Try it Yourself - Examples
The title of a documentThe <title> tag defines the title of the document.
One target for all linksHow to use the <base> tag to let all the links on a page open in a new window.
Document descriptionUse the <meta> element to describe the document.
Document keywordsUse the <meta> element to define the keywords of a document.
Redirect a userHow to redirect a user to a new web address.
The HTML <head> Element
The <head> element is a container for all the head elements. Elements inside <head> can include scripts, instruct the browser where to find style sheets, provide meta information, and more.
The following tags can be added to the head section: <title>, <base>, <link>, <meta>, <script>, and <style>.
The HTML <title> Element
The <title> tag defines the title of the document.
The title element is required in all HTML/XHTML documents.
The title element:
- defines a title in the browser toolbar
- provides a title for the page when it is added to favorites
- displays a title for the page in search-engine results
A simplified HTML document:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>Title of the document</title>
</head>
<body>
The content of the document......
</body>
</html>
The HTML <base> Element
The <base> tag specifies a default address or a default target for all links on a page:
<head>
<base href="http://www.w3schools.com/images/" />
<base target="_blank" />
</head>
The HTML <link> Element
The <link> tag defines the relationship between a document and an external resource.
The <link> tag is most used to link to style sheets:
<head>
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="mystyle.css" />
</head>
The HTML <style> Element
The <style> tag is used to define style information for an HTML document.
Inside the style element you specify how HTML elements should render in a browser:
<head>
<style type="text/css">
body {background-color:yellow}
p {color:blue}
</style>
</head>
The HTML <meta> Element
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 readable.
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.
Keywords for Search Engines
Some search engines will use the name and content attributes of the meta element to index your pages.
The following meta element defines a description of a page:
<meta name="description" content="Free Web tutorials on HTML, CSS, XML" />
The following meta element defines keywords for a page:
<meta name="keywords" content="HTML, CSS, XML" />
The intention of the name and content attributes is to describe the content of a page.
The HTML <script> Element
The <script> tag is used to define a client-side script, such as a JavaScript.
The script element will be explained in a later chapter.
HTML head Elements
| Tag | Description |
|---|
| <head> | Defines information about the document |
| <title> | Defines the title of a document |
| <base /> | Defines a default address or a default target for all links on a page |
| <link /> | Defines the relationship between a document and an external resource |
| <meta /> | Defines metadata about an HTML document |
| <script> | Defines a client-side script |
| <style> | Defines style information for a document |
Tip: The advantage of using an entity name, instead of a number, is that the name is easier to remember. However, the disadvantage is that browsers may not support all entity names (the support for entity numbers is very good).
