HTML <wbr/> Tag - Optional Line Breaks

 

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The <wbr/> Tag in HTML 5

In content with white-space: normal style, a browser will normally put a line break only where a space character or other white space occurs in the HTML code and with white-space: nowrap or white-space: pre line breaks appear only where explicitly indicated. The <wbr/> tag can be used to specify additional places where the browser can do a line break if necessary. It is one of the inline tags used to group and separate content in HTML.

<wbr/> in content with white-space: normal

In a normal paragraph, the <wbr> tag can be used in non-whitespace text to indicate where breaks may occur within words:

Without <wbr/>

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

With <wbr/>

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

<wbr/> in content with white-space: nowrap

Without <wbr/>

Reasons for this include that I wanted each reason to be 1) numbered, 2) on the same line when possible, and 3) not split in the middle, and I was too lazy to 4) figure out how to use CSS, 5) span/nowrap each reason, or 6) code an inline ordered list.

With <wbr/>

Reasons for this include that I wanted each reason to be 1) numbered, 2) on the same line when possible, and 3) not split in the middle, and I was too lazy to 4) figure out how to use CSS, 5) span/nowrap each reason, or 6) code an inline ordered list.

One of my favorite quotes from William Shakespeare Twelfth Night Act II Scene 5:

In my stars I am above thee; but be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em.

These are actual working examples of the <wbr> tag example code below. Resize the browser window narrower or wider to see whether or not your browser supports this tag in content with a white-space: nowrap style. WebKit-based browsers such as Chrome and Safari are the first ones to support the word break tag in this context and break the content across multiple lines where indicated; Firefox and Opera do not and instead move larger spans of content to a separate line when it does not fit on the original line.

<wbr/> in content with white-space: pre

Example from HTML specification (wbr element). After adding the <wbr/> tags, the following code should have "Heading" and "Course" at the beginning of new lines and should also wrap, if necessary, before "HeadingCoordinates", "Maps" or "Speeds".

Without <wbr/>

...
Heading heading = Helm.HeadingFactory(HeadingCoordinates[1], HeadingCoordinates[2], HeadingCoordinates[3], HeadingCoordinates[4]);
Course course = Helm.CourseFactory(Heading, Maps.MapFactoryFromHeading(heading), Speeds.GetMaximumSpeed().ConvertToWarp());
...

With <wbr/>

...
Heading heading = Helm.HeadingFactory(HeadingCoordinates[1], HeadingCoordinates[2], HeadingCoordinates[3], HeadingCoordinates[4]);
Course course = Helm.CourseFactory(Heading, Maps.MapFactoryFromHeading(heading), Speeds.GetMaximumSpeed().ConvertToWarp());
...

Some additional examples:

Without <wbr/>

<img style="border: 1px solid black" src="http://www.ExampleOnly.com/images/how-to-use-images-in-html-documents.png" alt="An image with a diagram that shows how to use images in HTML documents"/>

With <wbr/>

<img style="border: 1px solid black" src="http://www.ExampleOnly.com/images/how-to-use-images-in-html-documents.png" alt="An image with a diagram that shows how to use images in HTML documents"/>

There is a <wbr/> tag before the style global attribute, <img alt> attribute and the <img src> attribute that allows the attributes to wrap onto new lines.

An alternative to the <wbr/> tag with white-space: pre is to use with white-space: pre-wrap instead. This eliminates the ability to use the <wbr/> to suggest the places where line breaks would best be placed, so white-space: nowrap must be added to avoid line breaks in the middle of the attribute values that have spaces:

Without white-space property:

<img style="border: 1px solid black" src="http://www.ExampleOnly.com/images/how-to-use-images-in-html-documents.png" alt="An image with a diagram that shows how to use images in HTML documents"/>

With white-space: nowrap for attributes:

<img style="border: 1px solid black" src="http://www.ExampleOnly.com/images/how-to-use-images-in-html-documents.png" alt="An image with a diagram that shows how to use images in HTML documents"/>

While similar results can be achieved with both approaches, the main difference between using the <wbr/> tag and white-space: nowrap is:


<wbr/> Tag Syntax

<body>
   ...
   ... phrasing content expected ...<wbr/>...
   ...
</body>
Rules for coding the HTML wbr element

Make sure you understand the difference between a tag and element and are familiar with the definitions of namespace and other HTML terms.

