[html5] is <section> the appropriate tag for the main content section of a page?

Sun Aug 7 11:38:55 PDT 2011

On Sun, 7 Aug 2011, Jonathan Zuckerman wrote:
>
> Is <section> the right tag for the main content section of a page?

No, that's <body>. The stuff that _isn't_ the main content is then marked 
using <nav>, <aside>, and other elements that indicate that their 
contents are not part of the main content.

> I'd like to use the new tags where it's appropriate but I'm concerned 
> that putting the primary content of the page inside one of the 
> sectioning elements will suggest that it's a sub-section of the overall 
> document, and therefore the heading tags inside it will not apply to the 
> document as a whole but just to that section, and all the other 
> implications that sectioning brings with it.

That is indeed what using <section> here would mean.

> Practically, my concern is for presentation to search engines

I do not believe search engines will be affected one way or the other on 
this matter.

-- 
Ian Hickson               U+1047E                )\._.,--....,'``.    fL
http://ln.hixie.ch/       U+263A                /,   _.. \   _\  ;`._ ,.
Things that are impossible just take longer.   `._.-(,_..'--(,_..'`-.;.'