Font-Style Elements

I'm not a big fan of the font-style elements. But it's my duty to tell you about them. Maybe you'll find them useful.

Font-style elements are similar to phrase elements in that they are used to modify pieces of text. However, as the name implies, font-style elements are stylistic rather than structural in nature. And therein lies the rub. In HTML 4.0, most stylistic formatting is accomplished through style sheets. Font-style elements are an exception, a holdover from previous versions of HTML.

We'll examine four font-style elements here:

• bold
• italic
• small
• big

Bold

The bold element specifies that text should be rendered in boldface. Here's a sample paragraph which contains a bold element.

Here's the code that makes it work:

<P>
 <B>Important:</B> All staff members 
 are required to wear the funny hats.
</P>

As you can see, the bold element is delimited by the <B> and </B> tags.

Italic

The italic element specifies that text should be rendered in an italic face. Here's a sample paragraph which contains an italic element.

Here's the code that makes it work:

<P>
 But I don't <I>want</I> to wear a funny hat.
</P>

As you can see, the italic element is delimited by the <I> and </I> tags.

Small

The small element specifies that text should be rendered in a smaller size. Here's a sample paragraph with the small element:

Here's the code:

<P>
  Don't forget to read the 
  <SMALL>fine print</SMALL> 
  before you sign anything.
</P>

As you can see, the small element is delimited by the <SMALL> and </SMALL> tags.

Big

The big element is similar to the small element, but it works in reverse. Here's a sample paragraph with the big element:

Actually this paragraph contains three instances of the big element. They're nested inside one another to demonstrate their cumulative effect. (The small element works the same way.) Here's the code:

<P>
 It's a 
 <BIG>really <BIG>great <BIG>sale </BIG></BIG></BIG> 
</P>

As you can see, the big element is delimited by the <BIG> and </BIG> tags.

All font-style elements are inline elements.

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