<p> (Paragraph)

This element is used to define a paragraph of text.

Standard Syntax

Attributes Defined by Internet Explorer

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

Standard Event Attributes

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

Events Defined by Internet Explorer

onactivate, onbeforeactivate, onbeforecopy, onbeforecut, onbeforedeactivate, onbeforeeditfocus, onbeforepaste, onblur, oncontextmenu, oncontrolselect, oncopy, oncut, ondeactivate, ondrag, ondragend, ondragenter, ondragleave, ondragover, ondragstart, ondrop, onfocus, onfocusin, onfocusout, onhelp, onlayoutcomplete, onlosecapture, onmouseenter, onmouseleave, onmousewheel, onmove, onmoveend, onmovestart, onpaste, onpropertychange, onreadystatechange, onresize, onresizeend, onresizestart, onselectstart, ontimeerror

Element Specific Attributes

align

This attribute specifies the alignment of text within a paragraph. The default value is left. The transitional specification of HTML 4.01 also defines center, justify, and right. However, under the strict specification of HTML 4.01, text alignment can be handled through a style sheet rule.

Examples

<p align="right">A right-aligned paragraph</p>

<p id="para1" class="defaultParagraph"
   title="Introduction Paragraph">
 This is the introductory paragraph for a very long paper about nothing.
</p>

Compatibility

HTML 2, 3.2, 4, 4.01
XHTML 1.0, 1.1, Basic
Internet Explorer 2, 3, 4, 5, 5.5, 6
Netscape 1, 2, 3, 4, 4.5 – 4.8, 6, 7
Opera 4-7

Notes

Because p is a block element browsers typically insert a blank line, but this rendering should not be assumed, given the rise of style sheets.

Under the strict HTML and XHTML specifications, the align attribute is not supported. Alignment of text can instead be accomplished using style sheets.

The closing tag for the <p> tag is optional under the HTML specification; however, under the XHTML 1.0 specification, the closing tag </p> is required for XHTML compatibility.

As a logical element, empty paragraphs are ignored by browsers, so do not try to use multiple <p> tags in a row, like <p><p><p><p>, to add blank lines to a Web page. This will not work; use the <br> tag instead..

Remove the empty paragraph <p>&nbsp;</p> markup inserted by WYSIWYG editors.

The HTML 3.2 specification supports only the align attribute with values of center, left, and right.

The HTML 2.0 specification supports no attributes for the p element.