head

Summary

The head element (<head>) represents a collection of metadata for the document.

Overview Table

DOM Interface: HTMLHeadElement

The head element provides information that does not affect the rendering of the document but could be of use to the application, such as: title of the document displayed in the tab of the web browser (<title>) and meta information useful for search engines (<meta>).

The following tags are valid in this element:

Examples

The <head> element is contained by the <html> element and contains the <title> element.

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<title>The HTML Document</title>
</head>
<body>
<p>The HTML content</p>
</body>
</html>

View live example

Members

The head object has these types of members:

Events
Methods
Properties

Events

The head object has these events.

Event	Description
`onabort`	Fires when the user aborts the download.
`onafterupdate`	Fires on a databound object after successfully updating the associated data in the data source object.
`onbeforecopy`	Fires on the source object before the selection is copied to the system clipboard.
`onbeforeupdate`	Fires on a databound object before updating the associated data in the data source object.
`oncellchange`	Fires when data changes in the data provider.
`onchange`	Fires when the contents of the object or selection have changed.
`ondataavailable`	Fires periodically as data arrives from data source objects that asynchronously transmit their data.
`ondatasetchanged`	Fires when the data set exposed by a data source object changes.
`ondatasetcomplete`	Fires to indicate that all data is available from the data source object.
`onerror`	Fires when an error occurs during object loading.
`onerrorupdate`	Fires on a databound object when an error occurs while updating the associated data in the data source object.
`onfilterchange`	Fires when a visual filter changes state or completes a transition.
`oninput`	Occurs when the text content of an element is changed through the user interface.
`onlayoutcomplete`	Fires when the print or print preview layout process finishes filling the current LayoutRect object with content from the source document.
`onload`	Fires immediately after the client loads the object.
`onreadystatechange`	Fires when the state of the object has changed.
`onreset`	Fires when the user resets a form.
`onresize`	Fires when the size of the object is about to change.
`onrowenter`	Fires to indicate that the current row has changed in the data source and new data values are available on the object.
`onrowexit`	Fires just before the data source control changes the current row in the object.
`onrowsdelete`	Fires when rows are about to be deleted from the recordset.
`onrowsinserted`	Fires just after new rows are inserted in the current recordset.
`onselect`	Fires when the current selection changes.

Methods

The head object has these methods.

Method	Description
`addBehavior`	Attaches a behavior to the element. This method is not supported for Metro style apps using JavaScript.
`appendChild`	Appends an element as a child to the object.
`applyElement`	Makes the element either a child or parent of another element.
`attachEvent`	Binds the specified function to an event, so that the function gets called whenever the event fires on the object.
`clearAttributes`	Removes all attributes and values from the object.
`click`	Simulates a click by causing the `onclick` event to fire.
`cloneNode`	Copies a reference to the object from the document hierarchy.
`componentFromPoint`	Returns the component located at the specified coordinates via certain events.
`contains`	Checks whether the given element is contained within the object.
`detachEvent`	Unbinds the specified function from the event, so that the function stops receiving notifications when the event fires.
`doScroll`	Simulates a click on a scroll bar component.
`dragDrop`	Initiates a drag event.
`fireEvent`	Fires a specified event on the object.
`getAdjacentText`	Returns the adjacent text string.
`getAttribute`	Retrieves the value of the specified attribute.
`getAttributeNode`	Retrieves an `attribute` object referenced by the `attribute<code>.<code>name` property.
`getAttributeNodeNS`	Gets an `attribute` object that matches the specified namespace and name.
`getAttributeNS`	Gets the value of the specified attribute within the specified namespace.
`getElementsByClassName`	Gets a collection of objects that are based on the value of the `CLASS` attribute.
`getElementsByTagName`	Retrieves a collection of objects based on the specified element name.
`getElementsByTagNameNS`	Gets a collection of objects that are based on the specified element names within a specified namespace.
`hasAttribute`	Determines whether an attribute with the specified name exists.
`hasAttributeNS`	Determines whether an attribute that has the specified namespace and name exists.
`hasAttributes`	Determines whether one or more attributes exist for the object.
`hasChildNodes`	Returns a value that indicates whether the object has children.
`insertAdjacentElement`	Inserts an element at the specified location.
`insertAdjacentHTML`	Inserts the given HTML text into the element at the location.
`insertAdjacentText`	Inserts the given text into the element at the specified location.
`insertBefore`	Inserts an element into the document hierarchy as a child node of a parent object.
`mergeAttributes`	Copies all read/write attributes to the specified element.
`msMatchesSelector`	Determines whether an object matches the specified selector.
`normalize`	Merges adjacent DOM objects to produce a normalized document object model.
`removeAttribute`	Removes an attribute from an object.
`removeAttributeNode`	Removes an `attribute` object from the object.
`removeAttributeNS`	Removes the specified attribute from the object.
`removeBehavior`	Detaches a behavior from the element.
`removeChild`	Removes a child node from the object.
`removeNode`	Removes the object from the document hierarchy.
`replaceAdjacentText`	Replaces the text adjacent to the element.
`replaceChild`	Replaces an existing child element with a new child element.
`replaceNode`	Replaces the object with another element.
`setActive`	Sets the object as active without setting focus to the object.
`setAttribute`	Sets the value of the specified attribute.
`setAttributeNode`	Sets an `attribute` object node as part of the object.
`setAttributeNodeNS`	Sets an `attribute` object as part of the object.
`setAttributeNS`	Sets the value of the specified attribute within the specified namespace.
`setCapture`	Sets the mouse capture to the object that belongs to the current document.
`swapNode`	Exchanges the location of two objects in the document hierarchy.

