HTML Introduction

What is HTML?

HTML is the standard markup language for creating Web pages.

HTML stands for Hyper Text Markup Language
HTML describes the structure of a Web page
HTML consists of a series of elements
HTML elements tell the browser how to display the content
HTML elements are represented by tags
HTML tags label pieces of content such as "heading", "paragraph", "table", and so on
Browsers do not display the HTML tags, but use them to render the content of the page

A Simple HTML Document

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>Page Title</title>
</head>
<body>

<h1>My First Heading</h1>
<p>My first paragraph.</p>

</body>
</html>

Example Explained

The <!DOCTYPE html> declaration defines this document to be HTML5
The <html> element is the root element of an HTML page
The <head> element contains meta information about the document
The <title> element specifies a title for the document
The <body> element contains the visible page content
The <h1> element defines a large heading
The <p> element defines a paragraph

HTML Tags

HTML tags are element names surrounded by angle brackets:

<tagname>content goes here...</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 forward slash inserted before the tag name

Tip: The start tag is also called the opening tag, and the end tag the closing tag.

Web Browsers

The purpose of a web browser (Chrome, Edge, 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>

Note: Only the content inside the <body> section (the white area above) is displayed in a browser.

The <!DOCTYPE> Declaration

The <!DOCTYPE> declaration represents the document type, and helps browsers to display web pages correctly.

It must only appear once, at the top of the page (before any HTML tags).

The <!DOCTYPE> declaration is not case sensitive.

The <!DOCTYPE> declaration for HTML5 is:

<!DOCTYPE html>

HTML History

Since the early days of the World Wide Web, there have been many versions of HTML:

Year	Version
1989	Tim Berners-Lee invented www
1991	Tim Berners-Lee invented HTML
1993	Dave Raggett drafted HTML+
1995	HTML Working Group defined HTML 2.0
1997	W3C Recommendation: HTML 3.2
1999	W3C Recommendation: HTML 4.01
2000	W3C Recommendation: XHTML 1.0
2008	WHATWG HTML5 First Public Draft
2012	WHATWG HTML5 Living Standard
2014	W3C Recommendation: HTML5
2016	W3C Candidate Recommendation: HTML 5.1
2017	W3C Recommendation: HTML5.1 2nd Edition
2017	W3C Recommendation: HTML5.2

HTML Editors

Write HTML Using Notepad or TextEdit

Web pages can be created and modified by using professional HTML editors.

However, for learning HTML we recommend a simple text editor like Notepad (PC) or TextEdit (Mac).

We believe using a simple text editor is a good way to learn HTML.

Follow the steps below to create your first web page with Notepad or TextEdit.

Step 1: Open Notepad (PC)

Windows 8 or later:

Open the Start Screen (the window symbol at the bottom left on your screen). Type Notepad.

Windows 7 or earlier:

Open Start > Programs > Accessories > Notepad

Step 1: Open TextEdit (Mac)

Open Finder > Applications > TextEdit

Also change some preferences to get the application to save files correctly. In Preferences > Format > choose "Plain Text"

Then under "Open and Save", check the box that says "Display HTML files as HTML code instead of formatted text".

Then open a new document to place the code.

Step 2: Write Some HTML

Write or copy some HTML into Notepad.

<!DOCTYPE html>

<html>

<body>

<h1>My First Heading</h1>

<p>My first paragraph.</p>

</body>

</html>

Step 3: Save the HTML Page

Save the file on your computer. Select File > Save as in the Notepad menu.

Name the file "index.htm" and set the encoding to UTF-8 (which is the preferred encoding for HTML files).

You can use either .htm or .html as file extension. There is no difference, it is up to you.

Step 4: View the HTML Page in Your Browser

Open the saved HTML file in your favorite browser (double click on the file, or right-click - and choose "Open with").

The result will look much like this:

W3Schools Online Editor

With our free online editor, you can edit the HTML code and view the result in your browser.

