meta
Summary
The <meta> element embeds various kinds of metadata that cannot be expressed using the title, base, link, style, and script elements.
Overview Table
Attributes
name
= string
Sets document metadata.- application-name
Giving the name of the Web application that the page represents. - author
Giving the name of one of the page’s authors. - description
Describes the page. [Example A] - generator
Identifies one of the software packages used to generate the document. - keywords
Giving the keyword relevant to the page. [Example A]
- application-name
Other metadata names may be registered in the WHATWG Wiki MetaExtensions page.
http-equiv
= string
When the http-equiv attribute is specified on a meta element, the element is a pragma directive.- content-language
Sets the pragma-set default language. - content-type
Alternative form of setting the charset attribute - default-style
Sets the name of the default alternative style sheet set. - refresh
Acts as timed redirect. [Example B]
- content-language
content
= string
Gives the value of the document metadata or pragma directive when the element is used for those purposes.charset
= character encoding name
Specifies the character encoding used by the document. [Example A]
Internationalization
- Declaring the character encoding for HTML
- Choosing and applying a character encoding
- Changing to UTF-8
Examples
A minimal HTML document with meta information.
<html>
<head>
<title>World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)</title>
<meta charset=utf-8" />
<meta name="description"
content="The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is an international community
where Member organizations, a full-time staff,
and the public work together to develop Web standards." />
<meta name="keyword" content="W3C, HTML, CSS, SVG, Web standards" />
</head>
<body></body>
</html>
Notes
Remarks
The META element also embeds document information that some search engines use to index and categorize documents on the World Wide Web. This element can be used only within the HEAD element. Windows Internet Explorer 8 or later. The behavior of the setAttribute method depends on the current document compatibility mode. For more information, see Attribute Differences in Internet Explorer 8
Related specifications
See also
Related pages
Reference
content
- httpEquivhttpEquiv
Conceptual
Defining Document Compatibility
Attributions
Microsoft Developer Network: [Windows Internet Explorer API reference Article]