blockquote (thing)

Unlike the q tag which is used for short, inline quotations, the blockquote is a block element HTML tag that is used to specify a long quotation. This tag is frequently abused by writers for indenting any text (i.e., non-quoted text). While the tag itself is not deprecated, its use as an "indenter" has been deprecated in favor of cascading style sheets. The blockquote tag is valid in HTML, and continues its usefulness as a valid XHTML tag as well.

See also: cite, q

Attributes

There are no required HTML attributes for the blockquote tag, though you should always provide the source of the quote when applicable by using the cite attribute. Below are all the valid attribute options for the blockquote tag:

• cite (type: URI) - URI for source document or descriptive message
   
• HTML Core Attributes
  • class (type: CDATA) - space separated list of classes
  • id (type: ID) - document-wide unique id
  • style (type: Style Sheet) - associated style information
  • title (type: Text) - advisory title/amplification; this information is usually displayed through tooltips
     
• HTML International Attributes (I18N)
  • dir (type: Custom) - specifies the direction of weak or neutral text; valid values include ltr (left to right) or rtl (right to left)
  • lang (type: Custom) - specifies the Language Code of the language used in the acronym
     
• HTML Event Attributes
  • onclick (type: Script) - a pointer button was clicked
  • ondblclick (type: Script) - a pointer button was double clicked
  • onkeydown (type: Script) - a key was pressed down
  • onkeypress (type: Script) - a key was pressed and released
  • onkeyup (type: Script) - a key was released
  • onmousedown (type: Script) - a pointer button was pressed down
  • onmousemove (type: Script) - a pointer was moved within
  • onmouseout (type: Script) - a pointer was moved away
  • onmouseover (type: Script) - a pointer was moved onto
  • onmouseup (type: Script) - a pointer button was released

Usage

To use the blockquote tag, simply place opening and closing HTML tags around the letters or words of the quotation. For example:

<blockquote cite="http://www.everything2.com/?node=David and Goliath">But David said to the Philistine, "You come to me with sword and spear and javelin; but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This very day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head; and I will give the dead bodies of the Philistine army this very day to the birds of the air and to the wild animals of the earth, so that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the LORD does not save by sword and spear; for the battle is the LORD's and he will give you into our hand."</blockquote>

Everything2 Support?

E2 does provide limited support for the blockquote tag, and only one of its attributes: cite. Below is how your browser displays the example above here on Everything2:

But David said to the Philistine, "You come to me with sword and spear and javelin; but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This very day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head; and I will give the dead bodies of the Philistine army this very day to the birds of the air and to the wild animals of the earth, so that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the LORD does not save by sword and spear; for the battle is the LORD's and he will give you into our hand.

If you would like to use this tag with any of its other attributes, you can do so in your Notelet Nodelet. Since E2 does not let you use CSS in your writeups, it is usually okay to use this tag to indent text as needed. Keep in mind that you do have some other options when indenting including dl+dt+dd, ul+li, ol+li, pre, or p (with align="center").

Common Browser Implementations*

Most web browsers support this tag, as it has been around since at least HTML 2. Nearly all browsers simply indent the text within the blockquote tags, though this is not required of browsers by the W3C specification. Though the cite attribute is considered proper form (always cite your sources), I don't know of any browser that utilizes this attribute in a visual manner.

Previous HTML Tag: big
Next HTML Tag: body (next E2 supported HTML tag: br)
See Also: HTML tags and HTML attributes

* Please feel free to send me information if you know of any browsers that implement this tag in an unusual manner.