# CodeIgniter User Guide Version 2.1.2

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# HTML Helper

The HTML Helper file contains functions that assist in working with HTML.

- br()
- heading()
- img()
- link_tag()
- nbs()
- ol() and ul()
- meta()
- doctype()

## Loading this Helper

This helper is loaded using the following code:

`$this->load->helper('html');`

The following functions are available:

## br()

Generates line break tags (<br />) based on the number you submit. Example:

`echo br(3);`

The above would produce: <br /><br /><br />

## heading()

Lets you create HTML <h1> tags. The first parameter will contain the data, the second the size of the heading. Example:

`echo heading('Welcome!', 3);`

The above would produce: <h3>Welcome!</h3>

Additionally, in order to add attributes to the heading tag such as HTML classes, ids or inline styles, a third parameter is available.

`echo heading('Welcome!', 3, 'class="pink"')`

The above code produces: <h3 class="pink">Welcome!<<h3>

## img()

Lets you create HTML <img /> tags. The first parameter contains the image source. Example:

`echo img('images/picture.jpg');
// gives <img src="http://site.com/images/picture.jpg" />`

There is an optional second parameter that is a TRUE/FALSE value that specifics if the src should have the page specified by $config['index_page'] added to the address it creates. Presumably, this would be if you were using a media controller.

`echo img('images/picture.jpg', TRUE);
// gives <img src="http://site.com/index.php/images/picture.jpg" alt="" />`

Additionally, an associative array can be passed to the img() function for complete control over all attributes and values. If an alt attribute is not provided, CodeIgniter will generate an empty string.

`$image_properties = array(
'src' => 'images/picture.jpg',
'alt' => 'Me, demonstrating how to eat 4 slices of pizza at one time',
'class' => 'post_images',
'width' => '200',
'height' => '200',
'title' => 'That was quite a night',
'rel' => 'lightbox',
);
img($image_properties);
// <img src="http://site.com/index.php/images/picture.jpg" alt="Me, demonstrating how to eat 4 slices of pizza at one time" class="post_images" width="200" height="200" title="That was quite a night" rel="lightbox" />`

## link_tag()

Lets you create HTML <link /> tags. This is useful for stylesheet links, as well as other links. The parameters are href, with optional rel, type, title, media and index_page. index_page is a TRUE/FALSE value that specifics if the href should have the page specified by $config['index_page'] added to the address it creates.`echo link_tag('css/mystyles.css');
// gives <link href="http://site.com/css/mystyles.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />`

Further examples:

`echo link_tag('favicon.ico', 'shortcut icon', 'image/ico');
// <link href="http://site.com/favicon.ico" rel="shortcut icon" type="image/ico" />
echo link_tag('feed', 'alternate', 'application/rss+xml', 'My RSS Feed');
// <link href="http://site.com/feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="My RSS Feed" />`

Additionally, an associative array can be passed to the link() function for complete control over all attributes and values.

`$link = array(
'href' => 'css/printer.css',
'rel' => 'stylesheet',
'type' => 'text/css',
'media' => 'print'
);
echo link_tag($link);
// <link href="http://site.com/css/printer.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="print" />`

## nbs()

Generates non-breaking spaces (&nbsp;) based on the number you submit. Example:

`echo nbs(3);`

The above would produce: &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

## ol() and ul()

Permits you to generate ordered or unordered HTML lists from simple or multi-dimensional arrays. Example:

`$this->load->helper('html');
$list = array(
'red',
'blue',
'green',
'yellow'
);
$attributes = array(
'class' => 'boldlist',
'id' => 'mylist'
);
echo ul($list, $attributes);
`

The above code will produce this:

`<ul class="boldlist" id="mylist">
<li>red</li>
<li>blue</li>
<li>green</li>
<li>yellow</li>
</ul>`

Here is a more complex example, using a multi-dimensional array:

`$this->load->helper('html');
$attributes = array(
'class' => 'boldlist',
'id' => 'mylist'
);
$list = array(
'colors' => array(
'red',
'blue',
'green'
),
'shapes' => array(
'round',
'square',
'circles' => array(
'ellipse',
'oval',
'sphere'
)
),
'moods' => array(
'happy',
'upset' => array(
'defeated' => array(
'dejected',
'disheartened',
'depressed'
),
'annoyed',
'cross',
'angry'
)
)
);
echo ul($list, $attributes);`

The above code will produce this:

`<ul class="boldlist" id="mylist">
<li>colors
<ul>
<li>red</li>
<li>blue</li>
<li>green</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>shapes
<ul>
<li>round</li>
<li>suare</li>
<li>circles
<ul>
<li>elipse</li>
<li>oval</li>
<li>sphere</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>moods
<ul>
<li>happy</li>
<li>upset
<ul>
<li>defeated
<ul>
<li>dejected</li>
<li>disheartened</li>
<li>depressed</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>annoyed</li>
<li>cross</li>
<li>angry</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>`

## meta()

Helps you generate meta tags. You can pass strings to the function, or simple arrays, or multidimensional ones. Examples:

`echo meta('description', 'My Great site');
// Generates: <meta name="description" content="My Great Site" />
echo meta('Content-type', 'text/html; charset=utf-8', 'equiv'); // Note the third parameter. Can be "equiv" or "name"
// Generates: <meta http-equiv="Content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" />
echo meta(array('name' => 'robots', 'content' => 'no-cache'));
// Generates: <meta name="robots" content="no-cache" />
$meta = array(
array('name' => 'robots', 'content' => 'no-cache'),
array('name' => 'description', 'content' => 'My Great Site'),
array('name' => 'keywords', 'content' => 'love, passion, intrigue, deception'),
array('name' => 'robots', 'content' => 'no-cache'),
array('name' => 'Content-type', 'content' => 'text/html; charset=utf-8', 'type' => 'equiv')
);
echo meta($meta);
// Generates:
// <meta name="robots" content="no-cache" />
// <meta name="description" content="My Great Site" />
// <meta name="keywords" content="love, passion, intrigue, deception" />
// <meta name="robots" content="no-cache" />
// <meta http-equiv="Content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" />`

## doctype()

Helps you generate document type declarations, or DTD's. XHTML 1.0 Strict is used by default, but many doctypes are available.

`echo doctype();
// <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
echo doctype('html4-trans');
// <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/strict.dtd">`

The following is a list of doctype choices. These are configurable, and pulled from `application/config/doctypes.php`

Doctype | Option | Result
--- | --- | ---
XHTML 1.1 | doctype('xhtml11') | <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.1//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml11/DTD/xhtml11.dtd">
XHTML 1.0 Strict | doctype('xhtml1-strict') | <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
XHTML 1.0 Transitional | doctype('xhtml1-trans') | <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
XHTML 1.0 Frameset | doctype('xhtml1-frame') | <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Frameset//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-frameset.dtd">
HTML 5 | doctype('html5') | <!DOCTYPE html>
HTML 4 Strict | doctype('html4-strict') | <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/strict.dtd">
HTML 4 Transitional | doctype('html4-trans') | <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd">
HTML 4 Frameset | doctype('html4-frame') | <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Frameset//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/frameset.dtd">