[whatwg] "content" element, which we need in our documents

[Ian Yang]

By analyzing the example in HTML5 spec, wrapping all content elements can
make the structure of the document become more organized. After all,
content elements all being at the same level of <header> and <footer> is
unreasonable, and sometimes looks messy, especially when there are many
different kinds of content elements (p, figure, pre, a, table, ...... etc).

2012/6/29 Aurelio De Rosa <aurelioderosa at gmail.com>

> I agree with Ian about the use of <article> and <section>, the
> specifications are really clear on those elements. The are used to wrap an
> entire entry, not the "content" (in the meaning Ian stated).
>
> The read question for me is: What is the problem of having the content at
> the same level of <header> and <footer> (for example inside an <article>)?
>
> Can't we treat everything inside an article which is not in <header> or
> <footer> is the real "content"?
>
> Best regards
>
> On Fri, Jun 29, 2012 at 3:20 PM, Ian Yang <ian.html at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> As described in whatwg specs, a <section>, in this context, is a thematic
>> grouping of content, typically with a heading.
>>
>> As for a <article>, which usually contains its own <header> and <footer>,
>> is used to form an independent content like blog entry, comment, or
>> application.
>>
>> Both section and article elements are not the candidate for containing a
>> website or a blog entry's main content. That obviously is the reason that
>> the example of the nav in HTML5 spec doesn't use them.
>>
>> Regards,
>> Ian Yang
>>
>> 2012/6/29 Cameron Jones <cmhjones at gmail.com>
>>
>> > If the content is a special section within the document you should use
>> > the <section> element which has semantic meaning over <div>.
>> > Alternatively you could use <article> if it's distinct and
>> > self-contained. These two elements serve to disambiguate the abstract
>> > idea of content into something with semantic meaning which can be
>> > instrumented by document consumers.
>> >
>> > cam
>> >
>> > On Fri, Jun 29, 2012 at 12:24 PM, Ashley Sheridan
>> > <ash at ashleysheridan.co.uk> wrote:
>> > >
>> > >
>> > > Ian Yang <ian.html at gmail.com> wrote:
>> > >
>> > >>Hi editors in chief and everyone else,
>> > >>
>> > >>How have you been recently?
>> > >>
>> > >>As many of you may have been aware that there is an important
>> > >>sectioning
>> > >>element we have been short of for a long time: the "content" element.
>> > >>
>> > >>Remember how we sectioned our documents in those old days? It's the
>> > >>meaningless <div>s. We used them and added id="header", id="content",
>> > >>id="sidebar", and id="footer" to them.
>> > >>
>> > >>After HTML5 came out, we started to have new and semantic elements
>> like
>> > >>"header", "aside", and "footer" to improve our documents.
>> > >>
>> > >>However, today, we are still using the meaningless <div> for our
>> > >>content.
>> > >>
>> > >>The main content forms an important region. And we often wrap it with
>> > >>an
>> > >>element. By doing so, we distinguish the region from the header and
>> the
>> > >>footer, and also prevent all of its child elements (block level or
>> > >>inline
>> > >>level) being incorrectly at the same level as the header and the
>> > >>footer.
>> > >>
>> > >>In the first example of the intro section of the nav element in HTML5
>> > >>Spec
>> > >>( http://dev.w3.org/html5/spec/single-page.html#the-nav-element )
>> (the
>> > >>page
>> > >>takes a while to be fully loaded), the bottom note states: "Notice the
>> > >>div
>> > >>elements being used to wrap all the contents of the page other than
>> the
>> > >>header and footer, and all the contents of the blog entry other than
>> > >>its
>> > >>header and footer."
>> > >>
>> > >>This example mentioned above is a typical situation that we need an
>> > >>element
>> > >>for the main content. So instead of keep wrapping our contents with
>> the
>> > >>meaningless <div>, why not let the "content" element join HTML5?
>> > >>
>> > >>
>> > >>Sincerely,
>> > >>Ian Yang
>> > >>Meaningful and semantic HTML lover  |  Front-end developer
>> > >
>> > > I am pretty sure this was discussed a few months back and the answer
>> was
>> > that everything is content, so no need for a content element. The
>> <header>
>> > and <footer> just mark up areas of that content with special meaning,
>> but
>> > its still all the main content.
>> > >
>> > > Thanks,
>> > > Ash
>> > > http://ashleysheridan.co.uk
>> >
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Aurelio De Rosa
> email: aurelioderosa at gmail.com
> email:  a.derosa at audero.it
> website: www.audero.it
> user group: ug.audero.it
>
>