Base elements in HTML5

The HTML elements that allow you to build the most basic web page

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# 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>

# 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>

# 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.

http-equiv

Defines meta rules for the web page.

"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.