Hypertext Markup Language Elements

1 HTML 5 Elements

Description

Below is a complete list of all HTML 5 elements, along with a short description.

Name Description
<!-- comment --> used to create a comment
<DOCTYPE> the mandatory Doctype declaration
<a> used to create links
<abbr> used to provide definitions for an abbreviations
<address> used to hold contact information such as an email address, or mailing address
<area> defines a specific section of a <map> or <img> element
<article> used to contain a self-contained piece of content; such as a blog post, forum post, news article, etc.
<aside> used to hold information which is indirectly related to the main content of the document
<audio> used to allow users to listen to an audio file
<b> used to draw the readers attention to a word or phrase
<base> contains the base URL to which is prepended to all relative URLs
<bdi> used to contain text which has unknown directionality
<bdo> used to alter the direction of the enclosed text
<blockquote> used to contain a quote which is related to the containing document
<body> contains the visible content of an HTML page
<br> forces a line break into the document
<button> an interactive element meant to be activated by the user's mouse, keyboard, touchpad, or other user input device
<canvas> used together with the canvas scripting API, or the WebGL API to create graphics and animations
<caption> used to hold a description or title for a <table> element
<cite> used to contain a reference or citation
<code> used to contain some kind of soure code; generally used together with the <pre> element
<col> used to define information about one or more columns in a <table> element
<colgroup> functions as a parent element for <col> elements
<data> used to link together human readable and computer readable information
<datalist> functions as a parent element for <option> elements
<dd> provides the definition, description, or value for the preceeding <dt> element in a <dl> element
<del> used to contain text which has been removed from a document
<details> used to conceal text which the user may optionally view by clicking on the child <summary> element
<dfn> used to contain a word or phrase which will be defined
<dialog> used to create popup
<div> used to create a generic container element
<dl> functions as a parent element for <dt> and <dd> elements
<dt> used to encapsulate a term, the definition of the term is enclosed in the associated <dd> element
<em> used to signify emphasis of the enclosed text
<embed> used to embed external content
<fieldset> used as a container for one or more <input> elements in a <form>
<figcaption> used to contain a caption for a <figure> element
<figure> typically contains an image, graph, example, or something which is related to the surrounding content
<footer> acts as a footer for a sectioning element
<form> used as a parent for <input> elements
<h1> level 1 section header, which is the highest level section header
<h2> level 2 section header
<h3> level 3 section header
<h4> level 4 section header
<h5> level 5 section header
<h6> level 6 section header, which is the lowest level section header
<head> used to contain metadata and links to other resources
<header> contains title information about a sectioning element
<hgroup> used as a container for a section heading element and other related elements
<hr> inserts a horizontal line into a webpage
<html> the root element for every webpage
<i> used to contain important text, generally rendered in italics
<iframe> used to embed one webpage into another webpage
<img> used to embed an image into a webpage
<input> used to allow users to input information or data into a webpage
<ins> used to hold text which has bee inserted into a webpage
<kbd> used to hold text which has been input from a keyboard or other input device
<label> used to provide a descriptive name for a single <input> element
<legend> used to contain a caption for a <fieldset> element
<li> used to create a single item in a <ol> or <ul> element
<link> used to define a relationship between a webpage and an external resource like a CSS stylesheet
<main> used to hold the primary or dominant section of content on a webpage
<map> used to create images together with the <area> element
<mark> used to highlight text
<math> used to create mathematical formulas or equations
<menu> used to create a list of different buttons users may press
<meta> used to define metadata for which no other element is suitable
<meter> used to create a simple horizontal bar graph
<nav> used to hold a group of related navigation links
<noscript> used to hold html which will be displayed when JavaScript is unavailable or turned off
<object> used to represent an external resource
<ol> used to create numbered lists
<optgroup> used to group together <option> elements in a dropdown menu
<option> used to create a dropdown menu in a <form> element
<output> used to hold the results of a calculation or the results of a user action
<p> used to create a paragraph of text
<picture> used to embed an image with multiple sources and conditional loading
<pre> used to hold text which will be displayed exactly as written
<progress> used in conjunction with JavaScript to create a progress bar
<q> used to insert a short quote into a webpage
<rp> used to enclose <rt> elements in parenthesis
<rt> used to provide text annotations, generally for character based languages
<ruby> used to create annotations which appear above or below other text
<s> used to render the enclosed text with a horizontal line through it
<samp> used to contain sample output from a computer program, typically rendered as monospace
<script> used to embed JavaScript directly into a webpage
<search> used to hold a form that is for searching or filtering
<section> used to contain a standalone piece of content, sections always have their own heading element
<select> used to create a dropdown menu
<slot> used as a named placeholder in a <template>
<small> used to contain content which is less important to most readers
<source> used to specify a media resouorce (url) for a <picture>, <audio>, or <video> element
<span> used as a container which will not alter text and conveys no meaning
<strong> used to contain text which is serious, important, or urgent
<style> used to hold CSS
<sub> used to create a subscript; text which is smaller in size and slightly lower
<summary> used to hold text which when clicked will expand and provide more information
<sup> used to create a superscript; text which is smaller in size and slightly higher
<svg> used to programmatically create graphics
<table> used to create a table
<tbody> used hold the main data in a table element
<td> used to create a single cell in the body of a <table>
<template> used to hold html which may be inserted later via JavaScript
<textarea> used to create a large element for the input of text
<tfoot> used to create a footer for a table element
<th> used to create a cell in the header of a <table>
<thead> holds header rows for <table> elements
<time> used to contain a time, or date, or both
<title> holds the title of the webpage, always a child of the <head> element
<tr> table row, used to hold <td> or <th> elements
<track> used to define subtitles for <audio> or <video> elements
<u> used to highlight when a user has misspelled a word, or a similar non-textual annotation
<ul> used to create a bullet point list
<var> used to contain the name of a variable in a mathematical expression
<video> used to embed a video
<wbr> used to indicate where a line breaking space may optionally be inserted into a word.

2 Ancillary Information

External Links

Name Link
WHATWG Website https://whatwg.org
WHATWG Specification for HTML https://html.spec.whatwg.org/#elements-3

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