List of Common HTML Codes and Their Purpose – Cheat Sheet


Basic Tags
<html></html>

Creates an HTML document

<head></head>

Sets off the title and other information that isn’t displayed on the Web page itself

<body></body>

Sets off the visible portion of the document

Header Tags
<title></title>

Puts the name of the document in the title bar

Body Attributes
<body bgcolor=?>

Sets the background color, using name or hex value

<body text=?>

Sets the text color, using name or hex value

<body link=?>

Sets the color of links, using name or hex value

<body vlink=?>

Sets the color of followed links, using name or hex value

<body alink=?>

Sets the color of links on click

Text Tags
<pre></pre>

Creates preformatted text

<hl></hl>

Creates the largest headline

<h6></h6>

Creates the smallest headline

<b></b>

Creates bold text

<i></i>

Creates italic text

<tt></tt>

Creates teletype, or typewriter-style text

<cite></cite>

Creates a citation, usually italic

<em></em>

Emphasizes a word (with italic or bold)

<strong></strong>

Emphasizes a word (with italic or bold)

<font size=?></font>

Sets size of font, from 1 to 7)

<font color=?></font>

Sets font color, using name or hex value

Links
<a href="URL"></a>

Creates a hyperlink

<a href="mailto:EMAIL"></a>

Creates a mailto link

<a name="NAME"></a>

Creates a target location within a document

<a href="#NAME"></a>

Links to that target location from elsewhere in the document

Formatting
<p></p>

Creates a new paragraph

<p align=?>

Aligns a paragraph to the left, right, or center

<br>

Inserts a line break

<blockquote>

</blockquote>

Indents text from both sides

<dl></dl>

Creates a definition list

<dt>

Precedes each definition term

<dd>

Precedes each definition

<ol></ol>

Creates a numbered list

<li></li>

Precedes each list item, and adds a number

<ul></ul>

Creates a bulleted list

<div align=?>

A generic tag used to format large blocks of HTML, also used for stylesheets

Graphical Elements
<img src="name">

Adds an image

<img src="name" align=?>

Aligns an image: left, right, center; bottom, top, middle

<img src="name" border=?>

Sets size of border around an image

<hr>

Inserts a horizontal rule

<hr size=?>

Sets size (height) of rule

<hr width=?>

Sets width of rule, in percentage or absolute value

<hr noshade>

Creates a rule without a shadow

Tables
<table></table>

Creates a table

<tr></tr>

Sets off each row in a table

<td></td>

Sets off each cell in a row

<th></th>

Sets off the table header (a normal cell with bold, centered text)

Table Attributes
<table border=#>

Sets width of border around table cells

<table cellspacing=#>

Sets amount of space between table cells

<table cellpadding=#>

Sets amount of space between a cell’s border and its contents

<table width=# or %>

Sets width of table – in pixels or as a percentage of document width

<tr align=?> or <td align=?>

Sets alignment for cell(s) (left, center, or right)

<tr valign=?> or <td valign=?>

Sets vertical alignment for cell(s) (top, middle, or bottom)

<td colspan=#>

Sets number of columns a cell should span

<td rowspan=#>

Sets number of rows a cell should span (default=1)

<td nowrap>

Prevents the lines within a cell from being broken to fit

Frames
<frameset></frameset>

tag in a frames document; can also be nested in other framesets

<frameset rows="value,value">

Defines the rows within a frameset, using number in pixels, or percentage of w idth

<frameset cols="value,value">

Defines the columns within a frameset, using number in pixels, or percentage of width

<frame>

Defines a single frame – or region – within a frameset

<noframes></noframes>

Defines what will appear on browsers that don’t support frames

Frames Attributes
<frame src="URL">

Specifies which HTML document should be displayed

<frame name="name">

Names the frame, or region, so it may be targeted by other frames

<frame marginwidth=#>

Defines the left and right margins for the frame; must be equal to or greater than 1

<frame marginheight=#>

Defines the top and bottom margins for the frame; must be equal to or greater than 1

<frame scrolling=VALUE>

Sets whether the frame has a scrollbar; value may equal “yes,” “no,” or “auto. ” The default, as in ordinary documents, is auto.

<frame noresize>

Prevents the user from resizing a frame

Forms
For functional forms, you’ll have to run a CGI script. The HTML just creates the appearance of a form.
<form></form>

Creates all forms

<select multiple name="NAME" size=?></select>

Creates a scrolling menu. Size sets the number of menu items visible before yo u need to scroll.

<option>

Sets off each menu item

<select name="NAME"></select>

Creates a pulldown menu

<option>

Sets off each menu item

<textarea name="NAME" cols=40 rows=8></textarea>

Creates a text box area. Columns set the width; rows set the height.

<input type="checkbox" name="NAME">

Creates a checkbox. Text follows tag.

<input type="radio" name="NAME" value="x">

Creates a radio button. Text follows tag

<input type=text name="foo" size=20>

Creates a one-line text area. Size sets length, in characters.

<input type="submit" value="NAME">

Creates a Submit button

<input type="image" border=0 name="NAME" src="name.gif">

Creates a Submit button using an image

<input type="reset">

Creates a Reset button