Common HTML Elements (Beginner Reference)

A quick, human-friendly reference list you can use while building pages in CIS195.

Elements List (30)

<html>: Root element that wraps the entire HTML document.
<head>: Metadata container (title, meta tags, links, scripts not shown in page content).
<body>: All visible page content lives here.
<meta>: Provides metadata (charset, viewport, description, etc.).
<title>: Page title shown in the browser tab and bookmarks.
<link>: Links external resources like stylesheets.
<script>: Embeds or references JavaScript.
<header>: Introductory content or site/page header area.
<nav>: Section of navigation links.
<main>: Primary content unique to the page.
<section>: Thematically grouped content with a heading.
<article>: Independent, self-contained content (e.g., blog post).
<footer>: Footer for a section or the whole page (credits, links, legal).
<h1>: Top-level heading (use one primary h1 per page).
<p>: Paragraph of text.
<a>: Anchor link to other pages, sections, or resources.
<img>: Embeds an image; always include a helpful alt attribute.
<ul>: Unordered (bulleted) list.
<ol>: Ordered (numbered) list.
<li>: List item inside ul or ol.
<div>: Generic block container for layout or grouping.
<span>: Generic inline container for text or small UI pieces.
<strong>: Indicates strong importance (usually bold).
<em>: Emphasis (usually italic) that conveys semantic stress.
<br>: Line break; use sparingly (prefer CSS margins).
<form>: Collects user input to submit to a server or script.
<input>: Form control for text, email, checkbox, etc.
<button>: Clickable button (submit, reset, or custom behavior).
<label>: Caption for a form control; improves accessibility.
<textarea>: Multi-line text input.