The cover of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Create a Web Page The Complete Idiot's HTML Tag Reference

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<META>

Indicates special information about the page.

Support:

HTML StandardInternet ExplorerNetscape Navigator
2.0 and later 2.0 and later 1.0 and later
Notes:
  • Place all <META> tags within the page's head section.
  • To provide search engines with a description of the page, use the "Description" <META> tag:
    <META NAME="Description" CONTENT="Describe the page here.">
  • To provide search engines with keywords that will find your site during a user search, use the "Keywords" <META> tag:
    <META NAME="Keywords" CONTENT="keyword1, keyword2, etc.">
  • To automatically refresh a page after a specified number of seconds, use the "Refresh" <META> tag (where "n" is the number of seconds):
    <META NAME="Refresh" CONTENT="n">
  • To automatically send the browser to another page after a specified number of seconds, use this version of the "Refresh" <META> tag (where "n" is the number of seconds and "url" is the URL of the other page):
    <META NAME="Refresh" CONTENT="n; URL=url">
  • To identify yourself as the author of the page, use the "Authorr" <META> tag:
    <META NAME="Author" CONTENT="Your name here">
  • Many HTML editors identify themselves by inserting a "Generator" <META> tag:
    <META NAME="Generator" CONTENT="HTML Editor name">
  • To tell the browser not to cache the page after a certain date and time, use the "Expires" <META> tag:
    <META HTTP-EQUIV="Expires" CONTENT="Date after which the page must not be cached.">
  • To tell the browser not to cache the page at all, use the "Pragma" <META> tag:
    <META HTTP-EQUIV="Pragma" CONTENT="no-cache">
Attributes:
CONTENT = "Text" (Required)
The value associated with the META tag.

Support:

HTML StandardInternet ExplorerNetscape Navigator
2.0 and later 2.0 and later 1.1 and later

Notes:

  • Use this attribute in conjunction with either the NAME attribute or the HTTP-EQUIV attribute.

HTTP-EQUIV = "Text"
Adds the CONTENT value to an HTTP header field that the Web server sends to the browser for processing.

Support:

HTML StandardInternet ExplorerNetscape Navigator
2.0 and later 2.0 and later 1.1 and later

Notes:

  • You must use either HTTP-EQUIV or NAME.

LANG = "Text"
The language used by the tag's attribute values and text content.

Support:

HTML StandardInternet ExplorerNetscape Navigator
4.0 and later Not supported Not supported

NAME = "Text"
The name of the META data.

Support:

HTML StandardInternet ExplorerNetscape Navigator
2.0 and later 2.0 and later 1.1 and later

Notes:

  • You must use either HTTP-EQUIV or NAME.

SCHEME = "Depends on the scheme"
The format to use to process the CONTENT value.

Support:

HTML StandardInternet ExplorerNetscape Navigator
4.0 and later Not supported Not supported

Example:
<META NAME="Description" CONTENT="The attributes and uses of the <META> tag.">
<META NAME="Keywords" CONTENT="HTML,reference,META,tags,attributes">
<META NAME="Refresh" CONTENT="10">
<META NAME="Refresh" CONTENT="1; URL=http://www.mcfedries.com/">
<META NAME="Author" CONTENT="Paul McFedries">
<META NAME="Generator" CONTENT="Notepad and the sweat of my own brow.">
<META HTTP-EQUIV="Expires" CONTENT="Wed, 23 Aug 2000 23:59:59 GMT">
<META HTTP-EQUIV="Pragma" CONTENT="no-cache">

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