HTML 5 <div> Tag
The HTML <div>
tag is used for defining a section of your document. With the <div>
tag, you can group large sections of HTML elements together and format them with CSS.
The difference between the <div>
tag and the <span>
tag is that the <div>
tag is used with block-level elements whilst the <span>
tag is used with inline elements.
HTML 4 vs HTML 5
In HTML 4.01 documents, the <div>
tag was often used for specifying the various navigational sections of the HTML document (such as the header, footer, content area, side bars, etc).
The HTML 5 specification has introduced a number of new elements that can (and should) be used instead of the <div>
element. Examples of these new elements include <article>
, <aside>
, <header>
, and <footer>
, as well as others.
Therefore, the <div>
element should generally be used as an extension mechanism which is used only if there isn't another suitable HTML element to use.
Attributes
HTML tags can contain one or more attributes. Attributes are added to a tag to provide the browser with more information about how the tag should appear or behave. Attributes consist of a name and a value separated by an equals (=) sign, with the value surrounded by double quotes. Here's an example, style="color:black;"
.
There are 3 kinds of attributes that you can add to your HTML tags: Element-specific, global, and event handler content attributes.
The attributes that you can add to this tag are listed below.
Element-Specific Attributes
The following table shows the attributes that are specific to this tag/element.
Attribute | Description |
---|---|
None |
Global Attributes
The following attributes are standard across all HTML 5 tags (although the tabindex
attribute does not apply to dialog
elements).
accesskey
autocapitalize
class
contenteditable
data-*
dir
draggable
hidden
id
inputmode
is
itemid
itemprop
itemref
itemscope
itemtype
lang
part
slot
spellcheck
style
tabindex
title
translate
For a full explanation of these attributes, see HTML 5 global attributes.
Event Handler Content Attributes
Event handler content attributes enable you to invoke a script from within your HTML. The script is invoked when a certain "event" occurs. Each event handler content attribute deals with a different event.
onabort
onauxclick
onblur
oncancel
oncanplay
oncanplaythrough
onchange
onclick
onclose
oncontextmenu
oncopy
oncuechange
oncut
ondblclick
ondrag
ondragend
ondragenter
ondragexit
ondragleave
ondragover
ondragstart
ondrop
ondurationchange
onemptied
onended
onerror
onfocus
onformdata
oninput
oninvalid
onkeydown
onkeypress
onkeyup
onlanguagechange
onload
onloadeddata
onloadedmetadata
onloadstart
onmousedown
onmouseenter
onmouseleave
onmousemove
onmouseout
onmouseover
onmouseup
onpaste
onpause
onplay
onplaying
onprogress
onratechange
onreset
onresize
onscroll
onsecuritypolicyviolation
onseeked
onseeking
onselect
onslotchange
onstalled
onsubmit
onsuspend
ontimeupdate
ontoggle
onvolumechange
onwaiting
onwheel
For a full list of event handlers, see HTML 5 event handler content attributes.