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Basic HTML Tags

The most important tags in HTML are tags that define headings, paragraphs and line breaks.

The best way to learn HTML is to work with examples. We have created a very nice HTML editor for you. With this editor, you can edit the HTML source code if you like, and click on a test button to view the result.

Headings

Headings are defined with the <h1> to <h6> tags. <h1> defines the largest heading. <h6> defines the smallest heading.

<h1>This is a heading</h1>
<h2>This is a heading</h2>
<h3>This is a heading</h3>
<h4>This is a heading</h4>
<h5>This is a heading</h5>
<h6>This is a heading</h6>

HTML automatically adds an extra blank line before and after a heading.

Paragraphs

Paragraphs are defined with the <p> tag.

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

HTML automatically adds an extra blank line before and after a paragraph.

Line Breaks

The <br> tag is used when you want to end a line, but don't want to start a new paragraph. The <br> tag forces a line break wherever you place it.

<p>This <br> is a para<br>graph with line breaks</p>

The <br> tag is an empty tag. It has no closing tag.

Comments in HTML

The comment tag is used to insert a comment in the HTML source code. A comment will be ignored by the browser. You can use comments to explain your code, which can help you when you edit the source code at a later date.

<!-- This is a comment -->

Note that you need an exclamation point after the opening bracket, but not before the closing bracket.

Basic Notes - Useful Tips

When you write HTML text, you can never be sure how the text is displayed in another browser. Some people have large computer displays, some have small. The text will be reformatted every time the user resizes his window. Never try to format the text in your editor by adding empty lines and spaces to the text.

HTML will truncate the spaces in your text. Any number of spaces count as one. Some extra information: In HTML a new line counts as one space. 

Using empty paragraphs <p> to insert blank lines is a bad habit. Use the <br> tag instead. (But don't use the <br> tag to create lists. Wait until you have learned about HTML lists.)

You might have noticed that paragraphs can be written without the closing tag </p>. Don't rely on it. The next version of HTML will not allow you to skip ANY closing tags.

HTML automatically adds an extra blank line before and after some elements, like before and after a paragraph, and before and after a heading.

We use a horizontal rule (the <hr> tag), to separate the sections in our tutorials.

Basic HTML Tags:

NN: Netscape, IE: Internet Explorer, W3C: Web Standard