html tag library

basic tags

<html>...</html>
Creates the html document
<head>...</head>
Contains the head information, such as the title and meta tags which are not visible to the user
<title>...</title>
Contains the title of the document which appears at the top of the browser window
<body>...</body>
Contains the viewed portion of the document

body

<body>...</body>
Contains the viewed portion of the document
<body bgcolor="?">
Sets the color of the background in hexadecimal code
<body background="filename.xxx">
Sets an image as a page's background (wallpaper)
<body text="color">
Specifies the color of normal text in hexadecimal code
<body link="color">
Specifies the default color of unvisited links in hexadecimal code
<body alink="color">
Specifies the color of links on click in hexadecimal code
<body vlink="color">
Specifies the color of followed links in hexadecimal code

n.b: It'd best to keep the attributes for bgcolor etc in a style sheet, unless you know that many of your visitors don't have a css compliant browser

formatting

<p>...</p>
Creates a new paragraph
<p align=?>
Aligns a paragraph to the left, right, or center
<br>
Inserts a line break
<blockquote>...
                     </blockquote> 
Indents text from both sides

 

lists

<dl>...</dl>
Creates a definition list
<dt>
Precedes each definition term
<dd>
Precedes each definition
<ol>...</ol>
Creates a numbered list
<li>...</li>
Precedes each list item, and adds a number
<ul>...</ul>
Creates a bulleted list
<div align=?>
A generic tag used to format large blocks of HTML, also used for stylesheets

text

<pre>...</pre>
Creates preformatted text
<hl>...</hl> to <h6>...</h6>
Creates headings
<b>...</b>
Creates bold text
<i>...</i>
Creates italic text
<tt>...</tt>
Creates teletype, or typewriter-style text
<cite>...</cite>
Creates a citation, usually italic
<em>...</em>
Emphasizes a word (with italic or bold)
<strong>...</strong> 
Emphasizes a word (with italic or bold)
<sub>...</sub>
Subscript - text is lower than baseline
<sup>...</sup>
Superscript - text is higher than basline

 

font

<font>...</font>
Changes font attributes for text within the tags
<font size="value">...</font>
Sets the font to a size from 1 to 7, with 1 the smallest and 7 the largest
<font face="name">...</font>
Sets the font face
<font color="color">...</font>
Sets the font color using hexadecimal code

n.b: It'd best to not use the <font> tag and to determine these attributes in a style sheet

images

<img>
Embeds an image in the document at the location of the tag
<img src="url" alt="text">
Adds an image with a text description
<img src="url" alt="text" align="direction">
Aligns an image to the left, right, center, bottom, or top
<img src="url" alt="text" border="number">
Sets the size of the border around an image
<img src="url" alt="text" height="pixels">
Sets the height of an image
<img src="url" alt="text" width="pixels">
Sets the width of an image
<img src="url" alt="text" hspace="pixels">
Sets a horizontal margin to be placed around an image
<img src="url" alt="text" vspace="pixels">
Sets a vertical margin to be placed around an image
<img src="url" alt="text" usemap="map-name">
Designates an image as a client-side image map

links

<a>...</a>
Designates the origin and destination of a hyperlink
<a href="url">...</a>
Creates a hyperlink
<a href="#name">...</a>
Links to a target location in the current page
<a href="URL#name">...</a>
Links to a target location in a page outside the current page
<a name="name">...</a>
Sets a target location within a document
<a href="mailto:email@something.com">...</a>
Creates a mailto link

 

tables

<table>...</table>
Generates a table
<table border="pixels">
Sets the size of cell borders
<table cellspacing="pixels">
Sets the amount of space between cells
<table cellpadding="pixels">
Sets the amount of space between a border and cell content
<table height="pixels" or "%">
Sets the height of a table
<table width="pixels" or "%">
Sets the width of a table
<td>...</td>
Defines a table data cell
<td colspan="columns">
Sets a cell to span columns
<td rowspan="rows">
Sets a cell to span rows
<td nowrap>
Prevents the lines within a cell from wrapping
<th>...</th>
Defines a table header with bold, centered table data
<tr>...</tr>
Defines a table row
<tr align="?"> or <td align="?">
Aligns the contents of a row or cell to the left, right, or center
<tr valign="?"> or <td valign="?">
Sets the vertical alignment of a row or cell to the top, middle, or bottom

 

frames

<frameset>...</frameset>
Specifies the layout of subsections in the main browser window
<frameset rows="value,value">
Defines the rows within a frameset
<frameset cols="value,value">
Defines the columns within a frameset
<noframes>...</noframes>
Provides alternate content for browsers that do not support frames
<frame src="?">
Defines the appearance and content of a single frame
<frame name="name">
Labels the frame for targeting by other frames
<frame marginwidth="#">
Sets the margin width of a frame
<frame marginheight="#">
Sets the margin height of a frame
<frame scrolling="value">
Creates a frame scrollbar
<frame noresize>
Prevents the resizing of a frame

It is best to not use frames for usability reasons and so that search engines can spider the site effectively

horizontal rules

<hr>
Inserts a horizontal rule
<hr size=?>
Sets size (height) of rule
<hr width=?>
Sets width of rule, in percentage or absolute value
<hr noshade>
Creates a rule without a shadow

 

forms

<form>...</form>
Generates a container for all form elements
<form action="url">
Designates the path of the script to process input from the form
<form method="get|post">
Instructs the browser how to interact with the form URL
<form accept="media type">
Defines which MIME types are supported by the server processing the form
<form accept-charset="text">
Defines which character sets are supported by the server processing the form
<form enctype="media type">
Defines the format of the submitted data
<option>
Defines each menu item
<select name="name">...</select>
Generates a pull-down menu
<input type="checkbox">
Generates a check box
<input type="hidden">
Conceals a field from view
<input type="image">
Generates an image that acts like a Submit button
<input type="password">
Generates a one-line password box
<input type="radio">
Generates a radio button
<input type="text">
Generates a one-line text box
<input type="submit">
Generates a Submit button (send form)
<input type="reset">
Generates a Reset button (clear form)

special characters

&amp;
& Ampersand
&trade;
Trademark
&reg;
® Registered trademark
&copy;
© Copyright
&quot;
" Double quote marks
&#147;
Left quote
&#148;
Right quote
&frasl;
/ Forward slash
&lt;
< Less than arrow
&gt;
> Greater than arrow
&raquo;
» Right pointing double angle quotation mark
&laquo;
« Left pointing double angle quotation mark

 

&#151;
Em-dash
&pound;
£ Pound sign (GBP currency)
&deg;
30° Degree
&frac14;
¼ Quarter
&frac12;
½ Half
&frac34;
¾ Three quarters
&middot;
· Middle dot
&iexcl;
¡ Inverted exclamation mark
&spades;
Black spade suit
&clubs;
Black club suit
&hearts;
Black hearts suit
&diams;
Black diamond suit