General Meta Data Profile, 1.4

About

This document defines meta data properties to be used in linking documents. These properties describe relationships between the source document and the linked data.

To use these properties in an HTML-based document, you must define this resource as a profile in your document. This is done by adding the URL of this document to the profile attribute of the head element. For example, the head start tag may look like this: <head profile="http://www.webdevout.net/profile/1.4/">.

The top-level properties listed below, other than rel, may be used in the name attribute of meta elements. The values of those properties are put in the content attribute.

The properties under rel may be used to describe relationships with whole documents. In (X)HTML, the property names may be used in the rel or rev attributes of linking elements (link and a).

The properties available for use in linking elements are not necessarily limited to the properties defined in this profile. If the document language allows it, multiple meta data profiles may be used for a single document. HTML 4 also defines a standard list of link types that may be used in addition to the properties under rel.

Notice: This document has been superseded by a newer version

Profile

author

A name of or identifier for an individual or group which participated in the formation of the document's content.

copyright

A copyright statement for the document.

created

A timestamp representing when the document was first created. The format for the timestamp is the same as the standardized HTML dates and times format.

description

A brief summary of the document's content.

generator

A name of or identifier for a tool used to automatically generate source code in the document.

keywords

A comma-separated list of topics covered by the document.

modified

A timestamp representing when the document was last modified. The format for the timestamp is the same as the standardized HTML dates and times format.

robots

A comma-separated list of identifiers which indicate some desired behavior for automated agents. Acceptable values are described in the Robots META tag specification.

rel

author: Information about an individual or group which participated in the formation of the document's content.
child: A document whose topic is bounded by the broader scope of the current document.
comments: A document which contains public discussion about the current document.
icon: A document which provides a graphical branding for the current document.
license: Information about a license describing legally acceptable use of the document.
nofollow: A document whose link was added to the current document by an unaffiliated source and whose topic has not been confirmed by the current document's author to have relevance with the current document.
parent: A document whose topic's broader scope bounds the current document.
prefetch: A document which is likely to be requested after the current document, although it may not necessarily be the next document in a structural sequence.
shortcut: This modifies an attached link type to relate to links made to the current document, rather than the current document itself. For example, shortcut icon would refer to a document which provides a graphical branding for a link to the current document. Due to potential complications with this link type modifier, authors are generally discouraged from using it except where necessary to direct legacy user agents to the appropriate information.
sibling: A document, other than the current document, whose topic is bounded by the broader scope of the document whose topic likewise bounds the current document. A sibling is a child of the current document's parent, not including the current document.
tag: A document which serves as a collection of resources related to a particular topic of the current document. The portion of the URI value after the last / character and before any following ? character, # character, or end of the URI, whichever is first, should be the name of the relevant topic. The URI value should contain at least one / character. For example, for the URI http://www.webdevout.net/tidings/category/web-development, it is inferred that "web-development" is the topic of the resource collection.
vote-abstain: A document whose author is indifferent in regard to the content of the current document or otherwise abstains from expressing an opinion toward it. In HTML-based languages, this link type is only available for the rev attribute, indicating that the author of the current document is indifferent in regard to the content of the linked document or otherwise abstains from expressing an opinion toward it. For compatibility reasons, this link type must not be used with the rel attribute in HTML-based languages.
vote-against: A document whose author disagrees with the content of the current document. In HTML-based languages, this link type is only available for the rev attribute, indicating that the author of the current document disagrees with the content of the linked document. For compatibility reasons, this link type must not be used with the rel attribute in HTML-based languages.
vote-for: A document whose author agrees with the content of the current document. In HTML-based languages, this link type is only available for the rev attribute, indicating that the author of the current document agrees with the content of the linked document. For compatibility reasons, this link type must not be used with the rel attribute in HTML-based languages.

This document follows the XMDP format for meta data profiles.