<blink> tag in HTML is BAD!

By Hervé Deschamps, Oracle Corporation.

I got a report from http://websitegarage.netscape.com that the HTML tag blink was proprietary to Netscape. Also a colleague reminded me of this issue so I decided to do a bit of research. Well, I had not idea that this tag was so BAD!!!

Here are a few extracts of my research:

Tag "blink" is not supported by


The <BLINK> tag should never be used. Unless your trying to show how annoying it is, then it's OK right? When Mark Andreesson (co-founder of Netscape Communications) was asked about the BLINK tag he said it was put in "as a joke." It only works in Netscape so you lose information with other browsers, and it is just plain annoying.

Blink is by far and without a doubt the most hated proprietary element ever created. Anything contained in this element will blink on and off in Netscape, creating an effect that might seem useful at first, but gets annoying pretty fast. Do not use this element, ever. If you really want something to blink, then I suggest you think it over and still not use this element.
 
 



Hervé Deschamps is a Technical Manager with Oracle Corporation. Over the years he has developed a number of applications using Oracle Development Tools and others.  He has an extensive experience of all phases of the development life cycle. He is also known in the technical community for his article publications centered around best custom development practices and for his user group presentations. You can reach him by e-mail at hdescham@us.oracle.com. He also maintains a web site full of articles, scripts, tips and techniques at http://www.iherve.com.