- Comparison of layout engines (non-standard HTML)
-
HTML - HTML and HTML5
- Dynamic HTML
- XHTML
- XHTML Mobile Profile and C-HTML
- Canvas element
- Character encodings
- Document Object Model
- Font family
- HTML editor
- HTML element
- HTML Frames
- HTML5 video
- HTML scripting
- Web browser engine
- Quirks mode
- Style sheets
- Unicode and HTML
- W3C and WHATWG
- Web colors
- Web Storage
- Comparison of
The following tables compare deprecated and proprietary HTML elements and attributes compatibility and support for a number of layout engines. Please see the individual products' articles for further information. This article is not all-inclusive or necessarily up-to-date. Unless otherwise specified in footnotes, comparisons are based on the stable versions without any add-ons, extensions or external programs.
In the early years of the World Wide Web, the standards which today are used in most web browsers and web pages were mostly non-existent. Different browsers and HTML editors were being offered by competing vendors such as Netscape, Microsoft and WebTV, all of whom had their own ideas for how web sites should be constructed. These varying features resulted in web developers coding for specific web browsers, using elements which could often be recognized by only one browser.
The WebTV and IBM WebExplorer inventions have never seen adoption by mainstream browsers.
Contents
Explanation of the tables
Engine nomenclature
Rather than the names of web browsers, the names of the underlying engines are used. The browsers that use the various engines are listed below.
Layout engine Release version Preview version Used by Amaya 11.3.1 11.3-pre Amaya Gecko 6.0.2 8.0a2 All Mozilla software, including Firefox; SeaMonkey and Galeon; Camino; K-Meleon; Flock (up to 2.x); Epiphany-gecko; Debian IceWeasel; GNU IceCat (formerly GNU IceWeasel); Icedove, Iceape and Iceowl; Fennec KHTML N/A Konqueror Presto 2.9.168 2.9.168 Opera; Opera Mobile, Nintendo DS & DSi Browser; Internet Channel Prince 7.1 N/A Prince XML Tasman (IE 5.2.3 for Mac) none (aborted in 2003) Internet Explorer 5+ for Mac OS X Trident 5.0 (IE 9) 6.0 (IE 10) Internet Explorer and other Internet Explorer shells like Maxthon (Microsoft Windows operating systems only), Windows Phone 7 WebKit 534.20 r83424 Safari (both desktop and mobile), Google Chrome, Maxthon 3, Shiira, iCab 4, OmniWeb 5.5+, Epiphany, Adobe AIR, Midori, Adobe Dreamweaver CS4 and CS5, Android browser, Palm webOS browser, Symbian S60 browser, OWB, Steam, Rekonq, Arora, Flock (version 3+), RockMelt Values
Values indicate the level of support in the most recent version of the layout engine, or (if a version number is given) in the specified version. Version numbers without any other value indicate the version at which the layout engine first fully supported the feature.
Value Meaning Yes Indicates that the layout engine fully supports this property/element when valid values are used. No Indicates that the property/element is completely ignored. Partial Indicates that the property/element is understood, but that not all values are supported. Supported values are implemented correctly. Incorrect Indicates that the property/element is understood, but that it is not implemented correctly in all cases. Experimental Indicates that the property/element is understood, but supported under an alternate name. May be incomplete or buggy. Dropped Indicates that the property/element is no longer supported. Nightly build Indicates that the property/element is supported to some extent in an experimental/nightly build. Future support is expected. Depends Indicates that the property/element is supported only on certain platforms, or if certain settings are configured. Deprecated HTML elements
Element Function Supported first by Deprecated in HTML version Alternative solution Trident Gecko WebKit KHTML Presto applet
Insert an applet HotJava 4[1] embed
,object
<3.1[IE 4.0] 1.7 Yes Yes 1.0 basefont
Sets font styles Internet Explorer 4 CSS <3.1[IE 3.0] No[2] 85 Yes center
Centers contents Netscape[3] 4 CSS 3.1 Yes Yes dir
Directory list ? 4 ul
,ol
font
Applies font styles Netscape 4 CSS isindex
[4]Adds a search field ? 4 input type="search"
<3.1[IE 5.5] 1.7 312 Partial listing
Displays preformatted text IETF 2 pre
,samp
,code
, CSS3.1 125 3.3 Yes menu
Menu list ? 4 ul
,ol
Yes Yes Yes plaintext
Designates that all HTML be ignored, and to display the page as is ? 3.2 The text/plain
MIME types
Strike-through ? 4 del
, CSS<3.1[IE 4.0] 1.7 1.0 strike
Strike-through ? 4 del
, CSSu
Underline ? 4 CSS xmp
Similar to pre
andplaintext
, but ignores all HTML within and displays as is? 2 pre
,samp
,code
<3.1[IE 3.0] 125 3.3 Deprecated HTML attributes
Attribute Element Alternative solution Trident Gecko WebKit KHTML Presto align
caption
,div
,fieldset
,h1
,h2
,h3
,h4
,h5
,h6
,hr
,img
,input
,legend
,p
,object
,table
CSS 3.1 Yes Yes Yes Yes alink
body
CSS No background
body
CSS Yes bgcolor
body
,table
,tr
,td
,th
CSS border
img
,object
CSS Partial[note 1] clear
br
CSS No compact
dl
,ul
,ol
CSS No No color
basefont
,font
CSS 3.1 Partial[note 2][2] Partial[note 2] height
td
,th
CSS Yes Yes hspace
img
,object
CSS language
script
The type
attributeNo[citation needed] link
body
CSS Yes noshade
hr
CSS nowrap
td
,th
CSS size
basefont
,font
,hr
CSS start
ol
None text
body
CSS type
li
,ul
,ol
CSS version
html
DTD No No No No No vlink
body
CSS Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes width
