So, You Want Text Commands, Huh?

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Use these to jump around or read it all...

[ABBR]
[ACRONYM]
[ADDRESS]
[B]
[BASEFONT]
[BDO]
[BIG]
[BLINK]
[BLOCKQUOTE]
[CITE]
[CODE]
[COMMENT]
[DEL]
[DFN]
[DIV]
[EM]
[FONT COLOR]
[FONT FACE]
[FONTSIZE]>
[H#]
[I]
[INS]
[KBD]
[LISTING]
[MULTICOL] [NOBR]
[PLAINTEXT]
[PRE]
[Q]
[S]
[SAMP]
[SPAN]
[STRONG]
[SUB]
[SUP]
[TT]
[U]
[VAR]
[WBR]
[XMP]

I get letters from new users all the time asking if there are any other commands for manipulating text other than  and . I usually tell them "no" and go on.
I'm kidding, of course. These 40 commands have been listed in the Goodies HTML Referencesince it was posted, but they're way at the end, and tough to find. So, in my continuing effort to continue writing introductory material, I thought I'd throw this little deal together. I've made links to as many other pages as cover these commands in greater detail.

The CommandGives You This<ABBR>The Altered Text</ABBR>The Altered Text

This is a new command in HTML 4.0. Your browser may not support it yet.
<ACRONYM>The Altered Text</ACRONYM>	The Altered Text
This is a new command in HTML 4.0. Your browser may not support it yet.
<ADDRESS>The Altered Text</ADDRESS>	The Altered Text
<B>The Altered Text</B>	The Altered Text
<BASEFONT COLOR="red">The Altered Text</BASEFONT>	The Altered Text
This works like the more popular font commands, except the basefont command also accepts Style Sheet commands.
<BDO DIR="rtl">The Altered Text</BDO>	The Altered Text
This is a new command in HTML 4.0. Your browser may not support it yet. The BDO command is used to denote direction. See the DIR command above? RTL means right to left. LTR means the opposite.
<BIG>The Altered Text</BIG>	The Altered Text

<BLINK>The Altered Text</BLINK>The Altered Text

This command is only supported by Netscape. Hopefully they'll drop it soon too.

<BLOCKQUOTE>The Altered Text</BLOCKQUOTE>

The Altered Text

Actually, this command surrounds text and indents it as a whole.

<CITE>The Altered Text</CITE>The Altered Text

<CODE>The Altered Text</CODE>The Altered Text

<COMMENT>The Altered Text</COMMENT>

Actually - nothing appears on the page. You see, this is a comment. You'll find surrounding text with the
 commands will get the same effect, text in the code that doesn't show up on the page.

<DEL>The Altered Text</DEL>~~The Altered Text~~

This is a new command in HTML 4.0. Your browser may not support it yet. It stands for "DELeted" text. You should get a strike-through effect.

<DFN>The Altered Text</DFN>The Altered Text

"DFN" stands for "definition".

<DIV>The Altered Text</DIV>

The Altered Text

DIV stands for division. This sets apart a section of the page so that it can be altered, usually with Style Sheet commands. You should also take a look at the Class and ID tutorial as well as the Layering tutorials for more exciting exploits of the DIV command.

The Altered TextThe Altered Text

"EM" stands for "Emphasis".

The Altered TextThe Altered Text

For more, see the Text Tutorial.

The Altered TextThe Altered Text

For more, see Primer Number 3. Hey! That rhymes!

The Altered TextThe Altered Text

For more, see the Text Font Tutorial. That doesn't rhyme.

<H#>The Altered Text</H#>

The Altered Text

There are six levels of this command. H4 is above. For more - see Primer Number 3

The Altered TextThe Altered Text

<INS>The Altered Text</INS>The Altered Text

This is a new command in HTML 4.0. Your browser may not support it yet. It means Inserted text. You should get an underline effect with it.

<KBD>The Altered Text</KBD>The Altered Text"KBD" stands for "Keyboard".

<LISTING>The Altered Text</LISTING>The Altered Text

I wouldn't slap this on a brain cell just yet. When HTML 4.0 becomes standard, this will be a dead command. Use <PRE> instead.

<MULTICOL>The Altered Text</MULTICOL>No example

This sets text apart in multiple columns in Netscape only.

The Altered TextThe Altered Text

"NOBR" stands for "No Break". When you surround text with this command, it does not wrap at the end of the line but rather just just keeps rolling right off the right side of the screen.

<PLAINTEXT>The Altered Text</PLAINTEXT>The Altered Text

No need to know this one cold either. When HTML 4.0 becomes standard, this will be a dead command. Use <PRE> instead.

<PRE>The Altered Text</PRE>

The Altered Text

Use PRE more for format than to alter text. Surrounding text with the command keeps it in the same format and shape as it appears on the document page.

<Q>The Altered Text</Q>The Altered Text

This is a new command in HTML 4.0. Your browser may not support it yet. It will be a replacement for the blockquote command. Plus it will have the same properties available as the new Span command.

<S>The Altered Text</S>~~The Altered Text~~

"S" stands for "Strike-through".

<SAMP>The Altered Text</SAMP>The Altered Text

"SAMP" stands for "Sample".

The Altered TextThe Altered Text

This renders text one size smaller.

The Altered TextThe Altered Text

the SPAN command works a lot like the DIV command. You can set all sorts of parameters when you use it. For instance - if you are using a version 4.0 browser, lay your mouse pointer on the altered text example above for a second. For more - see the HTML 4.0 tutorial.

The Altered TextThe Altered Text

The Altered TextThe _AlteredText

The Altered TextThe ^AlteredText

<TT>The Altered Text</TT>The Altered Text

"TT" stands for "Typewriter Text"

The Altered TextThe Altered Text

<VAR>The Altered Text</VAR>The Altered Text

"VAR" stands for "Variable". Text is a small fixed-width font.

The AlteredTextThe Altered Text

Placing the WBR command allows No-Break text to wrap at that point if it needs to.

<XMP>The Altered Text</XMP>The Altered Text

This is also a dead command when HTML 4.0 comes to pass.