HTML Attributes
HTML attributes provide additional information about HTML elements.
HTML Attributes
All HTML elements can have attributes
Attributes provide additional information about elements
Attributes are always specified in the start tag
Attributes usually come in name/value pairs like: name="value"
The href Attribute
The <a> tag defines a hyperlink. The
href attribute specifies the URL of the page
the link goes to:
Example
<a href="https://www.w3schools.com">Visit W3Schools</a>
Try it Yourself »
You will learn more about links in our HTML Links
chapter.
The src Attribute
The <img> tag is used to embed an
image in an HTML page. The src attribute
specifies the path to the image to be displayed:
Example
<img src="img_girl.jpg">
Try it Yourself »
There are two ways to specify the URL in the src
attribute:
1. Absolute URL - Links to an external image that is hosted
on another website. Example: src="https://www.w3schools.com/images/img_girl.jpg".
Notes: External images might be under copyright. If you do
not get permission to use it, you may be in violation of copyright laws. In
addition, you cannot control external images; it can suddenly be removed or
changed.
2. Relative URL - Links to an image that is hosted within
the website. Here, the URL does not include the domain name. If the URL begins
without a slash, it will be relative to the current page. Example: src="img_girl.jpg".
If the URL begins with a slash, it will be relative to the domain. Example: src="/images/img_girl.jpg".
Tip: It is almost always best to use relative URLs. They
will not break if you change domain.
The width and height Attributes
The <img> tag should also contain the
width and
height attributes, which specify the width and
height of the image (in pixels):
Example
<img src="img_girl.jpg" width="500" height="600">
Try it Yourself »
The alt Attribute
The required alt attribute for the <img>
tag specifies an
alternate text for an image, if the image for some reason cannot be displayed.
This can be due to
a slow connection, or an error in the src attribute, or if the user uses a screen
reader.
Example
<img src="img_girl.jpg" alt="Girl
with a jacket">
Try it Yourself »
Example
See what happens if we try to display an image that does not exist:
<img src="img_typo.jpg" alt="Girl
with a jacket">
Try it Yourself »
You will learn more about images in our HTML Images chapter.
The style Attribute
The style attribute is used to add styles to
an element, such as color, font, size, and more.
Example
<p style="color:red;">This is a red paragraph.</p>
Try it Yourself »
You will learn more about styles in our HTML Styles chapter.
The lang Attribute
You should always include the lang attribute
inside the <html> tag, to declare the
language of the Web page. This is meant to assist search engines and browsers.
The following example specifies English as the language:
<!DOCTYPE html><html lang="en"><body>...</body></html>
Country codes can also be added to the language code in the lang
attribute. So, the first two characters define the language of the HTML page,
and the last two characters define the country.
The following example specifies English as the language and United States as
the country:
<!DOCTYPE html><html lang="en-US"><body>...</body></html>
You can see all the language codes in our
HTML Language Code Reference.
The title Attribute
The title attribute defines some extra
information about an
element.
The value of the title attribute will be displayed as a tooltip when
you mouse over the element:
Example
<p title="I'm a tooltip">This is a paragraph.</p>
Try it Yourself »
We Suggest: Always Use Lowercase Attributes
The HTML standard does not require lowercase attribute names.
The title attribute (and all other attributes) can be written with uppercase or lowercase
like title or TITLE.
However, W3C recommends lowercase attributes in HTML, and demands
lowercase attributes for stricter document types like XHTML.
At W3Schools we always use lowercase attribute names.
We Suggest: Always Quote Attribute Values
The HTML standard does not require quotes around attribute values.
However, W3C recommends quotes in HTML, and demands quotes for
stricter document types like XHTML.
Good:
<a href="https://www.w3schools.com/html/">Visit our HTML tutorial</a>
Bad:
<a href=https://www.w3schools.com/html/>Visit our HTML tutorial</a>
Sometimes you have to use quotes. This example will not display
the title attribute correctly, because it contains a space:
Example
<p
title=About W3Schools>
Try it Yourself »
At W3Schools we always use quotes around attribute values.
Single or Double Quotes?
Double quotes around attribute values are the most common in HTML, but single
quotes can also be used.
In some situations, when the attribute value itself contains double quotes, it is necessary to use single quotes:
<p title='John "ShotGun" Nelson'>
Or vice versa:
<p title="John 'ShotGun' Nelson">
Try it Yourself »
Chapter Summary
All HTML elements can have attributes
The href attribute of
<a> specifies the URL of the page the link goes to
The src attribute of
<img> specifies the path to the image to be displayed
The width and height attributes
of <img> provide size information for images
The alt attribute of
<img> provides an alternate text for an image
The style attribute is used to add styles
to an element, such as color, font, size, and more
The lang attribute
of the <html> tag declares the
language of the Web page
The title attribute defines some extra
information about an element
HTML Exercises
Test Yourself With Exercises
Exercise:
Add a "tooltip" to the paragraph below with the text "About W3Schools".
<p ="About W3Schools">W3Schools is a web developer's site.</p>
Submit Answer »
Start the Exercise
HTML Attribute Reference
A complete list of all attributes for each HTML element, is listed in our:
HTML Attribute Reference.
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Reference: https://www.w3schools.com/html/html_attributes.asp