hr
,pre
,td
,th
CSS vspace
img
,object
CSS Proprietary HTML elements
Tag Function Supported first by Alternative solution Trident Gecko WebKit KHTML Presto bgsound
Used to add sound to the background of a website Internet Explorer audio
<3.1[IE 3.0] No No No 1.0 blink
Used to display a blinking text Netscape Javascript, CSS No 1.7 No No 1.0 bq
Used to display a blockquote WebTV, HTML 3.0 blockquote
No No No No Dropped[5] comment
Used to allow the addition of comments to HTML documents Internet Explorer, WebTV <!-- ... -->
3.1 No No No No ilayer
Inline layers Netscape (4 only) iframe
No No No Partial No image
Synonym of img ? img
3.1 Yes Yes Yes Yes layer
Used to create multiple layers of text and images which lay on top of each other in a given order Netscape (4 only) CSS, AJAX No No No Partial No marquee
Used to display a scrolling, marquee-like text. Internet Explorer, WebTV JavaScript, CSS3 3.1 1.7 125 3.3 1.0 nobr
Prevents any line breaks from occurring within the flow of a text Netscape[6][7] CSS 3.1 Yes Yes Yes Yes noembed
Displays an alternative text for browsers which do not recognize the embed tag Netscape Child elements of object used as fallback spacer
Adds whitespace in a layout Netscape CSS No Dropped[8] No No No wbr
Placed inside a nobr element to add a line break Netscape[9][10] Unicode character zero-width space (U+200B) Dropped[note 3] 1.7 Yes 3.1 No xml
[12]Delimits an XML data island inside an HTML page Internet Explorer ? 3.1 No No No No Proprietary HTML attributes
Attribute Deprecated for Function Supported first by Trident Gecko WebKit KHTML Presto bgproperties
body
Determines whether background image scrolls with the background Internet Explorer 3.1 No Yes Yes No bordercolor
body
Sets colors for 3-D table borders in the table
,td
,th
, andtr
elementsInternet Explorer No Yes Yes No bordercolordark
body
Sets colors for 3-D table borders in the table
,td
,th
, andtr
elementsInternet Explorer No No No No bordercolorlight
body
Sets colors for 3-D table borders in the table
,td
,th
, andtr
elementsInternet Explorer controls
img
Uses the img
element to place video or audio clipsInternet Explorer No No No No dynsrc
img
Uses the img
element to place video or audio clipsInternet Explorer No No No No event
script
Defines function to call for an object. Internet Explorer Partial ? ? ? for
script
Defines the object to bind a scripting event. Internet Explorer Partial ? ? ? frame
table
Controls the display of the outer borders of a table in the table tag Internet Explorer Yes ? Yes No framespacing
frameset
Sets the amount of space between frames Internet Explorer ? ? No No leftmargin
body
Sets the margin between the browser window and the contents of the page Internet Explorer 3.1 ? ? Yes No loop
img
Uses the img
element to place video or audio clipsInternet Explorer No No No No rightmargin
body
Sets the margin between the browser window and the contents of the page Internet Explorer 3.1 ? ? No No start
img
Uses the img
element to place video or audio clipsInternet Explorer No No No No target
form
Specifies a target window or frame for the output of a form Internet Explorer No[13] ? Yes No valign
caption
Sets vertical alignment of table caption Internet Explorer 3.1 ? ? No No See also
Notes
References
- ^ HTML 4 Changes, W3C, 1997-12-18, http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/appendix/changes.html#h-A.3.1, retrieved 2008-05-07
- ^ a b Bug 3875 - (basefont) deprecated basefont element not supported, Mozilla, https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=3875
- ^ HTML 3.2 Reference Specification, W3C, 1997-01-14, http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html32.html#center, retrieved 2008-10-08
- ^ Isindex Example, http://obscuretags.com/isindex.html, retrieved 2008-05-07
- ^ gsnedders (9 September 2010). "IRC logs: freenode / #whatwg / 2010-09-09". http://krijnhoetmer.nl/irc-logs/whatwg/20100909#l-756. Retrieved 9 September 2010. "# [17:27] <gsnedders> I know we dropped support for the bq element :P"
- ^ "Complete List of HTML Tags". http://www.citycat.ru/doc/HTML/IExplorer.30/ie30html.htm. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
- ^ "Extensions to HTML". Netscape. 1994. http://home.mcom.com/home/services_docs/html-extensions.html. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
- ^ Bug 531056 - [HTML5] Remove spacer support, Mozilla, https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=531056
- ^ "Complete List of HTML Tags". http://www.citycat.ru/doc/HTML/IExplorer.30/ie30html.htm. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
- ^ "Extensions to HTML". Netscape. 1994. http://home.mcom.com/home/services_docs/html-extensions.html. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
- ^ (in German) Zeilenumbruch erlauben, Impressum, http://de.selfhtml.org/html/text/zeilenumbruch.htm#erlauben
- ^ XML Element | xml Object, Microsoft, http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms535918(v=vs.85).aspx
- ^ Bug 207900 - psychotekk.de - the target attribute in the form element is ignored, Mozilla, https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=207900
Web browser engines Actively developed web browser engines Inactive web browser engines Comparison of web browser engines HTML (Non-standard HTML) · HTML5 (Media · Canvas) · XML (XHTML (1.1) · MathML · SVG) · CSS · ECMAScript · DOM · Graphics · TypographyCategories:- HTML
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