title</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>My First Heading</h1>
<p>My first paragraph.</p>
</body>
</html>
Try it yourself

Example Explained

The DOCTYPE declaration defines the document type to be HTML

The text between <html> and </html> describes an HTML document

The text between <head> and </head> provides information about the
document

The text between <title> and </title> provides a title for the document

The text between <body> and </body> describes the visible page
content

The text between <h1> and </h1> describes a heading

The text between <p> and </p> describes a paragraph

Using this description, a web browser can display a document with a heading
and a paragraph.

HTML Tags
HTML tags are keywords (tag names) surrounded by angle brackets:

<tagname>content</tagname>

HTML tags normally come in pairs like <p> and </p>

The first tag in a pair is the start tag, the second tag is the end tag

The end tag is written like the start tag, but with a slash before the tag
name

The start tag is often called the opening tag. The end tag is often called the closing

Web Browsers
The purpose of a web browser (Chrome, IE, Firefox, Safari) is to read HTML
documents and display them.
The browser does not display the HTML tags, but uses them to determine how
to display the document:

HTML Page Structure


Below is a visualization of an HTML page structure:
<html>
<head>
<title>Page title</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>This is a heading</h1>

<p>This is a paragraph.</p>
<p>This is another paragraph.</p>
</body>
</html>
Only the <body> area (the white area) is displayed by the browser.

The <!DOCTYPE> Declaration


The <!DOCTYPE> declaration helps the browser to display a web page correctly.
There are different document types on the web.
To display a document correctly, the browser must know both type and version.
The doctype declaration is not case sensitive. All cases are acceptable:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<!DOCTYPE HTML>
<!doctype html>
<!Doctype Html>

Common Declarations
HTML5
<!DOCTYPE html>

HTML 4.01

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"


"http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd">

XHTML 1.0
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">

All tutorials and examples at W3Schools use HTML5.

HTML Versions
Since the early days of the web, there have been many versions of HTML:

Version

Year

HTML

1991

HTML 2.0

1995

HTML 3.2

1997

HTML 4.01

1999

XHTML

2000

HTML5

2014

HTML Basic Examples


Don't worry if these examples use tags you have not learned.
You will learn about them in the next chapters.

HTML Documents
All HTML documents must start with a type declaration: <!DOCTYPE html>.
The HTML document itself begins with <html> and ends with </html>.
The visible part of the HTML document is between <body> and </body>.

Example
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<body>
<h1>My First Heading</h1>
<p>My first paragraph.</p>
</body>
</html>
Try it Yourself

HTML Headings

HTML headings are defined with the <h1> to <h6> tags:

Example
<h1>This is a heading</h1>
<h2>This is a heading</h2>
<h3>This is a heading</h3>
Try it yourself

HTML Paragraphs
HTML paragraphs are defined with the <p> tag:

Example
<p>This is a paragraph.</p>
<p>This is another paragraph.</p>
Try it yourself

HTML Links
HTML links are defined with the <a> tag:

Example
<a href="http://www.w3schools.com">This is a link</a>
Try it yourself
The link's destination is specified in the href attribute.
Attributes are used to provide additional information about HTML elements.

HTML Images

HTML images are defined with the <img> tag.


The source file (src), alternative text (alt), and size (width and height) are
provided as attributes:

Example
<img src="w3schools.jpg" alt="W3Schools.com" width="104" height="142"
>

HTML Elements
HTML elements are written with a start tag, with an end tag, with
the content in between:

<tagname>content</tagname>
The HTML element is everything from the start tag to the end tag:

<p>My first HTML paragraph.</p>


Start tag

Element content

End tag

<h1>

My First Heading

</h1>

<p>

My first paragraph.

</p>

<br>

Some HTML elements do not have an end tag.

Nested HTML Elements


HTML elements can be nested (elements can contain elements).
All HTML documents consist of nested HTML elements.
This example contains 4 HTML elements:

Example
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<body>
<h1>My First Heading</h1>
<p>My first paragraph.</p>
</body>
</html>
Try it yourself

HTML Example Explained


The <html> element defines the whole document.
It has a start tag <html> and an end tag </html>.
The element content is another HTML element (the <body> element).

<html>
<body>
<h1>My First Heading</h1>
<p>My first paragraph.</p>
</body>
</html>
The <body> element defines the document body.

It has a start tag <body> and an end tag </body>.


The element content is two other HTML elements (<h1> and <p>).

<body>
<h1>My First Heading</h1>
<p>My first paragraph.</p>
</body>
The <h1> element defines a heading.
It has a start tag <h1> and an end tag </h1>.
The element content is: My First Heading.

<h1>My First Heading</h1>


The <p> element defines a paragraph.
It has a start tag <p> and an end tag </p>.
The element content is: My first paragraph.

<p>My first paragraph.</p>

Don't Forget the End Tag


Some HTML elements will display correctly, even if you forget the end tag:

Example
<html>
<body>
<p>This is a paragraph
<p>This is a paragraph
</body>
</html>

Try it yourself
The example above works in all browsers, because the closing tag is considered
optional.
Never rely on this. It might produce unexpected results and/or errors if you
forget the end tag.

Empty HTML Elements


HTML elements with no content are called empty elements.
<br> is an empty element without a closing tag (the <br> tag defines a line
break).
Empty elements can be "closed" in the opening tag like this: <br />.
HTML5 does not require empty elements to be closed. But if you want stricter
validation, or you need to make your document readable by XML parsers, you
should close all HTML elements.

HTML Tip: Use Lowercase Tags


HTML tags are not case sensitive: <P> means the same as <p>.
The HTML5 standard does not require lowercase tags, but
W3C recommends lowercase in HTML4, and demandslowercase for stricter
document types like XHTML.

HTML Attributes
Previous

Next Chapter

Attributes provide additional information about HTML elements.

HTML Attributes

HTML elements can have attributes

Attributes provide additional information about an element

Attributes are always specified in the start tag

Attributes come in name/value pairs like: name="value"

The lang Attribute


The document language can be declared in the <html> tag.
The language is declared in the lang attribute.
Declaring a language is important for accessibility applications (screen readers)
and search engines:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en-US">
<body>
<h1>My First Heading</h1>
<p>My first paragraph.</p>
</body>
</html>
The first two letters specify the language (en). If there is a dialect, use two
more letters (US).

The title Attribute


HTML paragraphs are defined with the <p> tag.
In this example, the <p> element has a title attribute. The value of the
attribute is "About W3Schools":

Example
<p title="About W3Schools">
W3Schools is a web developer's site.
It provides tutorials and references covering
many aspects of web programming,
including HTML, CSS, JavaScript, XML, SQL, PHP, ASP, etc.
</p>
Try it Yourself

When you move the mouse over the element, the title will be displayed as a tooltip.

The href Attribute


HTML links are defined with the <a> tag. The link address is specified in
the href attribute:

Example
<a href="http://www.w3schools.com">This is a link</a>
Try it yourself
You will learn more about links and the <a> tag later in this tutorial.

Size Attributes

HTML images are defined with the <img> tag.


The filename of the source (src), and the size of the image (width and height)
are all provided as attributes:

Example
<img src="w3schools.jpg" width="104" height="142">
Try it Yourself
The image size is specified in pixels: width="104" means 104 screen pixels
wide.
You will learn more about images and the <img> tag later in this tutorial.

The alt Attribute


The alt attribute specifies an alternative text to be used, when an HTML
element cannot be displayed.
The value of the attribute can be read by "screen readers". This way, someone
"listening" to the webpage, i.e. a blind person, can "hear" the element.

Example
<img src="w3schools.jpg" alt="W3Schools.com" width="104" height="142"
>
Try it Yourself

We Suggest: Always Use Lowercase


Attributes
The HTML5 standard does not require lower case attribute names.

The title attribute can be written with upper or lower case


like Title and/or TITLE.
W3C recommends lowercase in HTML4, and demands lowercase for stricter
document types like XHTML.

Lower case is the most common. Lower case is easier to type.


At W3Schools we always use lower case attribute names.

