Dynamic HTML: The Definitive Reference

Name

<P> — NN all IE all HTML all

Synopsis

<P>...</P>

End Tag: Optional

A P element defines a paragraph structural element in a document. With HTML 4.0, the P element is formally a block-level element, which means that content for a P element begins on its own line, and content following the P element starts on its own line. No other block-level elements may be nested inside a P element. If you omit the end tag, the element ends at the next block-level element start tag.

The nature of the P element has changed over time. In early implementations of HTML, the element represented only a paragraph break (a new line with some extra line spacing). Version 4 browsers render P elements in a hybrid way such that the start tag of a P element inserts a line space before the block. This means that a P element cannot start at the very top of a page unless it is positioned via CSS-P. Use the P element for structural purposes, rather than formatting purposes.

Content of a P element does not recognize extra whitespace that appears in the source code. Other elements, such as PRE, render content just as it is formatted in the source code.

Example

<P>This is a simple, one-sentence paragraph.</P>
<P>This second paragraph starts on its own line, with a little extra 
line spacing.</P>

Object Model Reference

IE

[window.]document.all.elementID

Attributes

ALIGN	DIR	LANG	STYLE	TITLE
CLASS	ID	LANGUAGE

Event Handler Attributes

Handler	NN	IE	HTML
onClick	n/a	4	4
onDblClick	n/a