Markup Tags

Sr.No. Topics
1

HTML

2
 HEAD
3
 TITLE
4
 BODY
5
 Headings
6
 Paragraphs
7
 Lists
8
 Preformatted Text
9
 Extended Quotations
10
 Forced Line Breaks/Postal Addresses
11
 Horizontal Rules

 

Paragraphs

Unlike documents in most word processors, carriage returns in HTML files aren't significant. In fact, any amount of whitespace -- including spaces, linefeeds, and carriage returns -- are automatically compressed into a single space when your HTML document is displayed in a browser. So you don't have to worry about how long your lines of text are. Word wrapping can occur at any point in your source file without affecting how the page will be displayed.

In the bare-bones example shown in the Minimal HTML Document section, the first paragraph is coded as 

    <P>Welcome to the world of HTML.  
    This is the first paragraph.
    While short it is
    still a paragraph!</P>

In the source file there is a line break between the sentences. A Web browser ignores this line break and starts a new paragraph only when it encounters another <P> tag.

Important: You must indicate paragraphs with <P> elements. A browser ignores any indentations or blank lines in the source text. Without <P> elements, the document becomes one large paragraph. (One exception is text tagged as "preformatted," which is explained below.) For example, the following would produce identical output as the first bare-bones HTML example: 

    <H1>Level-one heading</H1>
    <P>Welcome to the world of HTML. This is the  
    first paragraph. While short it is still a
    paragraph! </P> <P>And this is the second paragraph.</P>
To preserve readability in HTML files, put headings on separate lines, use a blank line or two where it helps identify the start of a new section, and separate paragraphs with blank lines (in addition to the <P> tags). These extra spaces will help you when you edit your files (but your browser will ignore the extra spaces because it has its own set of rules on spacing that do not depend on the spaces you put in your source file).

NOTE: The </P> closing tag may be omitted. This is because browsers understand that when they encounter a <P> tag, it means that the previous paragraph has ended. However, since HTML now allows certain attributes to be assigned to the <P> tag, it's generally a good idea to include it.

Using the <P> and </P> as a paragraph container means that you can center a paragraph by including the ALIGN=alignment attribute in your source file. 

    <TT><P ALIGN=CENTER></TT>
    This is a centered paragraph.
    [See the formatted version below.]
    </P>

This is a centered paragraph.

It is also possible to align a paragraph to the right instead, by including the ALIGN=RIGHT attribute. ALIGN=LEFT is the default alignment; if no ALIGN attribute is included, the paragraph will be left-aligned.