Example: Describe metadata within an HTML document:
<meta name=”description” content=”Free Web tutorials” />
<meta name=”keywords” content=”HTML,CSS,XML,JavaScript” />
<meta name=”author” content=”Hege Refsnes” />
<meta http-equiv=”Content-Type” content=”text/html;charset=ISO-8859-1″ />
Definition and Usage
Metadata is information about data.
The <meta> tag provides metadata about the HTML document. Metadata will not be displayed on the page, but will be machine parsable.
Meta elements are typically used to specify page description, keywords, author of the document, last modified, and other metadata.
The <meta> tag always goes inside the head element.
The metadata can be used by browsers (how to display content or reload page), search engines (keywords), or other web services.
Browser Support
The <meta> tag is supported in all major browsers.
Differences Between HTML and XHTML
In HTML the <meta> tag has no end tag.
In XHTML the <meta> tag must be properly closed.
Tips and Notes
Note: Metadata is always passed as name/value pairs.
Required Attributes
DTD indicates in which HTML 4.01/XHTML 1.0 DTD the attribute is allowed. S=Strict, T=Transitional, and F=Frameset.
| Attribute | Value | Description | DTD |
|---|---|---|---|
| content | text | Specifies the content of the meta information | STF |
Optional Attributes
| Attribute | Value | Description | DTD |
|---|---|---|---|
| http-equiv | content-type
content-style-type expires refresh set-cookie |
Provides an HTTP header for the information in the content attribute | STF |
| name | author
description keywords generator revised others |
Provides a name for the information in the content attribute | STF |
| scheme | format/URI | Specifies a scheme to be used to interpret the value of the content attribute | STF |
Standard Attributes
The <meta> tag supports the following standard attributes:
| Attribute | Value | Description | DTD |
|---|---|---|---|
| dir | rtl
ltr |
Specifies the text direction for the content in an element | STF |
| lang | language_code | Specifies a language code for the content in an element | STF |
| xml:lang | language_code | Specifies a language code for the content in an element, in XHTML documents | STF |
More information about Standard Attributes.
Event Attributes
The <meta> tag does not support any event attributes.
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