Base elements in HTML5 - HTML Reference

# body

The container for a web page's content. Must be a direct child of <html>, and must be an ancestor of all HTML elements (except where noted).

Example: Copy

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <!-- Document metadata -->
  </head>
  <body>
    <!-- Document content -->
  </body>
</html>

# head

Defines a container for a web page's metadata.

Example: Copy

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <!-- Document metadata -->
  </head>
  <body>
    <!-- Document content -->
  </body>
</html>

# html

Defines the root element of an HTML document. All other elements must be contained within this root element.

Example: Copy

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <!-- Document metadata -->
  </head>
  <body>
    <!-- Document content -->
  </body>
</html>

# link

Defines a link between the current web page and an external link or resource.

Example: Copy

<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="https://htmlreference.io/css/website.css">

`href`

Defines the URL of the link.

`"https://htmlreference.io/css/website.css"`

You can pass an absolute URL.

`"/css/website.css"`

You can pass a URL relative to the root domain.

`rel`

Defines a link type, explaining how the link relates to the current web page.

`"stylesheet"`

The link is a stylesheet.

`"icon"`

The link is a favicon.

`"author"`

The link is the web page's author website.

`"next"`

The link is the next page.

`type`

Defines the type of the linked resource.

`"text/css"`

The link is a CSS file.

`"text/html"`

The link is an HTML document.

# meta

Defines metadata attached to a web page.

Example: Copy

<meta charset="UTF-8">
<meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge,chrome=1">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
<meta name="theme-color" content="#ffffff">

Example: Copy

<!-- Refresh the page every 5 seconds -->
<meta http-equiv="refresh" content="5">

Example: Copy

<!-- Redirect instantly to https://cssreference.io -->
<meta http-equiv="refresh" content="0; url=https://cssreference.io">

`charset`

Defines the character encoding for the whole web page.

`"UTF-8"`

The value must be a valid character set.

`http-equiv`

Defines meta rules for the web page.

`"Content-Security-Policy"`

Defines a link to a web page's content policies.

`"refresh"`

Allows to refresh the web page every N seconds, or even redirect to another URL.

`"X-UA-Compatible"`

Defines which Internet Explorer verison the web page should be rendered as.

`name`

Defines additional information attached to the web page.

`"viewport"`

Defines dimension and scaling rules for the viewport.

`"theme-color"`

Defines a theme color which can be used by the browser or the operating system.

`content`

Defines the content of the metadata. This varies according to the name or http-equiv value.

`"width=device-width, initial-scale=1"`

For the viewport metadata, you can specify the width and initial scale of the web page.

`"2; url=https://cssreference.io"`

For the refresh metadata, you can specify how many seconds to wait before redirecting to another URL.

# script

Defines a container for an external script.

Example: Copy

<script src="https://htmlreference.io/javascript/my-scripts.js"></script>

Example: Copy

<script type="text/javascript">
  console.log('Hello World');
</script>

`src`

Defines the source of the external script.

`"/javascript/my-scripts.js"`

The URL can be relative or absolute.

`type`

Defines the MIME type of the external script.

`"text/javascript"`

This is for .js files.

`async`

Allows the external script to be loaded asynchronously.

No value required.