HTML Block and Inline Elements
Every HTML element has a default display value depending on what type of element it is.
The two display values are: block and inline.
Block-level Elements
A block-level element always starts on a new line and takes up the full width available (stretches out to the left and right as far as it can).
The <div> element is a block-level element.
Example
<div>Hello World<div>
Block level elements in HTML:
<address> <article> <aside> <blockquote> <canvas>
<dd> <div> <dl> <dt> <fieldset>
<header> <figcaption> <figure> <footer> <form>
<h1>-<h6> <hr> <li> <main> <nav>
<noscript> <ol> <p> <pre> <section>
<table> <tfoot> <ul> <video>
Inline Elements
An inline element does not start on a new line and only takes up as much width as necessary.
This is an inline <span> element inside a paragraph.
Example
<span>Hello World</span>
Inline elements in HTML:
<a> <abbr> <acronym> <b> <bdo>
<big> <br> <button> <cite> <code>
<dfn> <em> <i> <img> <input>
<kbd> <label> <map> <object> <output>
<q> <samp> <script> <select> <small>
<span> <strong> <sub> <sup> <textarea>
<time> <tt> <var>
The <div> Element
The <div>element is often used as a container for other HTML elements.
The <div> element has no required attributes, but style, class and id are common.
When used together with CSS, the <div> element can be used to style blocks of content:
Example
<div style="background-color:black;color:white;padding:20px;">
<h2>London</h2>
<p>London is the capital city of England. It is the most populous city in the United Kingdom, with a metropolitan area of over 13 million inhabitants.</p>
</div>
The <span> Element
The <span> element is often used as a container for some text.
The <span> element has no required attributes, but style, class and id are common.
When used together with CSS, the <span> element can be used to style parts of the text:
Example
<h1>My <span style="color:red">Important</span> Heading</h1>
HTML Grouping Tags
Tags | Description |
---|---|
<div> | Defines a section in a document (block-level) |
<span> | Defines a section in a document (inline) |