HTML Text Formatting


HTML Text Formatting


HTML defines a lot of elements for formatting output, like bold or italic text.


How to View HTML Source

Have you ever seen a Web page and wondered "Hey! How did they do that?"

To find out, click the VIEW option in your browser's toolbar and select SOURCE or PAGE SOURCE. This will open a window that shows you the HTML code of the page.


Text Formatting Tags

TagDescription
<b>Defines bold text
<big>Defines big text
<em>Defines emphasized text 
<i>Defines italic text
<small>Defines small text
<strong>Defines strong text
<sub>Defines subscripted text
<sup>Defines superscripted text
<ins>Defines inserted text
<del>Defines deleted text
<s>Deprecated. Use <del> instead
<strike>Deprecated. Use <del> instead
<u>Deprecated. Use styles instead

"Computer Output" Tags

TagDescription
<code>Defines computer code text
<kbd>Defines keyboard text 
<samp>Defines sample computer code
<tt>Defines teletype text
<var>Defines a variable
<pre>Defines preformatted text
<listing>Deprecated. Use <pre> instead
<plaintext>Deprecated. Use <pre> instead
<xmp>Deprecated. Use <pre> instead

Citations, Quotations, and Definition Tags

TagDescription
<abbr>Defines an abbreviation
<acronym>Defines an acronym
<address>Defines an address element
<bdo>Defines the text direction
<blockquote> Defines a long quotation
<q>Defines a short quotation
<cite>Defines a citation
<dfn>Defines a definition term