Fundamental Syntax and Semantics - HTML5

HTML and CSS Reference

In-Depth Information

What about microformats?

By this point, you may be wondering about microformats ( http://microformats.org ) ,

which are HTML-based design patterns for expressing machine-readable semantics.

The hCalendar ( http://microformats.org/hCalendar ) microformat, for example, is used

for indicating date-time information.

Want to learn more about microformats? Check out Emily Lewis's

Microformats Made Simple (New Riders, http://microformatsmadesim

ple.com ) for lots of practical examples and easy-to-understand

explanations.

Neither HTML5 generally nor the time element specifically negates the use of micro-

formats. You can still use them. In fact, the time element would make a great semantic

hook for adding hCalendar. However, current microformats parsers don't recognize

the time element, so the two can't be used together.

This is unfortunate for a POSH and microformats devotee, but it is the reality of this

industry. As new technologies evolve, older technologies respond, and we designers

and developers have to weigh the pros, the cons, and the future.

Publication dates

Another new date-related feature in HTML5 is the pubdate attribute for time . Adding

this attribute indicates that the time is the actual publication date-time for a web page

or an article (such as a blog post) on a page:

<p>Published: <time datetime="2011-01-09" pubdate >January 9, 2011</time></p>

This helps differentiate publication dates from other instances of time on a page or

within an article.