Of all the tag "families" within HTML, it is text formatting tags that are the most fecund. Beyond even the several tags already discussed in this lesson, there are a host more, which this page reviews. At this early stage in your HTML and Web Design career, you might already be reeling from the profusion of tags such as <P>, <PRE>, <LI>... if so, feel free to forget this page. Most of these tags are very rarely used, and indeed, some just replicate effects already covered by other tags; many have also been deprecated (that is, removed from the official HTML specification: see the page on deprecated tags for more on that). The best way to use this page, therefore, is as an occasional reference manual.

If you are going to use any of these tags, note that browser implementation can vary, both between makes of browser, and between individual PC set-ups. As ever, it is best to try your page out on a variety of browsers and screens to ensure it best approximates your intentions. I've given the usual rendering of each tag below, but do remember this is not definite. Examples have been given for a few of the more interesting tags below, but note that most of these are almost never seen, and there are no examples of them elsewhere on this site.

These tags actually come into their own when used in conjunction with style sheets. Many can be substantially enhanced by style sheet definitions, and some tags such as <SPAN> have no use whatsoever without style sheets. I have not defined any of the tags mentioned below in this site's style sheet, which is why <BLOCKQUOTE>, for example, simply gets rendered in the default font (though the indent is respected).

Bear in mind then that any of the tags below can be made to look like pretty much everything: though as ever, you should use them broadly for the purpose which they were intended, as this ensures that non-visual browsers do not get them confused. So, for instance, don't start using <ADDRESS> tags as headings. Keep them for addresses. This is, in the end, hitting right on the crucial distinction between tags as structural information and tags as style.

I've grouped these tags into the three basic sub-families: block-level tags, inline tags, and spacing and positioning tags.

Block-level tags

Remember that these tags will format text with space before and after.

<ADDRESS>

Typically at the beginning or end of a document, this tag can be used to identify authorship or ownership information. Usually formatted in italics.

<BLOCKQUOTE>

A reasonably useful tag; and trivia fans might like to note it's the longest single tag name. Here's some text rendered by the tag:

"Agitators are interfering, meddling people who come down to some perfectly contented class of the population and sow the seeds of discontent amongst them. That is why they are so absolutely necessary. Without them, there could be no advance towards civilisation." (Oscar Wilde: The Soul of Man Under Socialism.)

Basically, it gives you a quick and easy indent.

<DIV>

No intrinsic use, but two very useful ancillary ones: firstly in text alignment, and secondly in combination with style sheets. Technically it denotes the start and end of a "division" of the page, defined by the user, but then again all tags do that to a certain extent.

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Inline tags

<ACRONYM>	Enclose acronyms or abbreviations in this tag, and use the attribute TITLE to provide a full version of the acronym. Why? Well, try it with this one - hover your cursor over this acronym (unless you're using Netscape 4 or some other older browser where it won't work): BHAFC. Really why? Because Google can now index the full version of the acronym as well as the acronym itself, because it makes your pages easier to use, and because it's an example of full text mark-up. Incidentally the code for that acronym looks like this: <ACRONYM TITLE="Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club!">BHAFC</ACRONYM>
<BIG>	Makes the text one font size larger, equivalent to <FONT SIZE="+1">; this text has been enclosed in <BIG> tags.
<BLINK>	Causes enclosed text to flash on and off. Only works in Netscape, and thank God for that, because this really is one of the most repulsive tags. Honestly - don't use it. Please.
<CITE>	Denotes a citation or reference. Usually rendered in italic.
<CODE>	Denotes a sample of computer code, rendered in a monospace font, `like this`.
<EM>	Denotes emphasised text. Usually rendered in italic.
<S>	Denotes "struck through" text, ~~like this~~. Can't really think of much use for this one, but might be useful if it's necessary to show changes or alterations to a document.
<SMALL>	Perhaps unsurprisingly, the opposite of <BIG>; the equivalent of <FONT SIZE="-1">, as with this text.
<SPAN>	Zero inherent formatting of its own, but very useful when used in conjunction with style sheets.
<STRONG>	Strongly emphasised text. Usually rendered in bold.
<SUB>	Subscripted, or below-the-line text, like the 2 in CO₂.
<SUP>	Superscripted, or above-the-line text, like the 2 in E=mc². You might notice on both these tags that the browser's line spacing is slightly thrown out, which is an argument against using them too liberally.

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Spacing and positioning tags

<NOBR>

Text (or graphics) within <NOBR> tags will never line-break. A browser will always keep them on the same line, even if this means the text runs off the right-hand edge of the page. Perhaps the most useful application of this is to keep images together on one line, but I haven't emphasised this, as it's better to do this with tables. See lessons 3 and 4 for more details.

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Material on this site is © Drew Whitworth, 2005 Permission will usually be given to reproduce material from this site for non-commercial purposes, if credit is given. For enquiries, e-mail Drew at andrew [dot] whitworth [at] manchester [dot] ac [dot] uk.