WordPress Basics – Simple HTML Tags for Amateurs or Beginners

I have searched around for a while and just couldn't find a good article that shows the very bare bones HTML tags that amateurs should know when editing static WordPress pages or adding new posts.

I am going to make this as simple as possible. The only tags you really need to know and use are:

<ul>, <ol>, <li>, <h1>, <h2>, <p>, <em>, and <strong>

The Paragraph Tag - <p>

Yes, it is that simple, just wrap paragraphs in these simple little tags. See example:

<p> 
 This is the content that you will type. You just write 
 normally after using the simple paragraph tag.
</p>

List Items and Ordered/Unordered Lists - <li>, <ul>, and <ol>

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These are a little harder than paragraph tags but still pretty simple. To make a bullet list you will use an unordered list nested with list items. Example:

<ul>
  <li>This is the first list item.</li>
  <li>This is the second list item.</li>
</ul>

To make an ordered list (numbered!) just use the <ol> instead:

<ol>
  <li>This is the first list item.</li>
  <li>This is the second list item.</li>
</ol>

Heading Tags - <h1>, <h2>, ... <h6>

The heading tags are used to represent various forms of a heading ranging from 1 most important (biggest and boldest) down to 6 (almost the same as regular text). Please see the examples below:

<h1>This is a big h1 heading</h1>

<h2>This is a medium h2 heading</h2>

The BR and HR Tags - <br /> and <hr />

These tags are a little different. The do not come in pairs, they are just one time shoppers! A <br /> tag simply puts a carriage return or break in your page. The <hr /> tag puts a carriage return and horizontal rule (line) into the page. These examples are a little more involved... because your a master by now!

<p>
  This paragraph<br /> 
  broken up onto two lines
</p>

** Try not to use these tags too much. I almost didn't put them in because they mess people up. 99% of the time you will not need a <br /> tag, just let the words naturally flow to the next line. The <br /> tag is like a brute force line breaker.

<h1>Heading with horizontal rule after it</h1><hr />

Italic and Bold Style Tags - <em> and <strong>

I am ending off with another easy one here because I am sure your brain is fried! The <em> and <strong> tags wrap around words to give them italic and bold, respectively. See the examples below.

<p>
  This paragraph has <strong>bold text</strong>
  and <em>italic text</em>.
</p>