Self-closing Elements

Some HTML elements are self-closing, meaning they don’t have a separate closing tag. Self-closing elements typically insert something into your document.

An example is the br element (

), which inserts a line break in text. Formerly, self-closing tags had the forward slash inside them (

HTML Element Functionality

There are many available HTML elements. Here’s a list of some of the functions they perform:

• give information about the web page itself (the metadata)
• structure the content of the page into sections
• embed images, videos, audio clips, or other multimedia
• create lists, tables, and forms
• give more information about certain text content
• link to stylesheets which have rules about how the browser should display the page
• add scripts to make a page more interactive and dynamic

Nesting HTML Elements

You can nest elements within other elements in an HTML document. This helps define the structure of the page. Just make sure the tags close from the inside-most element first.

Correct:

This is a paragraph that contains a span element.

Incorrect:

This is a paragraph that contains a span element.

Block-level and Inline Elements

Elements come in two general categories, known as block-level and inline. Block-level elements automatically start on a new line while inline elements sit within surrounding content.

Elements that help structure the page into sections, such as a navigation bar, headings, and paragraphs, are typically block-level elements. Elements that insert or give more information about content are generally inline, such as links or images.

The HTML Element

There’s an element that’s used to contain the other markup for an HTML document. It’s also known as the “root” element because it’s the parent of the other HTML elements and the content of a page.

Here’s an example of a page with a head element, a body element, and one paragraph:

I'm a paragraph

The HEAD Element

This is the container for processing information and metadata for an HTML document.

The BODY Element

This is a container for the displayable content of an HTML document.

...

The P Element

Creates a paragraph, perhaps the most common block level element.

...

The A(Link) Element

Creates a hyperlink to direct visitors to another page or resource.

...

Images in HTML

You can define images by using the tag. It does not have a closing tag since it can contain only attributes. To insert an image you define the source and an alternative text which is displayed when the image can not be rendered.

src - This attribute provides the url to the image present either on your P.C./Laptop or to be included from some other website. Remember the link provided should not be broken otherwise the image will not be produced on your webpage.

alt - This attribute is used to overcome the problem of broken image or incapability of your browser to produce image on webpage. This attribute, as the name suggests, provides an “Alternative” to an image which is some ‘TEXT’ describing the image.

Example

To define height and width of an image you can use the height and width attribute:

You can also define border thickness (0 means no border):

Align an image:

You are also able to use styles within a style attribute:

How to use links in HTML

In HTML you can use the tag to create a link. For example you can write freeCodeCamp to create a link to freeCodeCamp’s website.

Links are found in nearly all web pages. Links allow users to click their way from page to page.

HTML links are hyperlinks. You can click on a link and jump to another document.

When you move the mouse over a link, the mouse arrow will turn into a little hand.

Note: A link does not have to be text. It can be an image or any other HTML element.

In HTML, links are defined with the tag:

link text

Example

Visit our site for tutorials

The href attribute specifies the destination address (//www.freecodecamp.org) of the link.

The link text is the visible part (Visit our site for tutorials).

Clicking on the link text will send you to the specified address.

How to Use Lists in HTML

Lists are used to specify a set of consecutive items or related information in a well formed and semantic way, such as a list of ingredients or a list of procedural steps.

HTML markup has three different types of lists - ordered, unordered and description lists.

Ordered Lists

An ordered list is used to group a set of related items, in a specific order. This list is created with

tag. Each list item is surrounded with
1. tag.

   Code

   Mix ingredients
   Bake in oven for an hour
   Allow to stand for ten minutes

   Example

   1. Mix ingredients
   2. Bake in oven for an hour
   3. Allow to stand for ten minutes

   Unordered Lists

   An unordered list is used to group a set of related items, in no particular order. This list is created with

   tag. Each list item is surrounded with
   • tag.

     Code

     Chocolate Cake
     Black Forest Cake
     Pineapple Cake

     Example

     • Chocolate Cake
     • Black Forest Cake
     • Pineapple Cake

     Description Lists

     A description list is used to specify a list of terms and their descriptions. This list is created with

     tag. Each list item is surrounded with

     tag.

     Code

     Bread
     A baked food made of flour.
     Coffee
     A drink made from roasted coffee beans.

     Output

     Bread A baked food made of flour. Coffee A drink made from roasted coffee beans.

     Styling List

     You can also control the style of the list. You can use list-style property of lists. Your list can be bullets, squares, in Roman numerals, or can be images if you want.

     list-style property is shorthand for list-style-type, list-style-position, list-style-image.