Every HTML element has a default display value, depending on what type of element it is.
There are two display values: block and inline.
Block-level Elements
A block-level element always starts on a new line, and the browsers automatically add some space (a margin) before and after the element.
A block-level element always takes up the full width available (stretches out to the left and right as far as it can).
Two commonly used block elements are: <p> and <div>.
The <p> element defines a paragraph in an HTML document.
The <div> element defines a division or a section in an HTML document.
The <p> element is a block-level element.The <div> element is a block-level element.
Example
<!DOCTYPE html> <html> <body> <p style="border: 1px solid black">Hello World</p> <div style="border: 1px solid black">Hello World</div> <p>The P and the DIV elements are both block elements, and they will always start on a new line and take up the full width available (stretches out to the left and right as far as it can).</p> </body> </html> Result:
Here are the block-level elements in HTML:
<address> <article> <aside> <blockquote> <canvas> <dd> <div> <dl> <dt> <fieldset><figcaption> <figure> <footer> <form> <h1> – <h6> <header> <hr> <li> <main> <nav><noscript> <ol> <p> <pre> <section> <table> <tfoot> <ul> <video>
Inline Elements
An inline element does not start on a new line.
An inline element only takes up as much width as necessary.
This is a <span> element inside a paragraph.
Example
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<body>
<p>This is an inline span <span style=”border: 1px solid black”>Hello World</span> element inside a paragraph.</p>
<p>The SPAN element is an inline element, and will not start on a new line and only takes up as much width as necessary.</p>
</body>
</html>
Here are the inline elements in HTML:
<a> <abbr> <acronym> <b> <bdo> <big> <br> <button> <cite> <code> <dfn> <em><i> <img> <input> <kbd> <label> <map> <object> <output> <q> <samp> <script> <select> <small> <span> <strong> <sub> <sup> <textarea> <time> <tt> <var>
The <div> Element
The <div> element is often used as a container for other HTML elements.
The <div> element has no required attributes, but style, class and id are common.
When used together with CSS, the <div> element can be used to style blocks of content:
Example
<!DOCTYPE html> <html> <body> <div style="background-color:black;color:white;padding:20px;"> <h2>London</h2> <p>London is the capital city of England. It is the most populous city in the United Kingdom, with a metropolitan area of over 13 million inhabitants.</p> <p>Standing on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its founding by the Romans, who named it Londinium.</p> </div> </body> </html>
The <span> Element
The <span> element is an inline container used to mark up a part of a text, or a part of a document.
The <span> element has no required attributes, but style, class and id are common.
When used together with CSS, the <span> element can be used to style parts of the text:
Example
<!DOCTYPE html> <html> <body> <h1>The span element</h1> <p>My mother has <span style="color:blue;font-weight:bold">blue</span> eyes and my father has <span style="color:darkolivegreen;font-weight:bold">dark green</span> eyes.</p> </body> </html>