It is the perfect tool when you want to test code fast. It also has color coding and the ability to save and share code with others:

Example

<!DOCTYPE html>

<html>

<head>

<title>Page Title</title>

</head>

<body>

<h1>This is a Heading</h1>

<p>This is a paragraph.</p>

</body>

</html>

Try it Yourself »

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 document 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.

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

Example

<h1>This is heading 1</h1>

<h2>This is heading 2</h2>

<h3>This is heading 3</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="https://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.

You will learn more about attributes in a later chapter.

HTML Images

HTML images are defined with the <img> tag.

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

Example

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

Try it Yourself »

HTML Buttons

HTML buttons are defined with the <button> tag:

Example

<button>Click me</button>

Try it Yourself »

HTML Lists

HTML lists are defined with the <ul> (unordered/bullet list) or the <ol> (ordered/numbered list) tag, followed by <li> tags (list items):

Example

<ul>

  <li>Coffee</li>

  <li>Tea</li>

  <li>Milk</li>

</ul>

<ol>

  <li>Coffee</li>

  <li>Tea</li>

  <li>Milk</li>

</ol>

Try it Yourself »

HTML Elements

An HTML element usually consists of a start tag and an end tag, with the content inserted in between:

<tagname>Content goes here...</tagname>

The HTML element is everything from the start tag to the end tag:

<p>My first paragraph.</p>

Start tag	Element content	End tag
<h1>	My First Heading	</h1>
<p>	My first paragraph.	</p>
<br>

HTML elements with no content are called empty elements. Empty elements do not have an end tag, such as the <br> element (which indicates a line break).

Nested HTML Elements

HTML elements can be nested (elements can contain elements).

All HTML documents consist of nested HTML elements.

This example contains four HTML elements:

Example

<!DOCTYPE html>

<html>

<body>

<h1>My First Heading</h1>

<p>My first paragraph.</p>

</body>

</html>

Try it Yourself »

Example Explained

The <html> element defines the whole document.

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

Inside the <html> element is 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>.

Inside the <body> element 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>

Do Not 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):

Example

<p>This is a <br> paragraph with a line break.</p>

Try it Yourself »

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 if you need to make your document readable by XML parsers, you must close all HTML elements properly.

HTML Is Not Case Sensitive

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 HTML, and demands lowercase for stricter document types like XHTML.

At W3Schools we always use lowercase tags.

HTML Attributes

Attributes provide additional information about HTML elements.

HTML Attributes

All HTML elements can have attributes
Attributes provide additional information about an element
Attributes are always specified in the start tag
Attributes usually come in name/value pairs like: name="value"

The href Attribute

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

Example

<a href="https://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.

The src Attribute

HTML images are defined with the <img> tag.

The filename of the image source is specified in the src attribute:

Example

<img src="img_girl.jpg">

Try it Yourself »

The width and height Attributes

HTML images also have width and height attributes, which specifies the width and height of the image:

Example

<img src="img_girl.jpg" width="500" height="600">

Try it Yourself »

The width and height are specified in pixels by default; so width="500" means 500 pixels wide.

You will learn more about images in our HTML Images chapter.

The alt Attribute

The alt attribute specifies an alternative text to be used, if an image cannot be displayed.

The value of the alt attribute can be read by screen readers. This way, someone "listening" to the webpage, e.g. a vision impaired person, can "hear" the element.

Example

<img src="img_girl.jpg" alt="Girl with a jacket">

Try it Yourself »

The alt attribute is also useful if the image cannot be displayed (e.g. if it does not exist):

Example

See what happens if we try to display an image that does not exist:

<img src="img_typo.jpg" alt="Girl with a jacket">

Try it Yourself »

The style Attribute

The style attribute is used to specify the styling of an element, like color, font, size etc.

Example

<p style="color:red">This is a red paragraph.</p>

Try it Yourself »

You will learn more about styling later in this tutorial, and in our CSS Tutorial.

The lang Attribute

The language of the document can be declared in the <html> tag.

The language is declared with the lang attribute.

