[whatwg] Use of <p> element inside the <blockquote> element

Phil Pickering phil.interact at googlemail.com
Mon Mar 1 07:01:21 PST 2010


Hi,

Previously in HTML 4.0 Strict and XHTML 1.0 Strict, any content inside
the <blockquote> element had to be contained inside at least one <p>
element.

In HTML 5, that requirement appears to have been deprecated as the
following element validates successfully:

<blockquote>The dream behind the Web is of a common information space
in which we communicate by sharing information. Its universality is
essential: the fact that a hypertext link can point to anything, be it
personal, local or global, be it draft or highly polished. There was a
second part of the dream, too, dependent on the Web being so generally
used that it became a realistic mirror (or in fact the primary
embodiment) of the ways in which we work and play and socialize. That
was that once the state of our interactions was on line, we could then
use computers to help us analyze it, make sense of what we are doing,
where we individually fit in, and how we can better work
together.</blockquote>

The current HTML 5 specification uses the <p> element in the usage
examples, but does not mention whether it is required.

For the sake of clarity, might I suggest that in the specification
document there is a usage example of a <blockquote> element where a
quote consisting of a single paragraph is included, but does not use
the <p> element to contain that quote.

Or, maybe a one-line explanation stating that the previous requirement
of the <blockquote> element re. content being contained in a <p>, has
now been loosened up.

Thanks,

Phil Pickering


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