Block Quotes (HTML & XHTML: The Definitive Guide, 4th Edition)

4.8.1. The <blockquote> Tag

All of the text within the <blockquote> and </blockquote> tags is set off from the regular document text, usually with indented left and right margins, and sometimes in italicized typeface. Actual rendering varies from browser to browser, of course.

<blockquote>

Function:

Define a block quotation

Attributes:

CITE
ONKEYUP

CLASS
ONMOUSEDOWN

DIR
ONMOUSEMOVE

ID
ONMOUSEOUT

LANG
ONMOUSEOVER

ONCLICK
ONMOUSEUP

ONDBLCLICK
STYLE

ONKEYDOWN
TITLE

ONKEYPRESS

End tag:

</blockquote>; never omitted

Contains:

body_content

Used in:

block

The HTML and XHTML standards allow any and all markup within the <blockquote>, although some physical and content-based styles may conflict with the font used by the browser for the block quote. Experimentation will reveal those little warts.

The <blockquote> tag is often used to set off long quotations from other sources. For example:

We acted incorrectly in arbitrarily changing the Kumquat
Festival date. Quoting from the Kumquat Growers' Bylaws:
<blockquote>
  The date of the Kumquat Festival may only be changed by 
  a two-thirds vote of the General Membership, provided 
  that a <strong>60 percent quorum</strong> of the Membership
  is present.
</blockquote>
(Emphasis mine) Since such a quorum was not present, the
vote is invalid.

gets displayed by Internet Explorer as an indented block of text. Figure 4-24 displays the results.

Figure 4-24. Blockquotes get their own space

4.8.1.1. The cite attribute

The cite attribute lets you indicate the source of a quote. The attribute's value should be a quote-enclosed URL that points to the online document and, if possible, the exact location in the document where the quote came from.

For instance, you could cite the specific section in the Kumquat Grower's Bylaws in our example. Presumably, someday the browser may actually let you click and view that specific citation via its embedded URL. Today, you must embed an explicit hyperlink to the document; see Chapter 6, "Links and Webs":

<blockquote cite="http://www.kumquat.com/growers/bylaws#s23.4">

<q>

Function:

Define a short quotation

Attributes:

CITE
ONKEYUP

CLASS
ONMOUSEDOWN

DIR
ONMOUSEMOVE

ID
ONMOUSEOUT

LANG
ONMOUSEOVER

ONCLICK
ONMOUSEUP

ONDBLCLICK
STYLE

ONKEYDOWN
TITLE

ONKEYPRESS

End tag:

</q>; never omitted

Contains:

body_content

Used in:

text

4.8.2.1. The cite attribute

The cite attribute works with the <q> tag just like it does for the <blockquote> tag: it lets you indicate the source of a quote. The attribute's value should be a quote-enclosed URL that points to the online document and, if possible, the exact location in the document where the quote came from.

4.8.2.2. The dir and lang attributes

The dir attribute lets you advise the browser as to which direction the text within the <q> segment ought to be displayed, and lang lets you specify the language used within that tag. Section 3.6.1.1, "The dir attribute" Section 3.6.1.2, "The lang attribute"

4.8.2.3. The class, id, style, and title attributes

Use the style attribute to specify an inline style for the <q> tag, or use the class attribute to apply a predefined style class to the tag. Section 8.1.1, "Inline Styles: The style Attribute" Section 8.3, "Style Classes"

You may assign a unique id to the <q> tag, as well as a title, using the respective attribute and accompanying quote-enclosed string value. Section 4.1.1.4, "The id attribute" Section 4.1.1.5, "The title attribute"