We Suggest: Always Quote Attribute


Values
The HTML5 standard does not require quotes around attribute values.
The href attribute, demonstrated above, can be written as:

Example
<a href=http://www.gantaas.com>
Try it Yourself
W3C recommends quotes in HTML4, and demands quotes for stricter
document types like XHTML.
Sometimes it is necessary to use quotes. This will not display correctly,
because it contains a space:

Example
<p title=About santosh>
Try it Yourself

Using quotes are the most common. Omitting quotes can produce errors.
At W3Schools we always use quotes around attribute values.

Single or Double Quotes?


Double style quotes are the most common in HTML, but single style can also be
used.
In some situations, when the attribute value itself contains double quotes, it is
necessary to use single quotes:

<p title='John "ShotGun" Nelson'>


Or vice versa:

<p title="John 'ShotGun' Nelson">

Chapter Summary

All HTML elements can have attributes

The HTML title attribute provides additional "tool-tip" information

The HTML href attribute provides address information for links

The HTML width and height attributes provide size information for
images

The HTML alt attribute provides text for screen readers

Test Yourself with Exercises!

Exercise 1 Exercise 2 Exercise 3 Exercise 4 Exercise 5

HTML Attributes
Below is an alphabetical list of some attributes often used in HTML:

Attribute

Description

alt

Specifies an alternative text for an image

disabled

Specifies that an input element should be disabled

href

Specifies the URL (web address) for a link

id

Specifies a unique id for an element

src

Specifies the URL (web address) for an image

style

Specifies an inline CSS style for an element

title

Specifies extra information about an element (displayed as a tool tip)

HTML Headings
Headings are defined with the <h1> to <h6> tags.

<h1> defines the most important heading. <h6> defines the least important
heading.

Example
<h1>This is a heading</h1>
<h2>This is a heading</h2>
<h3>This is a heading</h3>
Try it yourself
Note: Browsers automatically add some empty space (a margin) before and
after each heading.

Headings Are Important


Use HTML headings for headings only. Don't use headings to make
text BIG or bold.
Search engines use your headings to index the structure and content of your
web pages.
Users skim your pages by its headings. It is important to use headings to show
the document structure.
h1 headings should be main headings, followed by h2 headings, then the less
important h3, and so on.

HTML Horizontal Rules


The <hr> tag creates a horizontal line in an HTML page.
The hr element can be used to separate content:

Example

<p>This is a paragraph.</p>
<hr>
<p>This is a paragraph.</p>
<hr>
<p>This is a paragraph.</p>
Try it yourself

The HTML <head> Element


The HTML <head> element has nothing to do with HTML headings.
The HTML <head> element contains meta data. Meta data are not displayed.
The HTML <head> element is placed between the <html> tag and the <body>
tag:

Example
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>My First HTML</title>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
</head>
<body>
.
.
.
Try it Yourself

Meta data means data about data. HTML meta data is data about the HTML documen

The HTML <title> Element


The HTML <title> element is meta data. It defines the HTML document's title.
The title will not be displayed in the document, but might be displayed in the
browser tab.

The HTML <meta> Element


The HTML <meta> element is also meta data.
It can be used to define the character set, and other information about the
HTML document.

More Meta Elements


In the chapter about HTML styles you discover more meta elements:
The HTML <style> element is used to define internal CSS style sheets.
The HTML <link> element is used to define external CSS style sheets.

HTML Tip - How to View HTML Source


Have you ever seen a Web page and wondered "Hey! How did they do that?"
To find out, right-click in the page and select "View Page Source" (in Chrome) or
"View Source" (in IE), or similar in another browser. This will open a window
containing the HTML code of the page.

Test Yourself with Exercises!


Exercise 1

Exercise 2

Exercise 3

Exercise 4

HTML Tag Reference


W3Schools' tag reference contains additional information about these tags and
their attributes.
You will learn more about HTML tags and attributes in the next chapters of this
tutorial.

Tag

Description

<html>

Defines an HTML document

<body>

Defines the document's body

<head>

Defines the document's head element

<h1> to <h6>

Defines HTML headings

<hr>

Defines a horizontal line

HTML Paragraphs
Previous

Next Chapter

HTML documents are divided into paragraphs.

HTML Paragraphs
The HTML <p> element defines a paragraph.

Example
<p>This is a paragraph</p>
<p>This is another paragraph</p>
Try it yourself

Browsers automatically add an empty line before and after a paragraph.

HTML Display
You cannot be sure how HTML will be displayed.
Large or small screens, and resized windows will create different results.
With HTML, you cannot change the output by adding extra spaces or extra lines
in your HTML code.
The browser will remove extra spaces and extra lines when the page is
displayed.
Any number of spaces, and any number of new lines, count as only one space.

Example
<p>
This paragraph

contains a lot of lines


in the source code,
but the browser
ignores it.
</p>
<p>
This paragraph
contains
a lot of spaces
in the source
code,
but the
browser
ignores it.
</p>
Try it Yourself

Don't Forget the End Tag


Most browsers will display HTML correctly even if you forget the end tag:

Example
<p>This is a paragraph
<p>This is another paragraph
Try it yourself
The example above will work in most browsers, but do not rely on it.
Forgetting the end tag can produce unexpected results or errors.

Stricter versions of HTML, like XHTML, do not allow you to skip the end tag.

HTML Line Breaks

The HTML <br> element defines a line break.


Use <br> if you want a line break (a new line) without starting a new
paragraph:

Example
<p>This is<br>a para<br>graph with line breaks</p>
Try it yourself
The <br> element is an empty HTML element. It has no end tag.

The Poem Problem


Example
<p>This poem will display as one line:</p>
<p>
My Bonnie lies over the ocean.
My Bonnie lies over the sea.
My Bonnie lies over the ocean.
Oh, bring back my Bonnie to me.
</p>
Try it Yourself

The HTML <pre> Element


The HTML <pre> element defines preformatted text.
The text inside a <pre> element is displayed in a fixed-width font (usually
Courier), and it preserves both spaces and line breaks:

Example

<pre>
My Bonnie lies over the ocean.
My Bonnie lies over the sea.
My Bonnie lies over the ocean.
Oh, bring back my Bonnie to me.
</pre>
Try it Yourself

Test Yourself with Exercises!


Exercise 1

Exercise 2

Exercise 3

Exercise 4

HTML Tag Reference


W3Schools' tag reference contains additional information about HTML elements
and their attributes.

Tag

Description

<p>

Defines a paragraph

<br>

Inserts a single line break

<pre>

Defines pre-formatted text

HTML Styles

Previous

HTML Styles

Next Chapter

I am red
I am blue
Try it Yourself

The HTML Style Attribute


Setting the style of an HTML element, can be done with the style attribute.
The HTML style attribute has the following syntax:

style="property:value;"
The property is a CSS property. The value is a CSS value.

You will learn more about CSS later in this tutorial.

HTML Background Color


The background-color property defines the background color for an HTML
element:
This example sets the background for a page to lightgrey:

Example
<body style="background-color:lightgrey;">

<h1>This is a heading</h1>
<p>This is a paragraph.</p>
</body>
Try it Yourself

HTML Text Color


The color property defines the text color for an HTML element:

Example
<h1 style="color:blue;">This is a heading</h1>
<p style="color:red;">This is a paragraph.</p>
Try it Yourself

HTML Fonts
The font-family property defines the font to be used for an HTML element:

Example
<h1 style="font-family:verdana;">This is a heading</h1>
<p style="font-family:courier;">This is a paragraph.</p>
Try it Yourself

HTML Text Size


The font-size property defines the text size for an HTML element:

Example

<h1 style="font-size:300%;">This is a heading</h1>


<p style="font-size:160%;">This is a paragraph.</p>
Try it Yourself

HTML Text Alignment


The text-align property defines the horizontal text alignment for an HTML
element:

Example
<h1 style="text-align:center;">Centered Heading</h1>
<p>This is a paragraph.</p>
Try it Yourself

Chapter Summary

Use the style attribute for styling HTML elements

Use background-color for background color

Use color for text colors

Use font-family for text fonts

Use font-size for text sizes

Use text-align for text alignment

HTML Text Formatting Elements


Previous

Text Formatting

Next Chapter

This text is bold


This text is italic
This is

superscript

HTML Formatting Elements


In the previous chapter, you learned about HTML styling, using the HTML style
attribute.
HTML also defines special elements, for defining text with a special meaning.
HTML uses elements like <b> and <i> for formatting output,
like bold or italic text.
Formatting elements were designed to display special types of text:

Bold text

Important text

Italic text

Emphasized text

Marked text

Small text

Deleted text

Inserted text

Subscripts

Superscripts

HTML Bold and Strong Formatting


The HTML <b> element defines bold text, without any extra importance.

