EBook HTML

This document captures the early HTML usage in eBooks. It captures the format documentation for MOBI and OEB usage to preserve it.

[edit] Overview

eBooks have used HTML format for a long time as the basis for describing formatting and presentation of eBook content. Today, a variation called XHTML has superseded this document. It provides more structure to the content but is otherwise compatible with this description. The attributes described here are now done using CSS. Not all of the tags shown here are supported by all eBook Readers. This is based on HTML versions 3.2 and 4.0.

[edit] Basic HTML

HTML Tag	Attributes	Description	Mobipocket Reader	OEB 1.0
<?xml?>		This tag identifies a document as an XML document	Yes	Yes
<?xml-stylesheet?>		Specifies the presence of an external stylesheet	No	Yes
<!-- -->		Comment	Yes	Yes
<!doctype>		Used to reference a DTD	Ignored	Yes
<a>		Creates an anchor point or target point for hyperlinking	Yes	Yes
	class		No	Yes
	href		Yes	Yes
	id		Yes	Yes
	name		Yes	Dep.
	rel		Ignored	Yes
	rev		Ignored	Yes
	style		No	Yes
	title		No	Yes
	onclick	May contain some JavaScript code	Yes	No
<area>		Creates a link hotspot within an image	No	Yes
	alt			Yes
	coords			Yes
	href			Yes
	nohref			Yes
	shape			Yes
	title			Yes
<b>		Makes the enclosed text bold	Yes	Yes
	class		No	Yes
	id		Yes	Yes
	style		No	Yes
	title		No	Yes
<base>		Establishes a base file path for hyperlinks	No	Yes
	href			Yes
<big>		Makes the enclosed text one font size larger than the current or default font size	Yes	Yes
<blockquote>		Generates a 1-em margin above the text it encloses	Yes	Yes
	cite		Ignored	Yes
	class		No	Yes
	id		Yes	Yes
	style		No	Yes
	title		No	Yes
<body>		Encloses the body text of an eBook source file	Yes	Yes
	topmargin, leftmargin, rightmargin, bottommargin		Yes	No
	bgcolor		No	Dep.
	class		No	Yes
	Id		No	Yes
	style		No	Yes
	text		No	Dep.
	title		No	Yes
<br />		Generates a line break of a size equal to the current line-height	Yes	Yes
	class		No	Yes
	clear		No	Dep.
	id		Yes	Yes
	style		No	Yes
<caption>		Creates a caption for a table	No	Yes
<center>		Centers text horizontally.	Yes	Dep.
<cite>		Indicates that a section of text is quoted from another source	Yes	Yes
<code>		Displays the enclosed text in a monospace font, as sample computer code	Yes	Yes
<dd>		Used within a <dl> or definition list block, this tag encloses the definition of a term that makes up part of a definition list	Yes	Yes
	class		No	Yes
	id		Yes	Yes
	style		No	Yes
	title		Yes	Yes
<del>		Deleted text. Rendered with a line through the enclosed text	Yes	No
<dfn>		Used at first mention when a term is defined, and renders enclosed text as italics	Yes	Yes
<dir>		Creates a directory-style list.	No	No
<div>		Defines a “block”	Yes	Yes
	align		Yes	Dep.
	class		No	Yes
	id		Yes	Yes
	style		No	Yes
	title		No	Yes
	bgcolor		Yes	No
<dl>		Creates a glossary-style list containing <dt> and <dd> tags.	Yes	Yes
	class		No	Yes
	id		Yes	Yes
	style		No	Yes
	title		Yes	Yes
<dt>		Encloses a term to be defined in a definition list.	Yes	Yes
	class		No	Yes
	id		Yes	Yes
	style		No	Yes
	title		Yes	Yes
<em>		Emphasizes a text element	Yes	Yes
	class		No	Yes
	id		Yes	Yes
	style		No	Yes
	title		Yes	Yes
<font>		Alters the font appearance of the text it encloses	No	Dep.
	class		No	Yes
	color		Yes	Dep.
	face		Yes	Dep.
	id		Yes	Yes
	size		Yes	Dep.
	style		No	Yes
<head>		Typically encloses the <title>, <base>, <style>, and <link> tags of HTML document source	Yes	Yes
<h1 to h6>		Defines heading styles of varying sizes, with <h1> being the largest and <h6> being the smallest	Yes
<hr />		create an horizontal rules	Yes	Yes
	align		No	Dep.
	class		No	Yes
	color		Yes	Dep.
	id		Yes	Yes
	noshade		No	No
	size		No	Dep.
	style		No	Yes
	title		No	Yes
	width		Yes	Dep.
<html>		Indicates the start and end of an HTML document	Yes	Yes
<i>		italic	Yes	Yes
	class		Yes	Yes
	id		Yes	Yes
	style		No	Yes
	title		No	Yes
<img />		defines an inline image within the text		Yes
	align		Yes	Dep.
	alt		Ignored	Yes
	border		Yes	Dep.
	class		No	Yes
	height		Yes	Dep.
	hspace		No	Dep.
	id		Yes	Yes
	longdesc		Ignored	Yes
	lowsrc		No	Yes
	src		Yes	Yes
	style		No	Yes
	title		Yes	Yes
	usemap		No	Dep.
	vspace		No	Dep.
	width		Yes	Dep.
<ins>		Meant to indicate inserted text	No	No
<kbd>		Sets the enclosed text in a monospace font	Yes	Yes
