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HTML: <head> tag

This HTML tutorial explains how to use the HTML element called the <head> tag with syntax and examples.

Description

The HTML <head> tag contains metadata and instructions for the browser that is not directly visible on the web page. This tag is also commonly referred to as the <head> element.

Syntax

In HTML, the syntax for the <head> tag is:

<head>
</head>

Attributes

In addition to the Global Attributes, the following is a list of attributes that are specific to the <head> tag:

Attribute Description HTML Compatibility
profile URIs of metadata profiles HTML 4, Obsolete in HTML5

Note

Browser Compatibility

The <head> tag has basic support with the following browsers:

  • Chrome
  • Android
  • Firefox (Gecko)
  • Firefox Mobile (Gecko)
  • Internet Explorer (IE)
  • Edge Mobile
  • Opera
  • Opera Mobile
  • Safari (WebKit)
  • Safari Mobile

Example

We will discuss the <head> tag below, exploring examples of how to use the <head> tag in HTML5, HTML 4.01 Transitional, XHTML 1.0 Transitional, XHTML 1.0 Strict, and XHTML 1.1.

  • HTML5
  • HTML4
  • XHTML

HTML5 Document

If you created a new web page in HTML5, your <head> tag might look like this:

<!doctype html>
<html>

<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>HTML5 Example by www.techonthenet.com</title>
</head>

<body>
</body>

</html>

In this HTML5 Document example, we have have placed a <meta> tag and a <title> tag within the <head> tag. You should always see a <title> tag within the <head> tag.

HTML 4.01 Transitional Document

If you created a new web page in HTML 4.01 Transitional, your <head> tag might look like this:

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd">
<html>

<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
<title>HTML 4.01 Transitional Example by www.techonthenet.com</title>
</head>

<body>
</body>

</html>

In this HTML 4.01 Transitional Document example, we have have placed a <meta> tag and a <title> tag within the <head> tag.

XHTML 1.0 Transitional Document

If you created a new web page in XHTML 1.0 Transitional, your <head> tag might look like this:

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />
<title>XHTML 1.0 Transitional Example</title>
</head>

<body>
</body>

</html>

In this XHTML 1.0 Transitional Document example, we have have placed a <meta> tag and a <title> tag within the <head> tag.

XHTML 1.0 Strict Document

If you created a new web page in XHTML 1.0 Strict, your <head> tag might look like this:

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />
<title>XHTML 1.0 Strict Example by www.techonthenet.com</title>
</head>

<body>
</body>

</html>

In this XHTML 1.0 Strict Document example, we have have placed a <meta> tag and a <title> tag within the <head> tag.

XHTML 1.1 Document

If you created a new web page in XHTML 1.1, your <head> tag might look like this:

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.1//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml11/DTD/xhtml11.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />
<title>XHTML 1.1 Example by www.techonthenet.com</title>
</head>

<body>
</body>

</html>

In this XHTML 1.1 Document example, we have have placed a <meta> tag and a <title> tag within the <head> tag.

Summary of HTML <head> tag

As you can see, regardless of the Document type that you choose to create, the <head> tag will contain very similar elements, the most basic being the <title> tag and <meta> tag.

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