Should I use <p> or <span> element for a single line of text?

Question

Sometime ago I read somewhere that one single line of text is considered a paragraph, therefore valid to be placed into a <p> element that "represents a paragraph/block of text".

Browsing around this is confirmed by some examples that I've just found:

http://www.w3.org/wiki/HTML/Elements/p#Example_A

http://reference.sitepoint.com/html/p

In my particular case I am making a <form> that includes some validation messages for each field and that are only meaningful to the user once they interact with the page.

For positioning purposes (<p> is a block element) would be easier to use <p> elements for these messages, but since <span> is a more generic and meaningless element I could use it too with "display:block" but I am not sure if I should do this instead.

Could you tell me what is the element to be used in this case?.

Thanks!

Answer 1

The HTML5 spec defines that the p element "represents a paragraph", and a paragraph is defined as:

A paragraph is typically a run of phrasing content that forms a block of text with one or more sentences that discuss a particular topic, as in typography, but can also be used for more general thematic grouping. For instance, an address is also a paragraph, as is a part of a form, a byline, or a stanza in a poem.

No-one can generally answer if you should use p or not, this depends on each particular case, and also your understanding of the content.

Now, if you think p may not be appropriate, why do you want to go with span when you are looking for a block element? Just use div instead.

Answer 2

SPAN is kind of Styling tag only. it is being used when you are going to add a class by yourself and you don't need any un-wanted (Default) styles.

And P is which normally comes with default styling from a client browser and if you are using some pre-written styles (bootstrap etc).