Declaring a language is important for accessibility applications (screen readers) and search engines:

<!DOCTYPE html>

<html lang="en-US">

<body>

...

</body>

</html>

The first two letters specify the language (en). If there is a dialect, add two more letters (US).

The title Attribute

Here, a title attribute is added to the <p> element. The value of the title attribute will be displayed as a tooltip when you mouse over the paragraph:

Example

<p title="I'm a tooltip">

This is a paragraph.

</p>

Try it Yourself »

We Suggest: Use Lowercase Attributes

The HTML5 standard does not require lowercase attribute names.

The title attribute can be written with uppercase or lowercase like title or TITLE.

W3C recommends lowercase in HTML, and demands lowercase for stricter document types like XHTML.

At W3Schools we always use lowercase attribute names.

We Suggest: Quote Attribute Values

The HTML5 standard does not require quotes around attribute values.

The href attribute can be written without quotes:

Bad

<a href=https://www.w3schools.com>

Try it Yourself »

Good

<a href="https://www.w3schools.com">

Try it Yourself »

W3C recommends quotes in HTML, and demands quotes for stricter document types like XHTML.

Sometimes it is necessary to use quotes. This example will not display the title attribute correctly, because it contains a space:

Example

<p title=About W3Schools>

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 quotes around attribute values are the most common in HTML, but single quotes 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">

Try it Yourself »

Chapter Summary

All HTML elements can have attributes
The title attribute provides additional "tool-tip" information
The href attribute provides address information for links
The width and height attributes provide size information for images
The alt attribute provides text for screen readers
At W3Schools we always use lowercase attribute names
At W3Schools we always quote attribute values

HTML Exercises

HTML Attributes

Below is an alphabetical list of some attributes often used in HTML, which you will learn more about in this tutorial:

Attribute	Description
alt	Specifies an alternative text for an image, when the image cannot be displayed
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)

A complete list of all attributes for each HTML element, is listed in our: HTML Attribute Reference.

HTML Headings

Headings

Heading 1

Heading 2

Heading 3

Heading 4

Heading 5

Heading 6

Try it Yourself »

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>Heading 1</h1>
<h2>Heading 2</h2>
<h3>Heading 3</h3>
<h4>Heading 4</h4>
<h5>Heading 5</h5>
<h6>Heading 6</h6>

Try it Yourself »

Note: Browsers automatically add some white space (a margin) before and after a heading.

Headings Are Important

Search engines use the headings to index the structure and content of your web pages.

Users often skim a page by its headings. It is important to use headings to show the document structure.

<h1> headings should be used for main headings, followed by <h2> headings, then the less important <h3>, and so on.

Note: Use HTML headings for headings only. Don't use headings to make text BIG or bold.

Bigger Headings

Each HTML heading has a default size. However, you can specify the size for any heading with the style attribute, using the CSS font-size property:

Example

<h1 style="font-size:60px;">Heading 1</h1>

Try it Yourself »

HTML Horizontal Rules

The <hr> tag defines a thematic break in an HTML page, and is most often displayed as a horizontal rule.

The <hr> element is used to separate content (or define a change) in an HTML page:

Example

<h1>This is heading 1</h1>
<p>This is some text.</p>
<hr>
<h2>This is heading 2</h2>
<p>This is some other text.</p>
<hr>

Try it Yourself »

The HTML <head> Element

The HTML <head> element is a container for metadata. HTML metadata is data about the HTML document. Metadata is not displayed.

The <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 »

Note: Metadata typically define the document title, character set, styles, scripts, and other meta information.

How to View HTML Source?

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

View HTML Source Code:

Right-click in an HTML page and select "View Page Source" (in Chrome) or "View Source" (in Edge), or similar in other browsers. This will open a window containing the HTML source code of the page.

Inspect an HTML Element:

Right-click on an element (or a blank area), and choose "Inspect" or "Inspect Element" to see what elements are made up of (you will see both the HTML and the CSS). You can also edit the HTML or CSS on-the-fly in the Elements or Styles panel that opens.