Example
<p>This text is normal.</p>
<p><b>This text is bold</b>.</p>
Try it Yourself
The HTML <strong> element defines strong text, with added semantic
"strong" importance.

Example
<p>This text is normal.</p>
<p><strong>This text is strong</strong>.</p>
Try it Yourself

HTML Italic and Emphasized Formatting


The HTML <i> element defines italic text, without any extra importance.

Example
<p>This text is normal.</p>
<p><i>This text is italic</i>.</p>
Try it Yourself
The HTML <em> element defines emphasized text, with added semantic
importance.

Example

<p>This text is normal.</p>


<p><em>This text is emphasized</em>.</p>
Try it Yourself

Browsers display <strong> as <b>, and <em> as <i>.

However, there is a difference in the meaning of these tags: <b> and <i> defines bold
but <strong> and <em> means that the text is "important".

HTML

Small

Formatting

The HTML <small> element defines small text:

Example
<h2>HTML <small>Small</small> Formatting</h2>
Try it Yourself

HTML Marked Formatting


The HTML <mark> element defines marked or highlighted text:

Example
<h2>HTML <mark>Marked</mark> Formatting</h2>
Try it Yourself

HTML Deleted Formatting

The HTML <del> element defines deleted (removed) text.

Example
<p>My favorite color is <del>blue</del> red.</p>
Try it Yourself

HTML Inserted Formatting


The HTML <ins> element defines inserted (added) text.

Example
<p>My favorite <ins>color</ins> is red.</p>
Try it Yourself

HTML

Subscript

Formatting

The HTML <sub> element defines subscripted text.

Example
<p>This is <sub>subscripted</sub> text.</p>
Try it Yourself

HTML

Superscript

Formatting

The HTML <sup> element defines superscripted text.

Example
<p>This is <sup>superscripted</sup> text.</p>

Try it Yourself

Test Yourself with Exercises!


Exercise 1

Exercise 2

Exercise 3

Exercise 4

Exercise 5

HTML Text Formatting Elements


Tag

Description

<b>

Defines bold text

<em>

Defines emphasized text

<i>

Defines italic text

<small>

Defines smaller text

<strong>

Defines important text

<sub>

Defines subscripted text

<sup>

Defines superscripted text

<ins>

Defines inserted text

<del>

Defines deleted text

<mark>

Defines marked/highlighted text

HTML Comments
Previous

Next Chapter

Comment tags <!-- and --> are used to insert comments in HTML.

HTML Comment Tags


You can add comments to your HTML source by using the following syntax:

<!-- Write your comments here -->

Note: There is an exclamation point (!) in the opening tag, but not in the closing tag.

Comments are not displayed by the browser, but they can help document your
HTML.
With comments you can place notifications and reminders in your HTML:

Example

<!-- This is a comment -->


<p>This is a paragraph.</p>
<!-- Remember to add more information here -->
Try it yourself
Comments are also great for debugging HTML, because you can comment out
HTML lines of code, one at a time, to search for errors:

Example
<!-- Do not display this at the moment
<img border="0" src="pic_mountain.jpg" alt="Mountain">
-->
Try it Yourself

Conditional Comments
You might stumble upon conditional comments in HTML:

<!--[if IE 8]>
.... some HTML here ....
<![endif]-->
Conditional comments defines HTML tags to be executed by Internet Explorer
only.

Software Program Tags


HTML comments tags can also be generated by various HTML software
programs.
For example <!--webbot bot--> tags wrapped inside HTML comments by
FrontPage and Expression Web.

As a rule, let these tags stay, to help support the software that created them.

HTML Links
Previous

Next Chapter

Links are found in nearly all web pages. Links allow users to click their way
from page to page.

HTML Links - Hyperlinks


HTML links are hyperlinks.
A hyperlink is a text or an image you can click on, and jump to another
document.

HTML Links - Syntax


In HTML, links are defined with the <a> tag:

<a href="url">link text</a>

Example
<a href="http://www.w3schools.com/html/">Visit our HTML tutorial</a>
Try it Yourself
The href attribute specifies the destination address
(http://www.w3schools.com/html/)
The link text is the visible part (Visit our HTML tutorial).

Clicking on the link text, will send you to the specified address.

The link text does not have to be text. It can be an HTML image or any other HTML ele

Without a trailing slash on subfolder addresses, you might generate two requests to th
will automatically add a trailing slash to the address, and then create a new request.

Local Links
The example above used an absolute URL (A full web address).
A local link (link to the same web site) is specified with a relative URL (without
http://www....).

Example
<a href="html_images.asp">HTML Images</a>
Try it Yourself

HTML Links - Colors


When you move the mouse over a link, two things will normally happen:

The mouse arrow will turn into a little hand

The color of the link element will change

By default, a link will appear like this (in all browsers):

An unvisited link is underlined and blue

A visited link is underlined and purple

An active link is underlined and red

You can change the default colors, by using styles:

Example
<style>
a:link {color:green; background-color:transparent; text-decoration:none}
a:visited {color:pink; background-color:transparent; text-decoration:none}
a:hover {color:red; background-color:transparent; textdecoration:underline}
a:active {color:yellow; background-color:transparent; textdecoration:underline}
</style>
Try it Yourself

HTML Links - The target Attribute


The target attribute specifies where to open the linked document.
This example will open the linked document in a new browser window or in a
new tab:

Example
<a href="http://www.w3schools.com/" target="_blank">Visit W3Schools!
</a>
Try it yourself

Target Value

Description

_blank

Opens the linked document in a new window or tab

_self

Opens the linked document in the same frame as it was clicked (this

_parent

Opens the linked document in the parent frame

_top

Opens the linked document in the full body of the window

framename

Opens the linked document in a named frame

If your webpage is locked in a frame, you can use target="_top" to break out of
the frame:

Example
<a href="http://www.w3schools.com/html/" target="_top">HTML5 tutorial!
</a>
Try it Yourself

HTML Links - Image as Link


It is common to use images as links:

Example
<a href="default.asp">
<img src="smiley.gif" alt="HTML
tutorial" style="width:42px;height:42px;border:0">
</a>
Try it Yourself

border:0 is added to prevent IE9 (and earlier) from displaying a border around the ima

HTML Links - Create a Bookmark


HTML bookmarks are used to allow readers to jump to specific parts of a Web
page.
Bookmarks are practical if your website has long pages.
To make a bookmark, you must first create the bookmark, and then add a link
to it.
When the link is clicked, the page will scroll to the location with the bookmark.

Example
First, create a bookmark with the id attribute:

<h2 id="tips">Useful Tips Section</h2>


Then, add a link to the bookmark ("Useful Tips Section"), from within the same
page:

<a href="#tips">Visit the Useful Tips Section</a>


Or, add a link to the bookmark ("Useful Tips Section"), from another page:

Example
<a href="html_tips.htm#tips">Visit the Useful Tips Section</a>
Try it yourself

Chapter Summary

Use the HTML <a> element to define a link

Use the HTML href attribute to define the link address

Use the HTML target attribute to define where to open the linked
document

Use the HTML <img> element (inside <a>) to use an image as a link

Use the HTML id attribute (id="value") to define bookmarks in a page

Use the HTML href attribute (href="#value") to link to the bookmark

Test Yourself with Exercises!


Exercise 1 Exercise 2 Exercise 3 Exercise 4 Exercise 5

HTML Link Tags


Tag

Description

<a>

Defines a hyperlink

HTML IMAGES
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<body>

<h2>Spectacular Mountain</h2>
<img src="pic_mountain.jpg" alt="Mountain
View" style="width:304px;height:228px;">
</body>
</html>
Try it Yourself

Always specify the width and height of an image. If width and height are not specified,
while the image loads.

