<p> or <br>

Is it a debateable point or 'whatever suits' as to whether test is
presented using <p> or <br> tags?

--
Jim
Tyneside UK
http://www.jimscott.co.uk

Jim Scott wrote:

Is it a debateable point or 'whatever suits' as to whether test is
presented using <p> or <br> tags?

No.

If it's a paragraph then mark it up with a <p> element.

If it's a line break then mark it up with a <br> element.

They mean different things and in most browsers result in a different
presentation.

Steve

Jim Scott wrote:

Is it a debateable point or 'whatever suits' as to whether test is
presented using <p> or <br> tags?

Neither - it's very clear.

<p>Marks the boundaries of a paragraph. <br> is an inline element that
marks a line break, where it occurs _within_ some piece of text. That's
really all there is to it - it's pretty clearly stated, if only you
follow the HTML spec through in detail.

<br><br> is always wrong. You've broken the line once, how do you break
it a second time?

If you want a debate, then it's less clear-cut when you should use <p>
and <div>. Obviously <p> is used for paragraphs and <div> should be
used for "chunks fo text that aren't a grammatical paragraph", but this
is a viable grammar question about similar HTML constructs when <p> vs.
<br> is really comparing chalk and cheese.

"Andy Dingley" <dingbat (AT) codesmiths (DOT) com> wrote in news:1160399014.713784.222520
@c28g2000cwb.googlegroups.com:

Jim Scott wrote:

Is it a debateable point or 'whatever suits' as to whether test is
presented using <p> or <br> tags?

Neither - it's very clear.

p>Marks the boundaries of a paragraph. <br> is an inline element that
marks a line break, where it occurs _within_ some piece of text. That's
really all there is to it - it's pretty clearly stated, if only you
follow the HTML spec through in detail.

br><br> is always wrong. You've broken the line once, how do you break
it a second time?

If you want a debate, then it's less clear-cut when you should use <p
and <div>. Obviously <p> is used for paragraphs and <div> should be
used for "chunks fo text that aren't a grammatical paragraph", but this
is a viable grammar question about similar HTML constructs when <p> vs.
br> is really comparing chalk and cheese.

Not quite.

On my site, which is almost all pictures with text, using <br> avoids a space
appearing between the text and the picture or is that because I use </p>?
--
Jim
Tyneside UK
http://www.jimscott.co.uk

Jim Scott wrote:

On my site, which is almost all pictures with text, using <br> avoids a space
appearing between the text and the picture or is that because I use </p>?

Most browsers give top and bottom margins to paragraphs. So <p>...</p>
will have some white space before and after it.

You can suggest that the margins be zero size via CSS, so if it is
logically a paragraph but you don't want the white space, use
<p>...</p> and set the margins to zero in CSS. But if it is not
logically a paragraph don't use <p>...</p>.

Steve

Jim Scott wrote:

On my site, which is almost all pictures with text, using <br> avoids a space
appearing between the text and the picture or is that because I use </p>?

What's a "space" ? Sounds like a presentation issue, in which case
don't worry about it in the HTML, leave it to the CSS.

If you <img> is part of the same para as the text, then use <br>
between them.

If your test is a separate paragraph beneath the image (or above, or
alongside it) then use <p>...</p> and put the <img> elsewhere.

Andy Dingley wrote:

On my site, which is almost all pictures with text, using <br> avoids a space
appearing between the text and the picture or is that because I use </p>?

What's a "space" ? Sounds like a presentation issue, in which case
don't worry about it in the HTML, leave it to the CSS.

If you <img> is part of the same para as the text, then use <br
between them.

If your test is a separate paragraph beneath the image (or above, or
alongside it) then use <p>...</p> and put the <img> elsewhere.

And if you have got a image with some subtitle or description use a

<div> (because it'S no "grammatical paragraph" as andy already said).

br><br> is always wrong. You've broken the line once, how do you break
it a second time?

I don't see why this is wrong. BR is a single line break and there is
nobody forbidding you to use 2 of them and it will validate correctly.
The P tag simply helps you to define a paragraph and to have some more
flexibility when it comes to styling; however, there are plenty of
cases that would have a double BR making your code more readable.

rvtol_pe (AT) hotmail (DOT) com wrote:

br><br> is always wrong. You've broken the line once, how do you break
it a second time?

I don't see why this is wrong.

Probably because most people do <br><br> when they want to create space
on the page, and that's a stylistic thing.

there are plenty of
cases that would have a double BR making your code more readable.

Do you mean more readable in a text editor? If so, why would you use an
HTML tag for this?

Andy Dingley wrote:

Obviously <p> is used for paragraphs and <div> should be
used for "chunks fo text that aren't a grammatical paragraph"

Just out of curiosity, where did you get that quote from? I can see why
it would be confusing if <div> is still defined in terms of "text" and
"paragraph", but it seems (to me, at least) that <div> is really used
for sections of your webpage that are distinct in terms of overall
content, i.e. a header and a footer can each be a <div>, the main body
could be, sidebars could be, etc. In those terms, it has nothing to do
with text or paragraphs necessarily.