<li>		Used to indicate an item in an list	Yes	Yes
	class		Yes	Yes
	id		Yes	Yes
	style		No	Yes
	title		Yes	Yes
	type		No	No
<link />		used to link external stylesheets	No	Yes
	href			Yes
	id			Yes
	media			Yes
	rel			Yes
	rev			Yes
	title			Yes
	type			Yes
<listing>		Creates a block rendered with indented margins & mnospace fonts	No	No
	class
	id
	style
	title
<map>		This tag encloses the <area> tags used to define the clickable areas within image maps	No	Yes
	class			Yes
	id			Yes
	lang			Yes
	name			Dep.
	style			Yes
	title			Yes
<menu>		Creates a menu list from the list items it contains	No	Yes
	id			No
<meta>		speficy meta information for search engine	Ignored	Yes
	name			Yes
	content			Yes
	scheme			Yes
<object>		Imports applets into an object	No	Yes
	align			Yes
	archive			Dep.
	border			Dep.
	height			Dep.
	hspace			Dep.
	type			Yes
	usemap			Yes
	vspace			Dep.
	width			Dep.
<ol>		Creates a numbered list from the list items it contains, each of which has to have a <li> tag	Yes	Yes
	class		No	Yes
	id		Yes	Yes
	start		No	No
	style		No	Yes
	type		No	Dep.
<p>		Defines a paragraph of text, indents the first line of the paragraph, and creates a line break at the end of the enclosed text	Yes	Yes
	align		Yes	Dep.
	class		No	Yes
	id		Yes	Yes
	style		No	Yes
	title		Yes	Yes
<param>		used within a <object> tag to specify parameter values	No	Yes
	name			Yes
	value			Yes
	valuetype			Yes
	type			Yes
<plaintext>		Changes the font to monospace and preserves whitespace.	No	No
<pre>		Preformatted text requires KindleGen 1.0	Yes	Yes
	class			Yes
	id			Yes
	style			Yes
	title			Yes
<q>		Used to indicate a short, in-line quotation	No	Yes
	cite			Yes
<s>		Identical to <strike>	Yes	Dep.
	class		No	Yes
	id		Yes	Yes
	style		Yes	Yes
	title		Yes	Yes
<samp>		Used to indicate a sample text. Text appears inmonospace font.	Yes	Yes
	class		No	Yes
	id		Yes	Yes
	style		No	Yes
	title		No	Yes
<small>		Reduces the current font by one	Yes	Yes
	class		No	Yes
	id		Yes	Yes
	style		No	Yes
	title		No	Yes
<span>		A container for in-line text.	Yes	Yes
	bgcolor		Yes	No
	title		Yes	Yes
<strike>		create a strikethrough text	Yes	Dep.
	class		Yes	Yes
	id		Yes	Yes
	style		No	Yes
	title		No	Yes
<strong>		Contains text rendered with bold. Same as <b>	Yes	Yes
	class		Yes	Yes
	id		Yes	Yes
	style		No	Yes
	title		No	Yes
<style>		Specifcy CSS style information	No	Yes
	type			Yes
<sub>		Reduces the font size of the enclosed text and floats it below the baseline as subscripted text	Yes	Yes
	class		No	Yes
	id		Yes	Yes
	style		No	Yes
	title		No	Yes
<sup>		Reduces the font size of the enclosed text and floats it below the baseline as subscripted text	Yes	Yes
	class		Yes	Yes
	id		Yes	Yes
	style		No	Yes
	title		No	Yes
<table>		Creates a table, which must be filled using the <td>, <th>, and <tr> tags	Yes	Yes
	align		Ignored	Dep.
	bgcolor		Yes	Dep.
	border		Yes	Yes
	cellpadding		No	Yes
	cellspacing		Yes	Yes
	summary		No	Yes
	width		Yes	Dep.
<td>		Creates a cell within a table		Yes
	abbr		No	Yes
	align		Yes	Yes
	bgcolor		Yes	Dep.
	colspan		Yes	Yes
	height		No	Dep.
	nowrap		No	Dep.
	rowspan		Yes	Yes
	valign		Yes	Yes
	width		Yes	Yes
<th>		Indicates a table header for a row or column; the header itself is displayed as bold	Yes	Yes
	abbr
	align		Yes	Yes
	bgcolor		Yes	Yes
	colspan		Yes	Dep.
	height		Yes	Yes
	nowrap		No	Dep.
	rowspan		Yes	Dep.
	valign		Yes	Yes
	width		Yes	Yes
<title>		Encloses the title of a document	Yes	Yes
<tr>		Creates a row within a table	Yes	Yes
	align		No	No
	bgcolor		Yes	Dep.
	valign		Yes	Yes
<tt>		Like the <kbd> tag, this tag encloses text to be displayed in a monospaced font	Yes	Yes
	class		No	Yes
	id		Yes	Yes
	style		No	Yes
	title		No	Yes
<u>		This tag underlines any text it encloses	Yes	Dep.
	class		No	Yes
	id		Yes	Yes
	style		No	Yes
	title		No	Yes
<ul>		Generates a bulleted list from the list items it contains.	Yes	Yes
	class		Yes	Yes
	id		Yes	Yes
	style		No	Yes
	title		No	Yes
<var>		Indicates a variable name or program argument	Yes	Yes
<xmp>		Creates a block rendered with indented margins, and monospaced font	No	No

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MobiPocket web site - uses the definitions above.

EBook HTML

[edit] Overview

[edit] Basic HTML

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