HTML Images Syntax


In HTML, images are defined with the <img> tag.
The <img> tag is empty, it contains attributes only, and does not have a closing
tag.
The src attribute specifies the URL (web address) of the image:

<img src="url" alt="some_text">

The alt Attribute


The alt attribute specifies an alternate text for an image, if the image cannot be
displayed.
The alt attribute provides alternative information for an image if a user for some
reason cannot view it (because of slow connection, an error in the src attribute,
or if the user uses a screen reader).
If a browser cannot find an image, it will display the alt text:

Example
<img src="wrongname.gif" alt="HTML5
Icon" style="width:128px;height:128px;">
Try it Yourself
The alt attribute is required. A web page will not validate correctly without it.

HTML Screen Readers


A screen reader is a software program that can read what is displayed on a
screen.
Screen readers are useful to people who are blind, visually impaired, or learning
disabled.

Screen readers can read the alt attribute.

Image Size - Width and Height


You can use the style attribute to specify the width and height of an image.
The values are specified in pixels (use px after the value):

Example
<img src="html5.gif" alt="HTML5 Icon" style="width:128px;height:128px;">
Try it Yourself
Alternatively, you can use width and height attributes. Here, the values are
specified in pixels by default:

Example
<img src="html5.gif" alt="HTML5 Icon" width="128" height="128">
Try it Yourself

Width and Height or Style?


Both the width, height, and style attributes are valid in the latest HTML5
standard.
We suggest you use the style attribute. It prevents styles sheets from changing
the original size of images:

Example
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<style>
img {
width:100%;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<img src="html5.gif" alt="HTML5 Icon" style="width:128px;height:128px;">
<img src="html5.gif" alt="HTML5 Icon" width="128" height="128">
</body>
</html>
Try it Yourself

Images in Another Folder

If not specified, the browser expects to find the image in the same folder as the
web page.
However, it is common to store images in a sub-folder. You must then include
the folder name in the src attribute:

Example
<img src="/images/html5.gif" alt="HTML5
Icon" style="width:128px;height:128px;">
Try it Yourself

Images on Another Server


Some web sites store their images on image servers.
Actually, you can access images from any web address in the world:

Example
<img src="http://www.w3schools.com/images/w3schools_green.jpg" alt="W3
Schools.com">
Try it Yourself

Animated Images
The GIF standard allows animated images:

Example
<img src="programming.gif" alt="Computer
Man" style="width:48px;height:48px;">
Try it Yourself

Note that the syntax of inserting animated images is no different from nonanimated images.

Using an Image as a Link


To use an image as a link, simply nest the <img> tag inside the <a> tag:

Example
<a href="default.asp">
<img src="smiley.gif" alt="HTML
tutorial" style="width:42px;height:42px;border:0;">
</a>
Try it Yourself

Add "border:0;" to prevent IE9 (and earlier) from displaying a border around the imag

Image Floating
Use the CSS float property to let the image float.
The image can float to the right or to the left of a text:

Example
<p>
<img src="smiley.gif" alt="Smiley
face" style="float:right;width:42px;height:42px;">
The image will float to the right of the text.
</p>
<p>
<img src="smiley.gif" alt="Smiley
face" style="float:left;width:42px;height:42px;">

The image will float to the left of the text.


</p>
Try it Yourself

Image Maps
Use the <map> tag to define an image-map. An image-map is an image with
clickable areas.
The name attribute of the <map> tag is associated with the <img>'s usemap
attribute and creates a relationship between the image and the map.
The <map> tag contains a number of <area> tags, that defines the clickable
areas in the image-map:

Example
<img src="planets.gif" alt="Planets" usemap="#planetmap" style="width:1
45px;height:126px;">
<map name="planetmap">
<area shape="rect" coords="0,0,82,126" alt="Sun" href="sun.htm">
<area shape="circle" coords="90,58,3" alt="Mercury" href="mercur.htm">
<area shape="circle" coords="124,58,8" alt="Venus" href="venus.htm">
</map>
Try it Yourself

Chapter Summary

Use the HTML <img> element to define an image

Use the HTML src attribute to define the URL of the image

Use the HTML alt attribute to define an alternate text for an image, if it
cannot be displayed

Use the HTML width and height attributes to define the size of the image

Use the CSS width and height properties to define the size of the image
(alternatively)

Use the CSS float property to let the image float

Use the HTML <map> element to define an image-map

Use the HTML <area> element to define the clickable areas in the imagemap

Use the HTML <img>'s element usemap attribute to point to an imagemap

Loading images takes time. Large images can slow down your page. Use images carefu

Test Yourself with Exercises!


Exercise 1 Exercise 2 Exercise 3 Exercise 4 Exercise 5 Exercise 6

HTML Image Tags


Tag

Description

<img>

Defines an image

<map>

Defines an image-map

<area>

Defines a clickable area inside an image-map

HTML Lists
Previous

Next Chapter

Example of an unordered list and an ordered list in


HTML:
Unordered List:

Item

Item

Item

Item

Ordered List:
1. First item
2. Second item
3. Third item
4. Fourth item

Unordered HTML Lists


An unordered list starts with the <ul> tag. Each list item starts with
the <li> tag.

The list items will be marked with bullets (small black circles):

Example
<ul>
<li>Coffee</li>
<li>Tea</li>
<li>Milk</li>
</ul>
Try it Yourself

Unordered HTML Lists - The Style


Attribute
A style attribute can be added to an unordered list, to define the style of the
marker:

Style

Description

list-style-type:disc

The list items will be marked with bullets (default)

list-style-type:circle

The list items will be marked with circles

list-style-type:square

The list items will be marked with squares

list-style-type:none

The list items will not be marked

Disc:
<ul style="list-style-type:disc">
<li>Coffee</li>

<li>Tea</li>
<li>Milk</li>
</ul>
Try it Yourself

Circle:
<ul style="list-style-type:circle">
<li>Coffee</li>
<li>Tea</li>
<li>Milk</li>
</ul>
Try it Yourself

Square:
<ul style="list-style-type:square">
<li>Coffee</li>
<li>Tea</li>
<li>Milk</li>
</ul>
Try it Yourself

None:
<ul style="list-style-type:none">
<li>Coffee</li>
<li>Tea</li>
<li>Milk</li>
</ul>
Try it Yourself

Ordered HTML Lists


An ordered list starts with the <ol> tag. Each list item starts with the <li> tag.
The list items will be marked with numbers:

Example

<ol>
<li>Coffee</li>
<li>Tea</li>
<li>Milk</li>
</ol>
Try it Yourself

Ordered HTML Lists - The Type Attribute


A type attribute can be added to an ordered list, to define the type of the
marker:

Type

Description

type="1"

The list items will be numbered with numbers (default)

type="A"

The list items will be numbered with uppercase letters

type="a"

The list items will be numbered with lowercase letters

type="I"

The list items will be numbered with uppercase roman numbers

type="i"

The list items will be numbered with lowercase roman numbers

Numbers:
<ol type="1">
<li>Coffee</li>
<li>Tea</li>
<li>Milk</li>
</ol>

Try it Yourself

Uppercase Letters:
<ol type="A">
<li>Coffee</li>
<li>Tea</li>
<li>Milk</li>
</ol>
Try it Yourself

Lowercase Letters:
<ol type="a">
<li>Coffee</li>
<li>Tea</li>
<li>Milk</li>
</ol>
Try it Yourself

Uppercase Roman Numbers:


<ol type="I">
<li>Coffee</li>
<li>Tea</li>
<li>Milk</li>
</ol>
Try it Yourself

Lowercase Roman Numbers:


<ol type="i">
<li>Coffee</li>
<li>Tea</li>
<li>Milk</li>
</ol>
Try it Yourself

HTML Description Lists

HTML also supports description lists.


