What this site is for
= Index DOT Html by Brian Wilson [bloo@blooberry.com] =

Main Index | Top Of Tree | Tag Index | Tag History
What the Site Is
This site is meant to be a repository and reference for technical information about HTML elements, attributes and the popular browsers that support them. This reference is not meant to replace any of the official references put forth by the W3C or its member companies, it is rather meant to collect all of the far-flung resources into a single, coherent whole (hopefully.)

Who This Site Is Aimed At
While some of the external links provided here are good beginner's entry points to learning the HTML language, the contents of this site are directed generally toward the more experienced author. It should be fairly easy to come up to speed quickly on the basics of HTML though.

Why A Web Site?
The Internet in general, and the Web/HTML in particular, are fast moving targets which change quickly. My goal is to keep up with that rapid pace of change, only in its regard to HTML. Compiling this reference and keeping it up to date in most ANY other format would be nearly impossible. Wish me luck... All you readers out there can help me achieve this.

What Is Covered
I have tried to gather and cohesively organize all known information about the specifics of the HyperText Markup Language as of the time of writing.
  • Comprehensive tables of all HTML elements and attributes currently supported by Internet Explorer, Mosaic and Netscape.
    Support in the HTML 2.0, 3.2, and 4.0 specification is also detailed (as well as HTML 3.0 features implemented in current browsers.) This list breaks down the HTML elements and attributes by first letter and details the very first version of each browser and standard where support began.
  • Brief overviews and histories of HTML 2.0, 3.0, 3.2, 4.0, and CSS1
  • Summary of Browser releases important to the support of HTML.
    These pages detail the platforms that the browsers run on, as well as version release dates.
  • Side by side comparison of Internet Explorer, Mosaic, and Netscape release dates and versions.
  • Tree structure detailing all HTML elements in use today by the major browsers.
    This tree organization loosely groups HTML elements by location in an actual HTML document.
  • Tag grouping overviews.
    This part of the tree structure consists of pages giving an introduction to each element section topic. Also included in these pages are links to related sites on each HTML topic.
  • Alphabetic element index to all currently used HTML elements
  • Tag pages for every HTML element.
    This is THE biggest portion of the site. It lists everything you might want to know about the HTML elements in common use. I decided to cover all HTML 2.0, 3.2, and 4.0 elements, browser created extensions, and only those HTML 3.0 elements in general use (because 3.0 was never officially adopted.) Elements and attributes from HTML 3.0 that are not in general use today (which is a large portion of the draft) will be of little interest to authors unless they become supported at some future date. (I hope. If I left anything out, please tell me.)
    In the pages for each element, you will find:
       - Browser and standard support for each element
       - A brief element description
       - All known attributes for each element including allowed attribute values
       - Element examples
       - Parent/content usage models
       - Tips and tricks for using the element
       - Known peculiarities in the implementation of the element in the popular browsers.
  • Cascading Style Sheets reference.
    I never intended this section to be as big as it has become. The real life specification for CSS1 is 60-ish pages, and while mine is much smaller, it is still not a trivial thing. The area of Style Sheets IS a complex topic, and one that requires a lot of explanation. I try to explain things a bit more than I do elsewhere in the site.
Why Were These Browsers Chosen?
Internet Explorer
This browser shows signs of supporting the greatest range of HTML standards yet in a popular browser and its market share is gradually gaining in strength to be on par with Netscape.
Mosaic
This is the most historically interesting of all the reviewed browsers in terms of effect on the current state of the market, although it does not have the market share it once commanded in 1994. Recent sad news is that the 3.0 release will be the last Mosaic. This means that coverage of this browser here will only be of mainly historical interest.
Netscape
This browser has had the largest market share of any browser for quite some time (almost three years now.) Supports a wide range of HTML and various browser features on a wide number of platforms.
Design Strategy
The complexity inherent in presenting information about a language is inescapable. I have tried to manage this complexity by offering several different views on the same information, so that the readers may choose for themselves the method of interface that works best for them.

I originally designed the color scheme of the site (light colors on a black background) for maximum readability. Because of the levels of information complexity, the contrasting emphasis colors can tend to look a bit "circus-y" The chosen scheme was mostly for my benefit at the time (I probably use and look at this site more than anyone.) I prefer dark, passive backgrounds to bright, active ones to reduce eyestrain in extended reading on a computer. I realize that not everyone may feel that way about the appearance (although many do.)

Testing and the Change to CSS
There are several places where hacks existed to achieve a special appearance. As time has progressed, and the size and complexity has increased, I have been shackled to the original limited design and hacks. I finally decided to take the plunge and convert the site to using Cascading Style Sheets. For browsers that understand style sheets, the site will appear as it always has (at least for now - I will be considering other presentation schemes soon - I would love ideas on this change.) For browsers that do not understand style sheets I have taken some time to consider usability issues in the basic design of the site so that it remains as useful as it has been in the past. In essence, appearance issues should no longer hamper usability, only enhance it. Oh, and a great feature of using CSS is that people that download the site can easily customize the presentation of the site as well.

I have tested the site at many different pixel resolutions and platforms, on many different browsers and versions. I also spell-check and validate all documents before publishing (see the caveats page for more details.) There are still some issues to address, but I am working on them as fast as I can and the site is LARGE.

Boring Copyright Stuff...