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<del> (Deleted Text)

This element is used to indicate that text has been deleted from a document. A browser might render deleted text as strikethrough text.

Standard Syntax

Attributes Defined by Internet Explorer

accesskey="key" (5.5)
contenteditable="false | true | inherit" (5.5)
disabled="false | true" (5.5)
language="javascript | jscript | vbs | vbscript" (4)
tabindex="number" (5.5)
unselectable="on | off" (5.5)

Standard Events

onclick, ondblclick, onmousedown, onmouseup, onmouseover, onmousemove, onmouseout, onkeypress, onkeydown, onkeyup

Events Defined by Internet Explorer

onbeforeeditfocus, onblur, ondrag, ondragend, ondragenter, ondragleave, ondragover, ondragstart, ondrop, onfocus, onreadystatechange, onselectstart, ontimeerror

Element Specific Attributes

cite

The value of this attribute is a URL that designates a source document or message that might give a reason that the information was deleted.

datetime

This attribute is used to indicate the date and time the deletion was made. The value of the attribute is a date in a special format as defined by ISO 8601. The basic date format is

YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ssTZD

where the following is true:

YYYY=four-digit year such as 1999
MM=two-digit month (01=January, 02=February, and so on.)
DD=two-digit day of the month (01 through 31)
hh=two digit hour (00 to 23) (24-hour clock, not AM or PM)
mm=two digit minute (00 through 59)
ss=two digit second (00 through 59)
TZD=time zone designator

The time zone designator is either Z, which indicates UTC (Universal Time Coordinate, or coordinated universal time format), or +hh:mm, which indicates that the time is a local time that is hh hours and mm minutes ahead of UTC. Alternatively, the format for the time zone designator could be -hh:mm, which indicates that the local time is behind UTC. Note that the letter "T" actually appears in the string, all digits must be used, and 00 values for minutes and seconds might be required. An example value for the datetime attribute might be 1999-10-6T09:15:00-05:00, which corresponds to October 6, 1999, 9:15 A.M., U.S. Eastern Standard Time.

Example

<del cite="http://www.bigcompany.com/
  changes/oct97.htm"
datetime="1998-10-06T09:15:00-05:00">
The penalty clause applies to client lateness as well.
</del>

Compatibility

HTML 4, 4.01, XHTML 1.0, 1.1
Internet Explorer 4, 5, 5.5, 6
Netscape 6, 7
Opera 7

Notes

Browsers can render deleted (<del>) text in a different style to show the changes that have been made to the document. Internet Explorer 4 renders the text as strikethrough text. Eventually, a browser could have a way to show a revision history on a document.

User agents that do not understand <del> or <ins> will show the information anyway, so there is no harm in adding information—only in deleting it. Because of the fact that <del>-enclosed text might show up, it might be wise to comment it out within the element as shown here:

<del>
<!-- This is old information. -->
</del>

The <del> element is not supported under the HTML 2.0 and 3.2 specifications.