A description list is a list of terms, with a description of each term.
The <dl> tag defines the description list, the <dt> tag defines the term
(name), and the <dd> tag describes each term:

Example
<dl>
<dt>Coffee</dt>
<dd>- black hot drink</dd>
<dt>Milk</dt>
<dd>- white cold drink</dd>
</dl>
Try it Yourself

Nested HTML Lists


List can be nested (lists inside lists):

Example
<ul>
<li>Coffee</li>
<li>Tea
<ul>
<li>Black tea</li>
<li>Green tea</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Milk</li>
</ul>
Try it Yourself

List items can contain new list, and other HTML elements, like images and links, etc.

Horizontal Lists
HTML lists can be styled in many different ways with CSS.
One popular way, is to style a list to be displayed horizontally:

Example
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<style>
ul#menu li {
display:inline;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h2>Horizontal List</h2>
<ul id="menu">
<li>HTML</li>
<li>CSS</li>
<li>JavaScript</li>
<li>PHP</li>
</ul>
</body>
</html>
Try it Yourself
With a little extra style, you can make it look like a menu:

Example
ul#menu {
padding: 0;
}

ul#menu li {
display: inline;
}
ul#menu li a {
background-color: black;
color: white;
padding: 10px 20px;
text-decoration: none;
border-radius: 4px 4px 0 0;
}
ul#menu li a:hover {
background-color: orange;
}
Try it Yourself

Chapter Summary

Use the HTML <ul> element to define an unordered list

Use the HTML style attribute to define the bullet style

Use the HTML <ol> element to define an ordered list

Use the HTML type attribute to define the numbering type

Use the HTML <li> element to define a list item

Use the HTML <dl> element to define a description list

Use the HTML <dt> element to define the description term

Use the HTML <dd> element to define the description data

Lists can be nested inside lists

List items can contain other HTML elements

Use the CSS property display:inline to display a list horizontally

Test Yourself with Exercises!


Exercise 1 Exercise 2 Exercise 3 Exercise 4 Exercise 5 Exercise 6

HTML List Tags


Tag

Description

<ul>

Defines an unordered list

<ol>

Defines an ordered list

<li>

Defines a list item

<dl>

Defines a description list

<dt>

Defines the term in a description list

<dd>

Defines the description in a description list

HTML Tables
Previous

Next Chapter

HTML Table Example


Number

First Name

Last Name

Eve

Jackson

John

Doe

Adam

Johnson

Jill

Smith

Defining HTML Tables


Example
<table style="width:100%">
<tr>
<td>Jill</td>
<td>Smith</td>
<td>50</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Eve</td>
<td>Jackson</td>
<td>94</td>
</tr>
</table>

Try it yourself
Example explained:
Tables are defined with the <table> tag.
Tables are divided into table rows with the <tr> tag.
Table rows are divided into table data with the <td> tag.
A table row can also be divided into table headings with the <th> tag.

Table data <td> are the data containers of the table.


They can contain all sorts of HTML elements like text, images, lists, other tables, etc.

An HTML Table with a Border Attribute


If you do not specify a border for the table, it will be displayed without borders.
A border can be added using the border attribute:

Example
<table border="1" style="width:100%">
<tr>
<td>Jill</td>
<td>Smith</td>
<td>50</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Eve</td>
<td>Jackson</td>
<td>94</td>
</tr>
</table>
Try it Yourself

The border attribute is on its way out of the HTML standard! It is better to use CSS.

To add borders, use the CSS border property:

Example
table, th, td {
border: 1px solid black;
}
Try it Yourself
Remember to define borders for both the table and the table cells.

An HTML Table with Collapsed Borders


If you want the borders to collapse into one border, add CSS border-collapse:

Example
table, th, td {
border: 1px solid black;
border-collapse: collapse;
}
Try it Yourself

An HTML Table with Cell Padding


Cell padding specifies the space between the cell content and its borders.
If you do not specify a padding, the table cells will be displayed without
padding.
To set the padding, use the CSS padding property:

Example
table, th, td {
border: 1px solid black;
border-collapse: collapse;
}
th, td {
padding: 15px;
}
Try it Yourself

HTML Table Headings


Table headings are defined with the <th> tag.
By default, all major browsers display table headings as bold and centered:

Example
<table style="width:100%">
<tr>
<th>Firstname</th>
<th>Lastname</th>
<th>Points</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Eve</td>
<td>Jackson</td>
<td>94</td>
</tr>
</table>
Try it Yourself
To left-align the table headings, use the CSS text-align property:

Example
th {
text-align: left;
}

Try it Yourself

An HTML Table with Border Spacing


Border spacing specifies the space between the cells.
To set the border spacing for a table, use the CSS border-spacing property:

Example
table {
border-spacing: 5px;
}
Try it Yourself

If the table has collapsed borders, border-spacing has no effect.

Table Cells that Span Many Columns


To make a cell span more than one column, use the colspan attribute:

Example
<table style="width:100%">
<tr>
<th>Name</th>
<th colspan="2">Telephone</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Bill Gates</td>
<td>555 77 854</td>
<td>555 77 855</td>
</tr>
</table>

Try it Yourself

Table Cells that Span Many Rows


To make a cell span more than one row, use the rowspan attribute:

Example
<table style="width:100%">
<tr>
<th>Name:</th>
<td>Bill Gates</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th rowspan="2">Telephone:</th>
<td>555 77 854</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>555 77 855</td>
</tr>
</table>
Try it Yourself

An HTML Table With a Caption


To add a caption to a table, use the <caption> tag:

Example
<table style="width:100%">
<caption>Monthly savings</caption>
<tr>
<th>Month</th>
<th>Savings</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>January</td>
<td>$100</td>

</tr>
<tr>
<td>February</td>
<td>$50</td>
</tr>
</table>
Try it Yourself

The <caption> tag must be inserted immediately after the <table> tag.

A Special Style for One Table


To define a special style for a special table, add an id attribute to the table:

Example
<table id="t01">
<tr>
<th>Firstname</th>
<th>Lastname</th>
<th>Points</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Eve</td>
<td>Jackson</td>
<td>94</td>
</tr>
</table>

Now you can define a special style for this table:


table#t01 {
width: 100%;
background-color: #f1f1c1;
}
Try it Yourself

And add more styles:


table#t01 tr:nth-child(even) {
background-color: #eee;
}
table#t01 tr:nth-child(odd) {
background-color: #fff;
}
table#t01 th {
color: white;
background-color: black;
}
Try it Yourself

Chapter Summary

Use the HTML <table> element to define a table

Use the HTML <tr> element to define a table row

Use the HTML <td> element to define a table data

Use the HTML <th> element to define a table heading

Use the HTML <caption> element to define a table caption

Use the CSS border property to define a border

Use the CSS border-collapse property to collapse cell borders

Use the CSS padding property to add padding to cells

Use the CSS text-align property to align cell text

Use the CSS border-spacing property to set the spacing between cells

Use the colspan attribute to make a cell span many columns

Use the rowspan attribute to make a cell span many rows

Use the id attribute to uniquely define one table

Test Yourself with Exercises!


Exercise 1 Exercise 2 Exercise 3 Exercise 4 Exercise 5 Exercise 6

HTML Table Tags


Tag

Description

<table>

Defines a table

<th>

Defines a header cell in a table

<tr>

Defines a row in a table

<td>

Defines a cell in a table

<caption>

Defines a table caption

<colgroup>

Specifies a group of one or more columns in a table for formatting

<col>

Specifies column properties for each column within a <colgroup> element

<thead>

Groups the header content in a table

<tbody>

Groups the body content in a table

<tfoot>

Groups the footer content in a table

HTML Forms
Previous

Next Chapter

The <form> Element


HTML forms are used to collect user input.
The <form> element defines an HTML form:

<form>
.
form elements
.
</form>
HTML forms contain form elements.
Form elements are different types of input elements, checkboxes, radio buttons,
submit buttons, and more.

The <input> Element


The <input> element is the most important form element.

The <input> element has many variations, depending on the type attribute.
Here are the types used in this chapter:

Type

Description

text

Defines normal text input

radio

Defines radio button input (for selecting one of many choices)

submit

Defines a submit button (for submitting the form)

You will learn a lot more about input types later in this tutorial.

Text Input
<input type="text"> defines a one-line input field for text input:

Example
<form>
First name:<br>
<input type="text" name="firstname">
<br>
Last name:<br>
<input type="text" name="lastname">
</form>
Try it Yourself
This is how it will look like in a browser:

First name:

Last name:

Note: The form itself is not visible. Also note that the default width of a text
field is 20 characters.

