[html5] Appropriate markup for index documents

[Not Telling]

Misspelt help

From: binderbound at hotmail.com
To: andrew.croce at gmail.com
CC: hep at whatwg.org
Subject: RE: [html5] Appropriate markup for index documents
Date: Wed, 24 Dec 2014 19:23:42 +1100




Hi Andrew
I believe a description list <dl> (previously definition list) would be the closest fit to what you describe. It has two accepted child elements - definition term <dt> to declare the term being defined and definition description <dd> which describes the term it follows. The page you describe would be the <dt> and a description od the page, or another sub-index for that term would fit under <dd>. Nesting gives you some degree of "sectioning" but not exactly in the way you want, I expect. Could you give a specific example of the usage you are talking about? Use invented elements if you want - I'm just unsure exactly what you mean.

Luke

From: andrew.croce at gmail.com
Date: Tue, 23 Dec 2014 11:14:37 -0500
To: help at whatwg.org
Subject: [html5] Appropriate markup for index documents

I have been wondering about this for a while now, and I've finally gotten around to writing up the question: 
What is the appropriate semantic container element (if any) for an index document?
It seems to me that there is a gap in the semantic options for marking up index, or list, pages. Now, to be clear I realize there are list elements, but these are strictly for marking up the specific set of listed items. However, a list may have a larger context, which I am calling an index.
Like an article, an index might have a header and footer, and should probably contain a <ul> or <ol> where the items are listed. What comes to mind is something like a catalog, where the list itself has some meta information, and could itself contain sections or navigation. An <article> seems inappropriate since that should, I believe, be a single piece of content. A <section> also seems inappropriate in itself, unless its part of an even larger context. It could just be a <div>, or nothing at all, but I feel like there is some semantic value being missed.
So then, why is there no <index> element? I would be super curious to hear everyone's thoughts on this.
-- 
Andrew Croce
andrew.croce at gmail.com
andrewcroce.com
732.995.0590


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