HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) elements are usually either "block-level" elements or "inline" elements. A block-level element occupies the entire space of its parent element (container), thereby creating a "block." This article helps to explain what this means.
Browsers typically display the block-level element with a newline both before and after the element. You can visualize them as a stack of boxes. The following example demonstrates the block-level element's influence:
Block-level elements
HTML
<p>This paragraph is a block-level element; its background has been colored to display the paragraph's parent element.</p>
CSS
p { background-color: #8ABB55; }
Usage
- Block-level elements may appear only within a
<body>element.
Block-level vs. inline
There are a couple of key differences between block-level elements and inline elements:
- Formatting
- By default, block-level elements begin on new lines, but inline elements can start anywhere in a line.
- Content model
- Generally, block-level elements may contain inline elements and other block-level elements. Inherent in this structural distinction is the idea that block elements create "larger" structures than inline elements.
The distinction of block-level vs. inline elements is used in HTML specifications up to 4.01. In HTML5, this binary distinction is replaced with a more complex set of content categories. The "block-level" category roughly corresponds to the category of flow content in HTML5, while "inline" corresponds to phrasing content, but there are additional categories.
Elements
The following is a complete list of all HTML block level elements (although "block-level" is not technically defined for elements that are new in HTML5).
<address>- Contact information.
<article>HTML5- Article content.
<aside>HTML5- Aside content.
<blockquote>- Long ("block") quotation.
<canvas>HTML5- Drawing canvas.
<dd>- Definition description.
<div>- Document division.
<dl>- Definition list.
<fieldset>- Field set label.
<figcaption>HTML5- Figure caption.
<figure>HTML5- Groups media content with a caption (see
<figcaption>). <footer>HTML5- Section or page footer.
<form>- Input form.
<h1>,<h2>,<h3>,<h4>,<h5>,<h6>- Heading levels 1-6.
<header>HTML5- Section or page header.
<hgroup>HTML5- Groups header information.
<hr>- Horizontal rule (dividing line).
<li>- List item.
<main>- Contains the central content unique to this document.
<nav>- Contains navigation links.