Radio Button Input


<input type="radio"> defines a radio button.
Radio buttons let a user select ONE of a limited number of choices:

Example
<form>
<input type="radio" name="sex" value="male" checked>Male
<br>
<input type="radio" name="sex" value="female">Female
</form>
Try it Yourself
This is how the HTML code above will be displayed in a browser:
Male

Female

The Submit Button

<input type="submit"> defines a button for submitting a form to a formhandler.


The form-handler is typically a server page with a script for processing input
data.
The form-handler is specified in the form's action attribute:

Example
<form action="action_page.php">
First name:<br>
<input type="text" name="firstname" value="Mickey">
<br>
Last name:<br>
<input type="text" name="lastname" value="Mouse">
<br><br>
<input type="submit" value="Submit">
</form>
Try it Yourself
This is how the HTML code above will be displayed in a browser:
First name:
Mickey

Last name:
Mouse

Submit

The Action Attribute


The action attribute defines the action to be performed when the form is
submitted.
The common way to submit a form to a server, is by using a submit button.

Normally, the form is submitted to a web page on a web server.


In the example above, a server-side script is specified to handle the submitted
form:

<form action="action_page.php">
If the action attribute is omitted, the action is set to the current page.

The Method Attribute


The method attribute specifies the HTTP method (GET or POST) to be used
when submitting the forms:

<form action="action_page.php" method="get">


or:

<form action="action_page.php" method="post">

When to Use GET?


You can use GET (the default method):
If the form submission is passive (like a search engine query), and without
sensitive information.
When you use GET, the form data will be visible in the page address:

action_page.php?firstname=Mickey&lastname=Mouse

GET is best suited to short amounts of data. Size limitations are set in your browser.

When to Use POST?


You should use POST:
If the form is updating data, or includes sensitive information (password).
POST offers better security because the submitted data is not visible in the page
address.

The Name Attribute


To be submitted correctly, each input field must have a name attribute.
This example will only submit the "Last name" input field:

Example
<form action="action_page.php">
First name:<br>
<input type="text" value="Mickey">
<br>
Last name:<br>
<input type="text" name="lastname" value="Mouse">
<br><br>
<input type="submit" value="Submit">
</form>
Try it Yourself

Grouping Form Data with <fieldset>


The <fieldset> element groups related data in a form.
The <legend> element defines a caption for the <fieldset> element.

Example

<form action="action_page.php">
<fieldset>
<legend>Personal information:</legend>
First name:<br>
<input type="text" name="firstname" value="Mickey">
<br>
Last name:<br>
<input type="text" name="lastname" value="Mouse">
<br><br>
<input type="submit" value="Submit">
</fieldset>
</form>
Try it Yourself
This is how the HTML code above will be displayed in a browser:
Personal information:First name:
Mickey

Last name:
Mouse

Submit

HTML Form Attributes


An HTML <form> element, with all possible attributes set, will look like this:

<form action="action_page.php" method="GET" target="_blank" acceptcharset="UTF-8"


enctype="application/x-www-form-urlencoded" autocomplete="off" novalidat
e>
.
form elements
.
</form>

Test Yourself with Exercises!


Exercise 1

Exercise 2

Exercise 3

Exercise 4

Here is the list of <form> attributes:

Attribute

Description

accept-charset

Specifies the charset used in the submitted form (default: the page chars

action

Specifies an address (url) where to submit the form (default: the submitt

autocomplete

Specifies if the browser should autocomplete the form (default: on).

enctype

Specifies the encoding of the submitted data (default: is url-encoded).

method

Specifies the HTTP method used when submitting the form (default: GET)

name

Specifies a name used to identify the form (for DOM usage: document.for

novalidate

Specifies that the browser should not validate the form.

target

Specifies the target of the address in the action attribute (default: _self).

You will learn more about attributes in the next chapters.

HTML Form Elements


Previous

Next Chapter

This chapter describes all HTML form elements.

The <input> Element


The most important form element is the <input> element.
The <input> element can vary in many ways, depending on the type attribute.

All HTML input types are covered in the next chapter.

The <select> Element (Drop-Down List)


The <select> element defines a drop-down list:

Example
<select name="cars">
<option value="volvo">Volvo</option>
<option value="saab">Saab</option>
<option value="fiat">Fiat</option>
<option value="audi">Audi</option>
</select>

Try it Yourself
The <option> elements defines the options to select.
The list will normally show the first item as selected.
You can add a selected attribute to define a predefined option.

Example
<option value="fiat" selected>Fiat</option>
Try it Yourself

The <textarea> Element


The <textarea> element defines a multi-line input field (a text area):

Example
<textarea name="message" rows="10" cols="30">
The cat was playing in the garden.
</textarea>
Try it Yourself
This is how the HTML code above will be displayed in a browser:

The <button> Element


The <button> element defines a clickable button:

Example
<button type="button" onclick="alert('Hello World!')">Click Me!</button>
Try it Yourself
This is how the HTML code above will be displayed in a browser:

Click Me!

HTML5 Form Elements


HTML5 added the following form elements:

<datalist>

<keygen>

<output>

By default, browsers do not display unknown elements. New elements will not destroy

HTML5 <datalist> Element


The <datalist> element specifies a list of pre-defined options for an <input>
element.
Users will see a drop-down list of pre-defined options as they input data.

The list attribute of the <input> element, must refer to the id attribute of the
<datalist> element.

Example
An <input> element with pre-defined values in a <datalist>:

<form action="action_page.php">
<input list="browsers">
<datalist id="browsers">
<option value="Internet Explorer">
<option value="Firefox">
<option value="Chrome">
<option value="Opera">
<option value="Safari">
</datalist>
</form>
Try it Yourself

HTML5 <keygen> Element


The purpose of the <keygen> element is to provide a secure way to
authenticate users.
The <keygen> element specifies a key-pair generator field in a form.
When the form is submitted, two keys are generated, one private and one
public.
The private key is stored locally, and the public key is sent to the server.
The public key could be used to generate a client certificate to authenticate the
user in the future.

Example

A form with a keygen field:

<form action="action_page.php">
Username: <input type="text" name="user">
Encryption: <keygen name="security">
<input type="submit">
</form>
Try it Yourself

HTML5 <output> Element


The <output> element represents the result of a calculation (like one performed
by a script).

Example
Perform a calculation and show the result in an <output> element:

<form action="action_page.asp"
oninput="x.value=parseInt(a.value)+parseInt(b.value)">
0
<input type="range" id="a" name="a" value="50">
100 +
<input type="number" id="b" name="b" value="50">
=
<output name="x" for="a b"></output>
<br><br>
<input type="submit">
</form>
Try it Yourself

Test Yourself with Exercises!


Exercise 1

Exercise 2

Exercise 3

HTML Form Elements


= new in HTML5.

Tag

Description

<form>

Defines an HTML form for user input

<input>

Defines an input control

<textarea>

Defines a multiline input control (text area)

<label>

Defines a label for an <input> element

<fieldset>

Groups related elements in a form

<legend>

Defines a caption for a <fieldset> element

<select>

Defines a drop-down list

<optgroup>

Defines a group of related options in a drop-down list

<option>

Defines an option in a drop-down list

<button>

Defines a clickable button

<datalist>

Specifies a list of pre-defined options for input controls

<keygen>

Defines a key-pair generator field (for forms)

<output>

Defines the result of a calculation

HTML Input Types


Previous

Next Chapter

Input Types
This chapter describes the input types of the <input> element.

Input Type: text


<input type="text"> defines a one-line input field for text input:

Example
<form>
First name:<br>
<input type="text" name="firstname">
<br>
Last name:<br>
<input type="text" name="lastname">
</form>

Try it Yourself
This is how the HTML code above will be displayed in a browser:
First name:
Last name:

Input Type: password


<input type="password"> defines a password field:

Example
<form>
User name:<br>
<input type="text" name="username">
<br>
User password:<br>
<input type="password" name="psw">
</form>
Try it Yourself
This is how the HTML code above will be displayed in a browser:
User name:
User password:

The characters in a password field are masked (shown as asterisks or circles).