Properties

The head object has these properties.

Property	Description
`attributes`	Retrieves a collection of attributes of the object.
`canHaveChildren`	Gets a value indicating whether the object can contain child objects.
`canHaveHTML`	Retrieves the value indicating whether the object can contain rich HTML markup.
`childElementCount`	Retrieves the number of immediate child nodes of the current element or a zero if the element does not contain any child nodes. `childElementCount` does not return all child nodes, only child nodes that are `nodeType` =1, or element nodes.
`className`	Sets or retrieves the class of the object.
`constructor`	Returns a reference to the constructor of an object.
`firstChild`	Gets a reference to the first child in the `childNodes` collection of the object.
`firstElementChild`	Retrieves a reference to the first child element, or null if there are no child elements.
`id`	Sets or retrieves the string identifying the object.
`innerHTML`	Sets or retrieves the HTML between the start and end tags of the object.
`innerText`	Sets or retrieves the text between the start and end tags of the object.
`isContentEditable`	Gets the value that indicates whether the user can edit the contents of the object.
`isDisabled`	Gets the value that indicates whether the user can interact with the object.
`isMultiLine`	Retrieves the value indicating whether the content of the object contains one or more lines.
`isTextEdit`	Retrieves whether a `TextRange` object can be created using the object.
`lang`	Sets or retrieves the language to use.
`language`	Sets or retrieves the language in which the current script is written.
`lastChild`	Gets a reference to the last child in the `childNodes` collection of an object.
`lastElementChild`	Retrieves a reference to the last child element or null if there are no child elements.
`nextElementSibling`	Retrieves a reference to the sibling element that immediately follows or null if the element does not have any sibling elements that follow it.
`nextSibling`	Retrieves a reference to the next child of the parent for the object.
`nodeName`	Gets the name of a particular type of node.
`nodeType`	Retrieves the type of the requested node.
`nodeValue`	Gets or sets the value of a node.
`offsetHeight`	Retrieves the height of the object relative to the layout or coordinate parent, as specified by the `offsetParent` property.
`offsetParent`	Retrieves a reference to the container object that defines the `offsetTop` and `offsetLeft` properties of the object.
`offsetWidth`	Retrieves the width of the object relative to the layout or coordinate parent, as specified by the `offsetParent` property.
`outerHTML`	Sets or retrieves the object and its content in HTML.
`outerText`	Sets or retrieves the text of the object.
`ownerDocument`	Retrieves the `Document` object associated with the node.
`parentElement`	Retrieves the parent object in the object hierarchy.
`parentNode`	Retrieves the parent object in the document hierarchy.
`parentTextEdit`	Retrieves the container object in the document hierarchy that can be used to create a `TextRange` containing the original object.
`previousElementSibling`	Retrieves a reference to the immediately preceding sibling element or null if the element does not have any preceding siblings.
`previousSibling`	Gets a reference to the previous child of the parent for the object.
`profile`	Sets or retrieves one or more URIs in which the object properties and legal values for those properties are defined.
`readyState`	Retrieves the current state of the object.
`recordNumber`	Retrieves the ordinal record from the data set that generated the object.
`role`	Sets or retrieves the role for this element.
`scopeName`	Gets the namespace defined for the element. This property is not supported for Metro style apps using JavaScript.
`scrollHeight`	Retrieves the scrolling height of the object.
`scrollLeft`	Sets or retrieves the distance between the left edge of the object and the leftmost portion of the content currently visible in the window.
`scrollTop`	Sets or retrieves the distance between the top of the object and the topmost portion of the content currently visible in the window.
`scrollWidth`	Retrieves the scrolling width of the object.
`sourceIndex`	Retrieves the ordinal position of the object, in source order, as the object appears in the document's `all` collection.
`tagName`	Retrieves the tag name of the object.
`tagUrn`	Sets or gets the URN specified in the namespace declaration. This property is not supported for Metro style apps using JavaScript.
`title`	Sets or retrieves advisory information (a ToolTip) for the object.
`uniqueID`	Retrieves an autogenerated, unique identifier for the object.
`uniqueNumber`	Retrieves the element's unique number.

Related specifications

HTML 5.1: W3C Working Draft

HTML 5: W3C Recommendation

HTML 4.01: W3C Recommendation

Attributions

Microsoft Developer Network: [Windows Internet Explorer API reference Article]