The HTML Encyclopaedia is intended to be a fairly comprehensive and eclectic collection of information about HTML, HTTP and related topics. No claim is made for comprehensiveness or adherence to any particular standard or implemenation.
At any time there are probably glaring gaps in its uneven coverage of past and present practice. Articles on topics not covered (or covered from a different perspective) are welcome and will be acknowledged.
The HTML examples in the encyclopaedia are, broadly, HTML 3.2 and references to server related issues refer specifically to the Apache server running on the sunc.scit.wlv.ac.uk host.
The following browsers have been used in checking the rendering of the HTML. Significant differences have been noted.
Information concerning other browsers and the above browsers on other platforms is welcome. All the browsers have been obtained from public sources.
Unless otherwise indicated the material is all my own work.
Peter Burden email jphb@scitsc.wlv.ac.uk
Here are links to articles about various general topics.
Pages and pages of superb examples of totally awful WWW page design. Rather slow but worth the wait.
Straight from the horse's mouth (and it's a stable document). The background and text colours seem to have escaped from the Bud Uglly site.
Enter the URL of your page and this will report how well your HTML confirms to established standards. The user interface is slightly unfriendly but it's a useful service.
Most of the pages in this encyclopaedia have been checked using this service and have been reported having strict compliance with HTML level 3.2 except where the page specifically illustrate features known not be included in HTML 3.2
A US based collection of information about HTML and related topics. Slightly out of date in places but comprehensive.
Here are links to articles about various HTML tags. In the following table the columns indicate
| Tag | Container | Optional End | Attributes | Context | HTML 3.2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| a | Y | N | href name rel rev title *target | body | Y |
| address | Y | N | - | body | Y |
| applet | Y | N | code width height codebase alt name align vspace hspace | body | Y |
| area | N | N/A | href nohref alt shape coords | map | Y |
| b | Y | N | - | body | Y |
| base | N | N/A | href *target | head | Y |
| basefont | N | N/A | size *color *face | body | Y |
| bgsound | N | N/A | src loop | ? | N |
| big | Y | N | - | body | Y |
| blink | Y | N | - | body | N |
| blockquote | Y | N | *align | body | Y |
| body | Y | N | background bgcolor text link vlink alink *bgsound *topmargin *leftmargin *bgproperties | html | Y |
| br | N | n/a | clear | body | Y |
| caption | Y | N | align | table | Y |
| center | Y | N | - | body | Y |
| cite | Y | N | - | body | Y |
| code | Y | N | - | body | Y |
| col | ? | ? | align span | body | N |
| colgroup | ? | ? | halign valign width span | body | N |
| comment | ? | ? | - | ? | N |
| dd | Y | Y | - | dl | Y |
| dfn | Y | N | - | body | Y |
| dir | Y | N | compact | body | Y |
| div | Y | N | align | body | Y |
| dl | Y | N | compact | body | Y |
| dt | Y | Y | - | dl | Y |
| em | Y | N | - | body | Y |
| embed | ? | ? | src height width | body | N |
| font | Y | N | size color *face | body | Y |
| form | Y | N | method action enctype *target | body | Y |
| frame | Y | N | align src name marginwidth marginheight scrolling noresize | frameset | N |
| frameset | Y | N | rows cols frameborder framespacing border | html | N |
| h1 | Y | N | align | body | Y |
| h2 | Y | N | align | body | Y |
| h3 | Y | N | align | body | Y |
| h4 | Y | N | align | body | Y |
| h5 | Y | N | align | body | Y |
| h6 | Y | N | align | body | Y |
| head | Y | N | - | html | Y |
| hr | N | N/A | align width height noshade *color | body | Y |
| html | Y | N | - | N/A | Y |
| i | Y | N | - | body | Y |
| iframe | ? | ? | align frameborder height marginheight marginwidth name scrolling src noresize width | body | N |
| img | N | N/A | alt src hspace vspace align width height usemap ismap *lowsrc | body | Y |
| input | N | N/A | type name value checked size maxlength src align | form | Y |
| isindex | N | N/A | prompt | head | Y |
| kbd | Y | N | - | body | Y |
| li | Y | Y | start type | list | Y |
| link | N | N/A | href rel rev title | head | Y |
| listing | Y | N | - | body | Y - obs |
| map | Y | N | - | body | Y |
| marquee | Y | N | align behavior bgcolor direction height width hspace vspace loop scrollamount scrolldelay | body | N |
| menu | Y | N | compact | body | Y |
| meta | N | N/A | http-equiv name content | head | Y |
| nobr | N | N/A | - | body | N |
| noframes | Y | N | ? | frameset | N |
| object | ? | ? | ? | body | N |
| ol | Y | N | start type compact | body | Y |
| option | N | N/A | selected value | select | Y |
| p | Y | Y | align | body | Y |
| param | N | N/A | name value | applet | Y |
| plaintext | N | N/A | - | body | Y - obs |
| pre | Y | N | - | body | Y |
| samp | Y | N | - | body | Y |
| script | Y | N | language | head | Y |
| select | Y | N/A | name size multiple | form | Y |
| small | Y | N | - | body | Y |
| spacer | N | N/A | type size | body | N |
| span | Y | N | style | body | N |
| strike | Y | N | - | body | Y |
| strong | Y | N | - | body | Y |
| style | Y | N | - | head | Y |
| sub | Y | N | - | body | Y |
| sup | Y | N | - | body | Y |
| table | Y | N | align width border cellspacing cellpadding *bordercolor *bordercolorlight *bordercolordark *rules *frame | body | Y |
| td | Y | Y | nowrap colspan rowspan align valign width height *bgcolor *background | tr | Y |
| textarea | Y | N | name rows cols | body | Y |
| th | Y | Y | nowrap colspan rowspan align valign width height *bgcolor *background | tr | Y |
| title | Y | N | - | head | Y |
| tr | Y | Y | align valign *bgcolor | table | Y |
| tt | Y | N | - | body | Y |
| u | Y | N | - | body | Y |
| ul | Y | N | type compact | body | Y |
| var | Y | N | - | body | Y - obs |
| wbr | N | N/A | - | body | N |
| xmp | Y | N | - | body | Y - obs |
Author: Peter Burden