Input Type: submit

<input type="submit"> defines a button for submitting form input to


a form-handler.
The form-handler is typically a server page with a script for processing input
data.
The form-handler is specified in the form's action attribute:

Example
<form action="action_page.php">
First name:<br>
<input type="text" name="firstname" value="Mickey">
<br>
Last name:<br>
<input type="text" name="lastname" value="Mouse">
<br><br>
<input type="submit" value="Submit">
</form>
Try it Yourself
This is how the HTML code above will be displayed in a browser:
First name:
Mickey

Last name:
Mouse

Submit

If you omit the submit button's value attribute, the button will get a default
text:

Example
<form action="action_page.php">
First name:<br>
<input type="text" name="firstname" value="Mickey">

<br>
Last name:<br>
<input type="text" name="lastname" value="Mouse">
<br><br>
<input type="submit">
</form>
Try it Yourself

Input Type: radio


<input type="radio"> defines a radio button.
Radio buttons let a user select ONLY ONE of a limited number of choices:

Example
<form>
<input type="radio" name="sex" value="male" checked> Male
<br>
<input type="radio" name="sex" value="female"> Female
</form>
Try it Yourself
This is how the HTML code above will be displayed in a browser:
Male
Female

Input Type: checkbox


<input type="checkbox"> defines a checkbox.
Checkboxes let a user select ZERO or MORE options of a limited number of
choices.

Example
<form>
<input type="checkbox" name="vehicle1" value="Bike"> I have a bike
<br>
<input type="checkbox" name="vehicle2" value="Car"> I have a car
</form>
Try it Yourself
This is how the HTML code above will be displayed in a browser:
I have a bike
I have a car

Input Type: button


<input type="button"> defines a button:

Example
<input type="button" onclick="alert('Hello World!')" value="Click Me!">
Try it Yourself
This is how the HTML code above will be displayed in a browser:

HTML5 Input Types


HTML5 added several new input types:

color

date

datetime

datetime-local

email

month

number

range

search

tel

time

url

week

Input types, not supported by old web browsers, will behave as input type text.

Input Type: number


The <input type="number"> is used for input fields that should contain a
numeric value.
You can set restrictions on the numbers.
Depending on browser support, the restrictions can apply to the input field.

Example

<form>
Quantity (between 1 and 5):
<input type="number" name="quantity" min="1" max="5">
</form>
Try it Yourself

Input Restrictions
Here is a list of some common input restrictions (some are new in HTML5):

Attribute

Description

disabled

Specifies that an input field should be disabled

max

Specifies the maximum value for an input field

maxlength

Specifies the maximum number of character for an input field

min

Specifies the minimum value for an input field

pattern

Specifies a regular expression to check the input value against

readonly

Specifies that an input field is read only (cannot be changed)

required

Specifies that an input field is required (must be filled out)

size

Specifies the width (in characters) of an input field

step

Specifies the legal number intervals for an input field

value

Specifies the default value for an input field

You will learn more about input restrictions in the next chapter.

Example
<form>
Quantity:
<input type="number" name="points" min="0" max="100" step="10" valu
e="30">
</form>
Try it Yourself

Input Type: date


The <input type="date"> is used for input fields that should contain a date.
Depending on browser support, a date picker can show up in the input field.

Example
<form>
Birthday:
<input type="date" name="bday">
</form>
Try it Yourself

You can add restrictions to the input:

Example
<form>
Enter a date before 1980-01-01:
<input type="date" name="bday" max="1979-12-31"><br>
Enter a date after 2000-01-01:
<input type="date" name="bday" min="2000-01-02"><br>
</form>
Try it Yourself

Input Type: color


The <input type="color"> is used for input fields that should contain a color.
Depending on browser support, a color picker can show up in the input field.

Example
<form>
Select your favorite color:
<input type="color" name="favcolor">
</form>
Try it Yourself

Input Type: range


The <input type="range"> is used for input fields that should contain a value
within a range.
Depending on browser support, the input field can be displayed as a slider
control.

Example
<form>
<input type="range" name="points" min="0" max="10">
</form>
Try it Yourself
You can use the following attributes to specify restrictions: min, max, step,
value.

Input Type: month


The <input type="month"> allows the user to select a month and year.
Depending on browser support, a date picker can show up in the input field.

Example
<form>
Birthday (month and year):
<input type="month" name="bdaymonth">
</form>
Try it Yourself

Input Type: week


The <input type="week"> allows the user to select a week and year.
Depending on browser support, a date picker can show up in the input field.

Example

<form>
Select a week:
<input type="week" name="week_year">
</form>
Try it Yourself

Input Type: time


The <input type="time"> allows the user to select a time (no time zone).
Depending on browser support, a time picker can show up in the input field.

Example
<form>
Select a time:
<input type="time" name="usr_time">
</form>
Try it Yourself

Input Type: datetime


The <input type="datetime"> allows the user to select a date and time (with
time zone).

Example
<form>
Birthday (date and time):
<input type="datetime" name="bdaytime">
</form>
Try it Yourself

The input type datetime is removed from the HTML standard. Use datetime-local instea

Input Type: datetime-local


The <input type="datetime-local"> allows the user to select a date and time
(no time zone).
Depending on browser support, a date picker can show up in the input field.

Example
<form>
Birthday (date and time):
<input type="datetime-local" name="bdaytime">
</form>
Try it Yourself

Input Type: email


The <input type="email"> is used for input fields that should contain an email address.
Depending on browser support, the e-mail address can be automatically
validated when submitted.
Some smartphones recognize the email type, and adds ".com" to the keyboard
to match email input.

Example

<form>
E-mail:
<input type="email" name="email">
</form>
Try it Yourself

Input Type: search


The <input type="search"> is used for search fields (a search field behaves
like a regular text field).

Example
<form>
Search Google:
<input type="search" name="googlesearch">
</form>
Try it Yourself

Input Type: tel


The <input type="tel"> is used for input fields that should contain a
telephone number.
The tel type is currently supported only in Safari 8.

Example
<form>
Telephone:
<input type="tel" name="usrtel">
</form>

Try it Yourself

Input Type: url


The <input type="url"> is used for input fields that should contain a URL
address.
Depending on browser support, the url field can be automatically validated
when submitted.
Some smartphones recognize the url type, and adds ".com" to the keyboard to
match url input.

Example
<form>
Add your homepage:
<input type="url" name="homepage">
</form>
Try it Yourself

The value Attribute


The value attribute specifies the initial value for an input field:

Example
<form action="">
First name:<br>
<input type="text" name="firstname" value="John">
<br>
Last name:<br>
<input type="text" name="lastname">
</form>
Try it Yourself

The readonly Attribute


The readonly attribute specifies that the input field is read only (cannot be
changed):

Example
<form action="">
First name:<br>
<input type="text" name="firstname" value="John" readonly>
<br>
Last name:<br>
<input type="text" name="lastname">
</form>
Try it Yourself
The readonly attribute does not need a value. It is the same as writing
readonly="readonly".

The disabled Attribute


The disabled attribute specifies that the input field is disabled.
A disabled element is un-usable and un-clickable.
Disabled elements will not be submitted.

Example
<form action="">
First name:<br>
<input type="text" name="firstname" value="John" disabled>
<br>
Last name:<br>
<input type="text" name="lastname">
</form>
Try it Yourself

The disabled attribute does not need a value. It is the same as writing
disabled="disabled".

The size Attribute


The size attribute specifies the size (in characters) for the input field:

Example
<form action="">
First name:<br>
<input type="text" name="firstname" value="John" size="40">
<br>
Last name:<br>
<input type="text" name="lastname">
</form>
Try it Yourself

The maxlength Attribute


The maxlength attribute specifies the maximum allowed length for the input
field:

Example
<form action="">
First name:<br>
<input type="text" name="firstname" maxlength="10">
<br>
Last name:<br>
<input type="text" name="lastname">
</form>
Try it Yourself
With a maxlength attribute, the input control will not accept more than the
allowed number of characters.

The attribute does not provide any feedback. If you want to alert the user, you
must write JavaScript code.

