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Web Development
Short Contents
For Beginners...Introduction
Changes from 3.2
Document
Attributes
...that are available for all BODY objects
Text
Organisation tools
Forms
Images
Sounds
Style Sheets
Special Effects - Javascript
Search Engines
Full Contents
For Beginners...
Introduction
Other HTML sitesPutting pages online
Tips For beginners
Download this Guide
Changes from 3.2
Document
Specifying LanguageStructure
The <HEAD> section
...General attributes
...Title
...Setting the Base address
...Queries : ISINDEX
...META tags
...Character sets
...<LINK>s
The <BODY> tag
... General Attributes
...Document Colours
...Background
Attributes
...that are available for all BODY objectsText
HeadingsFonts
Preformatted text
Change text direction
Special Characters
Character Formatting
...Blink
...Bold
...Italics
...Underline
...Strikethrough
...Superscript
...Subscript
Paragraph formatting
...Blockquote
...Line Breaks
...New Paragraph
...Stop Line Breaks
...Word Break
...Centre text
...Marking Modifications
Miscellaneous
...Abbreviation
...Acronyms
...Addresses
...Use Bigger/Smaller fonts
...Citations
...Code
...Definitions
...Keyboard input
...Sample
...Teletype
...Variables
...XMP
Organisation tools
CommentsHorizontal lines
DIV and SPAN
Links
...<LINK>s
...within pages
...Image maps
Frames
...Naming and Targeting
...Inline Frames
Tables
...example tag
...Rows
...Cells
...Captions
...Head, Body & Foot
Lists
...Definition lists
...Directory Lists
...Menu Lists
...Ordered Lists
...Unordered Lists
Embedding special files
The Object Element
Forms
Inputs and buttonsSelection menus
Element Labels
Fieldsets and legends
Images
Sounds
Style Sheets
specifying versionindividual elements
in the HEAD section
specifying media types
external sheets
cascading sheets
media-dependant defaults
HTTP headers
Special Effects - Javascript
Events...onAbort
...onBlur
...onChange
...onClick
...onError
...onFocus
...onLoad
...onMouseOver
...onMouseOut
...onReset
...onScroll
...onSelect
...onSubmit
...onUnload
Basic Commands
...Changing the status bar
...Opening a new window
...changing page being viewed
Search Engines
Changes since HTML 3.2
PLEASE NOTE: This section of the guide is basically a rearrangement of the information given from the W3C specification for HTML 4.0. It is an extract only, and I acknowledge that some parts are taken word for word from the W3C site.New elements
The new elements ("tags") in HTML 4.0 are: ABBR, ACRONYM, BDO, BUTTON, COL, COLGROUP, DEL, FIELDSET, FRAME, FRAMESET, IFRAME, INS, LABEL, LEGEND, NOFRAMES, NOSCRIPT, OBJECT, OPTGROUP, PARAM, SPAN, TBODY, TFOOT, THEAD, and Q.
The following elements how now been replaced by better alternatives, and may eventually become obsolete: APPLET, BASEFONT, CENTER, DIR, FONT, ISINDEX, MENU, STRIKE, and U. This basically means that these tags may not be supported by future web browser. These should be avoided when writing strict HTML 4.0
The following elements are obsolete: LISTING, PLAINTEXT, and XMP. These should be avoided, and can be replaced by the PRE tag.
Changes to attributes
The id and class attribute allow authors to assign name and class information to elements for style sheets, as anchors, for scripting, for object declarations, general purpose document processing, etc.Many attributes which describe fonts, colours, and other appearance characteristics, are now considered superseded by style sheets. They are still supported, but should be avoided when writing strictly for HTML 4.0
Changes for accessibility
Accessibility for people with disabilites (or even just old equipment!) is becoming a large issue. The following features have been added to assist with this :
- The title attribute may now be set on virtually every element.
- Authors may provide long descriptions of tables (see the summary attribute), images and frames (see the longdesc attribute).
Changes for text
- It is now possible for you to specify the text direction and language used in your files.
- The INS and DEL elements allow authors to mark up changes in their documents.
- The ABBR and ACRONYM elements allow authors to mark up abbreviations and acronyms in their documents.
Changes for tables
- See the Tables section of this siteChanges for images, objects, and image maps
- The OBJECT element allows generic inclusion of objects.
- The IFRAME and OBJECT elements allow authors to create embedded documents.
- The alt attribute is required on the IMG and AREA elements.
- The mechanism for creating image maps now allows authors to create more accessible image maps. The content model of the MAP element has changed for this reason.
Changes for forms
This specification introduces several new attributes and elements that affect forms - see the relevant section of this site.Changes for style sheets
HTML 4.0 supports a larger set of media descriptors so that authors may write device-sensitive style sheets. Now that these are officially supported, a new Style Sheet section has been added to this guide.Changes for frames
Whilst HTML 3.2 browsers tended to support frames, HTML 4.0 now officially supports frame documents and inline frames.Changes for scripting
Once again, it was previously available, but now part of the standard - see the "special" section of this guide.
(C)opyright, Geoff Knagge.
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