Special characters
Used for a variety of reasons, special characters need to be displayed periodically in HTML documents. Unfortunately, browsers will interpret the characters as HTML, so coded sequences must be used to display certain characters. For example, to show the <B> tag in a manner that will not be interpreted by a browser, the sequence must be written as <B>
This table represents a few of the special characters, but not all.
| SYMBOL
| SEQUENCE
|
| SYMBOL
| SEQUENCE
|
| SYMBOL
| SEQUENCE
|
| &
| &
|
| <
| <
|
| >
| >
|
| ©
| ©
|
| ®
| <SUP>®</SUP>
|
| TM
| <FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>&TM;</SUP></FONT>
|
| space
|
|
| "
| "
|
| £
| £
|
| é
| é
|
| ñ
| ñ
|
| ¼
| ¼
|
<!-- --> Document Comments
Commented section in an HTML document. Anything placed between the open and closing tags is hidden from the displayed page, but visible if the source is viewed.
<!DOCTYPE> Document Information
<A> Anchor
<A NAME="textString" HREF="someURL#anchorName" TITLE="altText" TARGET="window">Content for link</a>
Creates anchored location, to be used as a named access point or as a hyperlink to an alternate resource.
- NAME Optional (Required if no "HREF" value). Establishes a name for the anchor.
- HREF Optional (Required if no "NAME" value). URL for hyperlinked resource.
- TITLE Optional. Provides alternate text for the link; certain browsers will display this text as a popup tooltip when the mouse cursor is positioned over the link.
- TARGET Optional. Indicates window/frame document should be loaded into; default is the frame/window the anchor was in when clicked.
<ABBREV> Abbreviation
<ACRONYM> Acronym
<ADDRESS> Address
<APPLET> Applet
<AREA> Area
<AU> or <AUTHOR> Author
<B> Bold Text
<B>Sample Text</B>
Text between open and close tags appears in bold face.
<BANNER> Banner
<BASE> Base
<BASEFONT> Base Font
Deprecated
<BGSOUND> Background Sound
<BIG> Big Text
<BIG>Sample Text</BIG>
Text between open and close tags appears larger than surrounding text.
<BLINK> Blinking Text
Deprecated; Netscape only
<BLINK>Sample Text</BLINK>
Text between open and close tags blinks.
<BLOCKQUOTE> or <BQ> Blockquote
<BODY> Document Body
<BR> Line Break
<BUTTON> Button (Form)
See also: Form
<CAPTION> Caption
<CENTER> Center
<CENTER>Sample Text</CENTER>
Content between open and close tags appears centered in browser window.
<CITE> Citation
<CODE> Code
<COL> Table Column
<COLGROUP> Column Group
<CREDIT> Credit
<DEL> Deleted Content
<DFN> Definition
<DIR> Directory List
<DIV> Division
<DL> Definition List
<DD> Data Definition
<DT> Data Term
<EM> Emphasis
<EMBED> Embedded Object
<FIELDSET> Fieldset (Form)
See also: Form
<FIG> Figure
<FN> Footnote
<FONT> Font
<FONT COLOR=RRGGBB SIZE=# FACE="Arial,Courier,Times New Roman">Sample Text</FONT>
Modify attributes of text color, size, or appearance.
- COLOR Optional. Sets the color of the font.
- SIZE Optional. Sets relative size of text, larger numbers producing larger text and smaller numbers producing smaller text. Default text is size 3. Size can be adjusted by setting a value 1-7 or by addition/subtraction from base size. (i.e.: "SIZE=+2", "SIZE=-2")
- FACE Optional. Declares a list of preferred fonts; if installed on viewer's system the desired font will appear, if not the default font is used.
<FORM> Form
See also: <BUTTON>,
<FIELDSET>,<INPUT>,
<OPTGROUP>,<OPTION>,
<SELECT>,<TEXTAREA>
<FRAME> Frame
<FRAMESET> Frameset
<H1> Header, Level 1
<H2> Header, Level 2
<H3> Header, Level 3
<H4> Header, Level 4
<H5> Header, Level 5
<H6> Header, Level 6
<HEAD> Head
<HR> Horizontal Rule
<HTML> HTML
<I> Italicized Text
<I>Sample Text</I>
Text between open and close tags is displayed in italics.
