Editing HTML element (section)

==== Types of element ====
There are three kinds of [[HTML]] elements: normal elements, raw text elements, and void elements.

'''{{vanchor|Normal elements}}''' usually have both a start tag and an end tag, although for some elements the end tag, or both tags, can be omitted. It is constructed in a similar way:
* a ''start tag'' ({{tag|{{var|tag}}|o}}) marking the beginning of an element, which may incorporate any number of [[HTML attribute]]s;
* some amount of ''content'', including text and other elements;
* an ''end tag'', in which the element name is prefixed with a [[Slash (punctuation)|slash]]: {{tag|{{var|tag}}|c}}.

'''{{vanchor|Raw text elements}}''' (also known as text or text-only elements) are constructed with:
* a ''start tag'' (in the form {{tag|{{var|tag}}|o}}) marking the beginning of an element, which may incorporate any number of HTML attributes;
* some amount of text ''content'', but no elements (all tags, apart from the applicable end tag, will be interpreted as content);
* an ''end tag'', in which the element name is prefixed with a slash: {{tag|{{var|tag}}|c}}. In some versions of HTML, the end tag is optional for some elements. The end tag is required in [[XHTML]].
An example is the {{tag|title|o}} element, which must not contain other elements (including markup of text), only {{em|plain}} text.

'''{{Anchor|Empty element}}{{vanchor|Void elements}}''' (also sometimes called empty elements, single elements or stand-alone elements) only have a start tag (in the form {{tag|{{var|tag}}|o}}), which contains any HTML attributes. They may not contain any children, such as text or other elements. For compatibility with [[XHTML]], the HTML specification{{Which|date=August 2022}} allows an optional space and slash{{Citation needed|date=August 2022}} ({{tag|{{var|tag}}|s}} is permissible). The slash is required in [[XHTML]] and other [[XML]] applications. Two common void elements are {{tag|br|s}} (for a [[Hard return|hard line-break]], such as in a poem or an address) and {{tag|hr|s}} (for a thematic break). Other such elements are often place-holders which reference external files, such as the image ({{tag|img|s}}) element. The attributes included in the element will then point to the external file in question. Another example of a void element is {{tag|link|s}}, for which the syntax is:
<syntaxhighlight lang="html">
<link rel="stylesheet" href="fancy.css" type="text/css">
</syntaxhighlight>
This {{tag|link|s}} element points the browser at a [[Style sheet (web development)|style sheet]] to use when presenting the HTML document to the user. In the HTML syntax attributes do not have to be quoted if they are composed only of certain characters: letters, digits, the hyphen-minus and the period. When using the XML syntax (XHTML), on the other hand, all attributes must be quoted, and a spaced trailing [[Slash (punctuation)|slash]] is required before the last angle bracket:
<syntaxhighlight lang="xml">
<link rel="stylesheet" href="fancy.css" type="text/css" />
</syntaxhighlight>