  1. Code the wbr element where phrasing content is expected.
  2. The wbr element consists of a standalone <wbr/> tag. The element name uses lower case letters and should be in the HTML namespace, which it will pick up automatically from the xmlns attribute on the <html> tag.
  3. Include any HTML global attributes on the <wbr> tag as appropriate.
  4. Since the <wbr/> tag is a void element, it should always be coded as a self-closing tag terminated with the delimiter string />.

<wbr/> Content Model

Contents of the wbr element

Content: Empty. Any properties are coded using global attributes.

Since the <wbr/> tag is a void element, it is not allowed to have any content, even HTML comments and therefore should always be coded as a self-closing standalone tag, ending with the delimiters /> rather than just > (<wbr/>).


<wbr/> Tag Attributes

Attributes of the <wbr/> tag
global attributes In addition to the personal attributes of the <wbr/> tag below, any of the common HTML attributes can also be coded.

<wbr/> Tag Examples

Examples of the <wbr/> tag in HTML 5
style="white-space: normal" with <wbr/> tag
(see <wbr/> tag demo above)
<p>Su<wbr/>per<wbr/>ca<wbr/>li<wbr/>fra<wbr/>gi<wbr/>lis<wbr/>tic<wbr/>ex<wbr/>pi<wbr/>al<wbr/>i<wbr/>do<wbr/>cious
Su<wbr/>per<wbr/>ca<wbr/>li<wbr/>fra<wbr/>gi<wbr/>lis<wbr/>tic<wbr/>ex<wbr/>pi<wbr/>al<wbr/>i<wbr/>do<wbr/>cious
Su<wbr/>per<wbr/>ca<wbr/>li<wbr/>fra<wbr/>gi<wbr/>lis<wbr/>tic<wbr/>ex<wbr/>pi<wbr/>al<wbr/>i<wbr/>do<wbr/>cious
Su<wbr/>per<wbr/>ca<wbr/>li<wbr/>fra<wbr/>gi<wbr/>lis<wbr/>tic<wbr/>ex<wbr/>pi<wbr/>al<wbr/>i<wbr/>do<wbr/>cious
Su<wbr/>per<wbr/>ca<wbr/>li<wbr/>fra<wbr/>gi<wbr/>lis<wbr/>tic<wbr/>ex<wbr/>pi<wbr/>al<wbr/>i<wbr/>do<wbr/>cious</p>
style="white-space: nowrap" with <wbr/> tag
(see <wbr/> tag demo above)
<p style="white-space: nowrap">Reasons for this include that I wanted each reason to be <wbr/>1) numbered, <wbr/>2) on the same line when possible, and <wbr/>3) not split in the middle, <wbr/>and I was too lazy to <wbr/>4) figure out how to use CSS, <wbr/>5) span/nowrap each reason, or <wbr/>6) code an inline ordered list.</p>
<p>One of my favorite quotes from <span style="white-space: nowrap">
   <a href="http://www.Shakespeare-Literature.com/Twelfth_Night/10.html">
      <cite>William Shakespeare <wbr/>Twelfth Night <wbr/>Act II Scene 5</cite></a>:</span>
</p>
<blockquote
   cite="http://www.Shakespeare-Literature.com/Twelfth_Night/10.html"
>In my stars I am above thee; but be not afraid of greatness:
   some are born great, some achieve greatness,
   and some have greatness thrust upon 'em.
</blockquote>
style="white-space: pre" with <wbr/> tag
(see <wbr/> tag demo above)

This code suggests wrapping before each HTML attribute.

<pre><img src="http://www.ExampleOnly.com/images/how-to-use-images-in-html-documents.png" <wbr/>alt="How to use images in HTML documents" <wbr/>style="border: 1px solid black"/></pre>

Changes in HTML 5 - <wbr/> Tag

What's new in HTML 5

The <wbr/> tag is one of the new elements in HTML 5.

Differences between HTML 5 and earlier versions of HTML

The <wbr/> tag did not exist in older versions of HTML.

The 2000-2010 Recommendations from the W3C HTML Working Group defined the HTML namespace for the names of all HTML element types, which now includes the wbr element name. In older (pre-2000) versions of HTML, element type names were not associated with a namespace.


Valid HTML 5