Meta

Support Key: [2|3|3.2|4] [X1|X1.1] [IE2|M2|N1.1|O3]		 What is it?
Attributes
Tag Example 		Parent/Content Model
Tips & Tricks
Browser Peculiarities
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End Tag:
    Omitted
Standards Details:
 HTML: In all 4.x DTDs
XHTML: In all 1.0 and 1.1 DTDs
XHTML Modules:
 Metainformation
CSS 'display' Type:
 NA
CSS Mapping:
 NA
Default Rendering:
 NA
Official Docs:
 HTML 4.x, XHTML 1.1

What is it?
The Meta element is an extensible mechanism for use in identifying specialized document meta-information. Each Meta element occurrence specifies a Name/Value pair. If multiple Meta elements are specified with the same name, their combined CONTENT sections should be concatenated as a comma separated list to be associated with the common NAME value.
Current common uses for META
Client Pull
Loads a document automatically after a specified number of seconds
Document Character Set Identification
Defines the character set of the current document
Editor Identification
Identifies the program that created the code for the document
Search Engine Identification
Specifies keywords and descriptions for use by several major search engines
Browser Cache Override, 'Pragma' version
Tells the browser not to refer to the cache when loading the current page
Browser Cache Override, 'Expires' version
Specifies an expiration date for the current page. After the date indicated, the browser should not use a cached version of the page
PICS Identification
Content categorization and ratings system
Inter-page Transition Filter Effects
Visual effects for page entry and exit events
[For other META usages, take a look at http://vancouver-webpages.com/META/]

Common Attributes
%Core%
[2|3|3.2|4] [X1|X1.1] [IE4|M|N6B1|O5]
%Accessibility%
[2|3|3.2|4] [X1|X1.1] [IE4|M|N|O]
%Language%
[2|3|3.2|4] [X1|X1.1] [IE|M|N|O]

Specific Attributes
Content
[2|3|3.2|4] [X1|X1.1] [IE2|M2|N1.1|O3]
Standards Details: In all HTML 4.x/XHTML DTDs
Required? Yes
Description:
Specifies the value of the Name/Value pair. The values allowed for this attribute are dependent on the NAME or HTTP-EQUIV attribute used.
Values: CDATA
HTTP-Equiv
[2|3|3.2|4] [X1|X1.1] [IE2|M2|N1.1|O3]
Standards Details: In all HTML 4.x/XHTML DTDs
Required? No
Description:
This attribute binds the Meta CONTENT element to an HTTP header field. When a browser requests a particular page containing a META HTTP-Equiv element from a server, the CONTENT portion of the element will be attached to the document header that is passed to the browser before the rest of the actual document content. The browser or HTTP server may use this information to process the document. Values are not case sensitive.
Values: Must begin with a letter ([A-Za-z]), followed by any number of characters in [A-Za-z0-9-_:.]
Name
[2|3|3.2|4] [X1|X1.1] [IE2|M2|N1.1|O3]
Standards Details: In all HTML 4.x/XHTML DTDs
Required? No
Description:
An attribute that specifies the name of the Name/Value pair. If not present, HTTP-EQUIV must be supplied in its place.
Values: Must begin with a letter ([A-Za-z]), followed by any number of characters in [A-Za-z0-9-_:.]
Scheme
[2|3|3.2|4] [X1|X1.1] [IE|M|N|O]
Standards Details: In all HTML 4.x/XHTML DTDs
Required? No
Description:
Indicates a pre-determined scheme/format to be used to interpret the CONTENT attribute value in cases where multiple formats are supported.
Values: CDATA. [Dependent on the property name and the profile being used.]
Example
<meta http-equiv="Refresh" content="5; URL=http://www.foo.com/foo.html" />
Parent Model
<head>
Content Model
This element does not accept any content.
Tips & Tricks Browser Peculiarities
Boring Copyright Stuff...