HTML Exercises

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 the root of an HTML document
<body>	Defines the document's body
<head>	A container for all the head elements (title, scripts, styles, meta information, and more)
<h1> to <h6>	Defines HTML headings
<hr>	Defines a thematic change in the content

For a complete list of all available HTML tags, visit our HTML Tag Reference.

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 »

Note: Browsers automatically add some white space (a margin) 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 any extra spaces and extra lines when the page is displayed:

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.

Note: Dropping the end tag can produce unexpected results or errors.

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 paragraph<br>with line breaks.</p>

Try it Yourself »

The <br> tag is an empty tag, which means that it has no end tag.

The Poem Problem

This poem will display on a single line:

Example

<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 »

HTML Exercises

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

For a complete list of all available HTML tags, visit our HTML Tag Reference.

HTML Styles

Example

I am Red

I am Blue

I am Big

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:

<tagname 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.

Background Color

The CSS background-color property defines the background color for an HTML element.

This example sets the background color for a page to powderblue:

Example

<body style="background-color:powderblue;">

<h1>This is a heading</h1>
<p>This is a paragraph.</p>

</body>

Try it Yourself »

Text Color

The CSS 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 »

Fonts

The CSS 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 »

Text Alignment

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

Example

<h1 style="text-align:center;">Centered Heading</h1>
<p style="text-align:center;">Centered 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 Exercises

HTML Text Formatting

Text Formatting

This text is bold

This text is italic

This is subscript and superscript

Try it Yourself »

HTML Formatting Elements

In the previous chapter, you learned about 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:

<b> - Bold text
<strong> - Important text
<i> - Italic text
<em> - Emphasized text
<mark> - Marked text
<small> - Small text
<del> - Deleted text
<ins> - Inserted text
<sub> - Subscript text
<sup> - Superscript text

HTML <b> and <strong> Elements

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

Example

<b>This text is bold</b>

Try it Yourself »

The HTML <strong> element defines strong text, with added semantic "strong" importance.

Example

<strong>This text is strong</strong>

Try it Yourself »

HTML <i> and <em> Elements

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

Example

<i>This text is italic</i>

Try it Yourself »

The HTML <em> element defines emphasized text, with added semantic importance.

Example

<em>This text is emphasized</em>

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

Try it Yourself »

HTML Exercises

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

For a complete list of all available HTML tags, visit our HTML Tag Reference.

My Coding hour

HTML Introduction

What is HTML?

A Simple HTML Document

Example Explained

HTML Tags

Web Browsers

HTML Page Structure

The <!DOCTYPE> Declaration

HTML History

HTML Editors

Write HTML Using Notepad or TextEdit

Step 1: Open Notepad (PC)

Step 1: Open TextEdit (Mac)

Step 2: Write Some HTML

Step 3: Save the HTML Page

Step 4: View the HTML Page in Your Browser

W3Schools Online Editor

Example

HTML Basic Examples

HTML Documents

Example

HTML Headings

Example

HTML Paragraphs

Example

HTML Links

Example

HTML Images

Example

HTML Buttons

Example

HTML Lists

Example

HTML Elements

HTML Elements

Nested HTML Elements

Example

Example Explained

Do Not Forget the End Tag

Example

Empty HTML Elements

Example

HTML Is Not Case Sensitive

HTML Attributes

HTML Attributes

The href Attribute

Example

The src Attribute

Example

The width and height Attributes

Example

The alt Attribute

Example

Example

The style Attribute

Example

The lang Attribute

The title Attribute

Example

We Suggest: Use Lowercase Attributes

We Suggest: Quote Attribute Values

Bad

Good

Example

Single or Double Quotes?

Chapter Summary

HTML Exercises

Test Yourself With Exercises

Exercise:

HTML Attributes

HTML Headings

Headings

Heading 1

Heading 2

Heading 3

Heading 4

Heading 5

Heading 6

HTML Headings