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Hypertext Markup Language, HTML is the predominant markup language for web pages. The HTML tags and attributes tell your browser how to layout the web page and present it as the author intended. A working knowledge of HTML can help you juice up your web pages, blogs, comments and forum topics.

HTML Cheat Sheet

Basic Document Layout / Template

<!DOCTYPE html>(Defines Document Specifications)
<html>
      <head>
            (Insert meta tags and other non displayed information)
            <title> (Insert Document Title) </title>
      </head>
      <body>
      (Insert Document Body)
      </body>
</html>

Basic Tags

<html> </html>Creates an HTML document
<head> </head> Sets off the title and other information that isn't displayed
<body></body> Sets off the visible portion of the document

Header Tags

<title></title> Puts the name of the document in the title bar
<metaname="?" content="?"> supplies information about a page but does not affect its appearance

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
<body topmargin="?"> setss the top margin
<body leftmargin="?"> sets the left margin

Text Tags

<pre></pre> Creates preformatted text
<h1></h1> 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)
<fontsize="?"></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> 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
<ul></ul> Creates a bulleted list
<li></li> creates a list item
<div> A generic tag used to format large blocks of HTML

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
< td align="?"> Sets alignment for cell(s) (left, center, or right)
< td valign="?"> Sets vertical alignment for cell(s) (top, middle, or bottom)
< td colspan="#"> Sets number of columns a cell should span (default=1)
< 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> Precedes the <body> 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 width
<frameset cols="value,value"> Defines the columns within a frameset, using number in pixels or percentage of width
<frame>Defines a single frame 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 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 scroll bar; 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

<form></form> Creates all forms
<select multiple name="NAME" size="?"></select> Creates a scrolling menu. Size sets the number of menu items visible before you need to scroll.
<option> Sets off each menu item
<select name="NAME"> 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

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