Inline elements

Summary

HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) elements are usually "inline" elements or "block-level" elements. An inline element occupies only the space bounded by the tags that define the inline element. The following example demonstrates the inline element's influence:

Inline example

HTML

<p>This <span>span</span> is an inline element; its background has been colored to display both the beginning and end of the inline element's influence</p>

CSS

span { background-color: #8ABB55; }

Inline vs. block-level

Content model

Generally, inline elements may contain only data and other inline elements.

Formatting

By default, inline elements do not begin with new line.

Elements

The following elements are "inline":

• b, big, i, small, tt
• abbr, acronym, cite, code, dfn, em, kbd, strong, samp, time, var
• a, bdo, br, img, map, object, q, script, span, sub, sup
• button, input, label, select, textarea

See also

• Block-level elements