HTML Attributes

Attributes provide additional information about HTML elements.

HTML Attributes

• HTML elements can have attributes
• Attributes add additional information to elements
• Attributes are usually specified in the opening tag
• Attributes always come in name/value pairs, like: name="value"

Attribute Example

HTML links are defined by the <a> tag. The link address is specified in the href attribute:

Example

<a href="http://www.tutorialpro.org">This is a link</a>

HTML Attribute Values

Attribute values should always be enclosed in quotes.

Double quotes are most common, but single quotes are also acceptable.

Tip: In some cases, such as when the attribute value itself contains double quotes, you must use single quotes, for example:

name='John "ShotGun" Nelson'

HTML Tip: Use Lowercase Attributes

Attributes and attribute values are not case-sensitive.

However, the World Wide Web Consortium recommends lowercase attributes/attribute values in their HTML 4 recommendation.

Newer versions of (X)HTML require the use of lowercase attributes.

HTML Attribute Reference

View the complete list of HTML attributes: HTML Tag Reference.

The following attributes are applicable to most HTML elements:

For more standard attribute descriptions: HTML Standard Attribute Reference.