<IFRAME> Floating Frame
<IMG> Image
<IMG ALIGN="value" ALT="alternate text" BORDER=# HEIGHT=# HSPACE=# LOWSRC="URL" SRC="URL"
UNITS="unit type" WIDTH=# VSPACE=# ISMAP="server map URL" USEMAP="client map URL">
Display an inline image from a given URL and set preferences for display space and alignment.
- ALIGN Optional. Specifies image alignment in relation to surrounding text. The accepted values are TOP, MIDDLE, BOTTOM, LEFT, and RIGHT; depending on your browser, you may also be able to use TEXTTOP, ABSMIDDLE, BASELINE, and ABSBOTTOM.
- ALT Optional. Provides alternate text for the browser to display in the event that it cannot display the image; provides the text as an underlay for the image for use with non-graphical browsers.
- BORDER Optional. Outlines image with a colored border. The value range is numeric, with a 0 being no border and a 5 being relatively thick.
- HEIGHT Optional. The preferred height for the image to use for display. Default value is set to the height of the image.
- HSPACE Optional. Amount of horizontal space ("padding") to include around image in relation to other content.
- LOWSRC Optional. URL for alternate image, usually of lower quality, to be loaded and displayed while primary image is loading.
- SRC Required. URL for image to display.
- UNITS Optional. Specifies measurement system to use with HEIGHT and WIDTH. Values are "pixels" (default) and en (English Standard / inches).
- WIDTH Optional. The preferred width for the image to use for display. Default value is set to the width of the image.
- VSPACE Optional. Amount of vertical space ("padding") to include around image in relation to other content.
- ISMAP Optional. Indicates URL for server-side image map.
- USEMAP Optional. Indicates URL for client-side image map.
<INPUT> Input (Form)
See also: Form
<INS> Inserted Text
<ISINDEX> Is Index
<KBD> Keyboard
<LANG> Language
<LH> List Heading
<LI> List Item
<LINK> Link
<LISTING> Listing
<MAP> Map
<MARQUEE> Marquee
<MATH> Math
<MENU> Menu List
<META> Metadata
<MULTICOL> Multi-Column Formatting
<NOBR> No Break
<NOBR>Sample Text</NOBR>
Text between open and close tags will not wrap to fit in browser display area.
<NOEMBED> No Embedded Object
<NOFRAMES> No Frames
<NOSCRIPT> No Script
<NOTE> Note
<OBJECT> Object
<OL> Ordered List
<OPTGROUP> Options Group (Form)
See also: Form
<OPTION> Option (Form)
See also: Form
<OVERLAY> Overlay
<P> Paragraph
<PARAM> Parameters
<PERSON> Person
<PLAINTEXT> Plain Text
<PRE> Preformatted Text
<Q> Quotation
<RANGE> Range
<SAMP> Sample Text
<SCRIPT> Embedded Script
<SELECT> Selection Box (Form)
See also: Form
<SMALL> Small Text
<SMALL>Sample Text</SMALL>
Text between open and close tags appears smaller than surrounding text.
<SPACER> Whitespace
<SPOT> Spot
<STRIKE> Strikethrough Script
Deprecated
<STRIKE>Sample Text</STRIKE>
Text between open and close tags appears with strikethrough text.
<STRONG> Strong Text
<STRONG>Sample Text</STRONG>
Text between open and close tags appears altered compared to surrounding text. Depending on browser, this may be italicized or in bold face.
<STYLE> Style
<SUB> Subscript
<SUB>Sample Text</SUB>
Text between open and close tags appears smaller than surrounding text, centered on the base line of the main text.
<SUP> Superscript
<SUP>Sample Text</SUP>
Text between open and close tags appears smaller than surrounding text, centered on the top line of the main text.
<TAB> Horizontal Tab
<TABLE> Table
<TBODY> Table Body
<TD> Table Data Cell
<TEXTAREA> Text Area (Form)
See also: Form
<TEXTFLOW> Java Applet Textflow
<TFOOT> Table Footer
<THEAD> Table Header
<TITLE> Title
<TR> Table Row
<TT> Teletype
<U> Underline
<U>Sample Text</U>
Text between open and close tags appears underlined.
<UL> Unordered List
<VAR> Variable
<WBR> Word Break
<XMP> Example