<plaintext> (Plain Text)
This deprecated element from the HTML 2.0 specification renders the enclosed text as plain text and forces the browser to ignore any enclosed HTML. Typically, information affected by the <plaintext> tag is rendered in monospaced font. This element is no longer part of the HTML standard and should never be used.
Syntax (HTML 2; Deprecated Under HTML 4)
<plaintext>
Attributes Defined by Internet Explorer
accesskey="key"(5.5)
class="class name(s)"(4)
contenteditable="false | true | inherit"(5.5)
dir="ltr | rtl"(4)
disabled="false | true"(5.5)
hidefocus="true | false"(5.5)
id="unique alphanumeric identifier"(4)
lang="language code"(4)
language="javascript | jscript | vbs | vbscript"(4)
style="style information"(4)
tabindex="number"(5.5)
title="advisory text"(4)
Example
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//IETF//DTD HTML 2.0//EN">
<html>
<head><title>Plaintext Example</title></head>
<body>
The rest of this file is in plain text.
<plaintext>
Even though this is supposed to be <b>bold</b>, the tags still show. There is no way to turn plain text off once it is on. </plaintext>
does nothing to help. Even </body> and </html> will show up.
Compatibility
HTML 2
Internet Explorer 2, 3, 4, 5, 5.5, 6
Netscape 1, 2, 3, 4, 4.5 – 4.8, 6, 7
Opera 4 – 7
Notes
No closing tag for this element is necessary because the browser will ignore all tags after the starting tag.
This element should not be used. Plain text information can be indicated by a file type, and information can be inserted in a preformatted fashion using the pre element.
Most browsers continue to support this tag despite documentation to the contrary.