Input restrictions are not foolproof. JavaScript provides many ways to add illegal input
To safely restrict input, restrictions must be checked by the receiver (the server) as we

HTML5 Attributes
HTML5 added the following attributes for <input>:

autocomplete

autofocus

form

formaction

formenctype

formmethod

formnovalidate

formtarget

height and width

list

min and max

multiple

pattern (regexp)

placeholder

required

step

and the following attributes for <form>:

autocomplete

novalidate

The autocomplete Attribute


The autocomplete attribute specifies whether a form or input field should have
autocomplete on or off.
When autocomplete is on, the browser automatically complete values based on
values that the user has entered before.
Tip: It is possible to have autocomplete "on" for the form, and "off" for specific
input fields, or vice versa.
The autocomplete attribute works with <form> and the following <input>
types: text, search, url, tel, email, password, datepickers, range, and color.

Example
An HTML form with autocomplete on (and off for one input field):

<form action="action_page.php" autocomplete="on">


First name:<input type="text" name="fname"><br>
Last name: <input type="text" name="lname"><br>
E-mail: <input type="email" name="email" autocomplete="off"><br>
<input type="submit">
</form>

Try it Yourself
Tip: In some browsers you may need to activate the autocomplete function for
this to work.

The novalidate Attribute


The novalidate attribute is a <form> attribute.
When present, novalidate specifies that form data should not be validated when
submitted.

Example
Indicates that the form is not to be validated on submit:

<form action="action_page.php" novalidate>


E-mail: <input type="email" name="user_email">
<input type="submit">
</form>
Try it Yourself

The autofocus Attribute


The autofocus attribute is a boolean attribute.
When present, it specifies that an <input> element should automatically get
focus when the page loads.

Example
Let the "First name" input field automatically get focus when the page loads:

First name:<input type="text" name="fname" autofocus>


Try it Yourself

The form Attribute


The form attribute specifies one or more forms an <input> element belongs to.
Tip: To refer to more than one form, use a space-separated list of form ids.

Example
An input field located outside the HTML form (but still a part of the form):

<form action="action_page.php" id="form1">


First name: <input type="text" name="fname"><br>
<input type="submit" value="Submit">
</form>
Last name: <input type="text" name="lname" form="form1">
Try it Yourself

The formaction Attribute


The formaction attribute specifies the URL of a file that will process the input
control when the form is submitted.
The formaction attribute overrides the action attribute of the <form> element.
The formaction attribute is used with type="submit" and type="image".

Example

An HTML form with two submit buttons, with different actions:

<form action="action_page.php">
First name: <input type="text" name="fname"><br>
Last name: <input type="text" name="lname"><br>
<input type="submit" value="Submit"><br>
<input type="submit" formaction="demo_admin.asp"
value="Submit as admin">
</form>
Try it Yourself

The formenctype Attribute


The formenctype attribute specifies how the form-data should be encoded when
submitting it to the server (only for forms with method="post").
The formenctype attribute overrides the enctype attribute of the <form>
element.
The formenctype attribute is used with type="submit" and type="image".

Example
Send form-data that is default encoded (the first submit button), and encoded
as "multipart/form-data" (the second submit button):

<form action="demo_post_enctype.asp" method="post">


First name: <input type="text" name="fname"><br>
<input type="submit" value="Submit">
<input type="submit" formenctype="multipart/form-data"
value="Submit as Multipart/form-data">
</form>
Try it Yourself

The formmethod Attribute


The formmethod attribute defines the HTTP method for sending form-data to
the action URL.
The formmethod attribute overrides the method attribute of the <form>
element.
The formmethod attribute can be used with type="submit" and type="image".

Example
The second submit button overrides the HTTP method of the form:

<form action="action_page.php" method="get">


First name: <input type="text" name="fname"><br>
Last name: <input type="text" name="lname"><br>
<input type="submit" value="Submit">
<input type="submit" formmethod="post" formaction="demo_post.asp"
value="Submit using POST">
</form>
Try it Yourself

The formnovalidate Attribute


The novalidate attribute is a boolean attribute.
When present, it specifies that the <input> element should not be validated
when submitted.
The formnovalidate attribute overrides the novalidate attribute of the <form>
element.
The formnovalidate attribute can be used with type="submit".

Example
A form with two submit buttons (with and without validation):

<form action="action_page.php">
E-mail: <input type="email" name="userid"><br>
<input type="submit" value="Submit"><br>
<input type="submit" formnovalidate value="Submit without validation">
</form>
Try it Yourself

The formtarget Attribute


The formtarget attribute specifies a name or a keyword that indicates where to
display the response that is received after submitting the form.
The formtarget attribute overrides the target attribute of the <form> element.
The formtarget attribute can be used with type="submit" and type="image".

Example
A form with two submit buttons, with different target windows:

<form action="action_page.php">
First name: <input type="text" name="fname"><br>
Last name: <input type="text" name="lname"><br>
<input type="submit" value="Submit as normal">
<input type="submit" formtarget="_blank"
value="Submit to a new window">
</form>
Try it Yourself

The height and width Attributes

The height and width attributes specify the height and width of an <input>
element.
The height and width attributes are only used with <input type="image">.

Always specify the size of images. If the browser does not know the size, the page will
load.

Example
Define an image as the submit button, with height and width attributes:

<input type="image" src="img_submit.gif" alt="Submit" width="48" height


="48">
Try it Yourself

The list Attribute


The list attribute refers to a <datalist> element that contains pre-defined
options for an <input> element.

Example
An <input> element with pre-defined values in a <datalist>:

<input list="browsers">
<datalist id="browsers">
<option value="Internet Explorer">
<option value="Firefox">
<option value="Chrome">
<option value="Opera">
<option value="Safari">
</datalist>

Try it Yourself

The min and max Attributes


The min and max attributes specify the minimum and maximum value for an
<input> element.
The min and max attributes work with the following input types: number, range,
date, datetime, datetime-local, month, time and week.

Example
<input> elements with min and max values:

Enter a date before 1980-01-01:


<input type="date" name="bday" max="1979-12-31">
Enter a date after 2000-01-01:
<input type="date" name="bday" min="2000-01-02">
Quantity (between 1 and 5):
<input type="number" name="quantity" min="1" max="5">
Try it Yourself

The multiple Attribute


The multiple attribute is a boolean attribute.
When present, it specifies that the user is allowed to enter more than one value
in the <input> element.
The multiple attribute works with the following input types: email, and file.

Example
A file upload field that accepts multiple values:

Select images: <input type="file" name="img" multiple>


Try it Yourself

The pattern Attribute


The pattern attribute specifies a regular expression that the <input> element's
value is checked against.
The pattern attribute works with the following input types: text, search, url, tel,
email, and password.
Tip: Use the global title attribute to describe the pattern to help the user.
Tip: Learn more about regular expressions in our JavaScript tutorial.

Example
An input field that can contain only three letters (no numbers or special
characters):

Country code: <input type="text" name="country_code" pattern="[A-Za-z]


{3}" title="Three letter country code">
Try it Yourself

The placeholder Attribute


The placeholder attribute specifies a hint that describes the expected value of
an input field (a sample value or a short description of the format).

The hint is displayed in the input field before the user enters a value.
The placeholder attribute works with the following input types: text, search, url,
tel, email, and password.

Example
An input field with a placeholder text:

<input type="text" name="fname" placeholder="First name">


Try it Yourself

The required Attribute


The required attribute is a boolean attribute.
When present, it specifies that an input field must be filled out before
submitting the form.
The required attribute works with the following input types: text, search, url,
tel, email, password, date pickers, number, checkbox, radio, and file.

Example
A required input field:

Username: <input type="text" name="usrname" required>


Try it Yourself

The step Attribute

The step attribute specifies the legal number intervals for an <input> element.
Example: if step="3", legal numbers could be -3, 0, 3, 6, etc.
Tip: The step attribute can be used together with the max and min attributes to
create a range of legal values.
The step attribute works with the following input types: number, range, date,
datetime, datetime-local, month, time and week.

Example
An input field with a specified legal number intervals:

<input type="number" name="points" step="3">


Try it Yourself

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