Specification For HTML Meta Element with Name Value Creator
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Section 1: Introduction
This is the specification for the HTML meta element with the name attribute value set to “creator”. This is version 2.0.3 of this specification.
HTML is the HyperText Markup Language, which is a commonly used, perhaps the most commonly used, non-natural language for pages hosted on the World Wide Web. HTML is generally written approximately in accordance with specifications that have been revised several times. Two of those HTML specifications are the HTML Living Standard (as updated and (One-Page Version treated here as if authoritative) (<https://html.spec.whatwg.org/>, as accessed and )) and HTML 5.1 (version of ) (<http://www.w3.org/TR/html51/single-page.html>, as accessed before and on ). The HTML Living Standard is maintained by the Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group (WHATWG) and HTML 5.1 is maintained by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Each of those HTML specifications specifies numerous elements and, in section 4.2.5 of each such HTML specification, one such element is the meta element. For that element, each of those HTML specifications specifies attributes including the name attribute, specifies some names that can be values for that attribute (limited to one such value per such attribute per such element), and provides, in section 4.2.5.2 of each such HTML specification, a means by which extensional or additional names may be proposed to be values for that attribute, each such proposal to include a link to a specification for that extensional or additional name. This specification may appropriately be linked to from such a proposal.
This specification, as published on this page and which, except as otherwise stated, is normative, shall also apply, insofar as compatible, to any specification of the HTML Living Standard or of HTML 5.1 other than those referenced above and of any version preceding or succeeding HTML 5.1; except that it shall not apply to any page authored before this specification was first published (the date of such first publication being stated below).
Sec. 1.1: Definitions and Construction
The words and phrases must, must not, required, shall, shall not, should, should not, recommended, may, and optional in this specification and regardless of capitalization are to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119 (also known as BCP 14).
A creator is a ‘person or other entity who created the content that is in the object code where such content is intended to be rendered for a website visitor’. Creating could have occurred without regard for the World Wide Web; for example (non-normatively), the creating could have occurred in the 18th century or it could have occurred this year by a person who objected to the work being on a computer. The following in this paragraph is normative. The formatting of such content may or may not be within the responsibility of a creator. A program used to assist in creating such content is generally not itself such a creator, although a program that includes sufficient artificial intelligence may be an exception and therefore be, in an instance, a creator.
In this specification, if a string, including a null string and a non-null string with no visible or displaying characters, is rendered (including being displayed) with or surrounded by single quotation marks which are curved when a font in which this specification may be displayed has single quotation marks as both straight and curved or is rendered (including being displayed) with or surrounded by double quotation marks which are curved when a font in which this specification may be displayed has double quotation marks as both straight and curved, then the quotation marks that may thus be curved are, unless otherwise stated in this specification, not part of the string. Thus, generally, the string represented by “example” is only seven characters long, not nine.
Sec. 1.2: Problem Being Solved
This subsection is non-normative.
Content in a page has been created by one or more persons and/or other entities. Determining who created the content may be of interest both to search engines and to website page visitors. While adequate methods exist for presenting the creator information in either source or object code so that a human visitor may discover the information, there is a need for a method so that robots may discover the information.
Sec. 2: Method
There may be an HTML meta element with the name attribute value set to “creator” and, if that element is present, it shall have the content attribute value set to a string identifying one creator and composed of optional breaking spaces and no invisible characters other than breaking spaces. If the string identifying one creator can be the value in two or more ways such that the number of commas may vary, such as if the name of an individual can be stated with or without a comma because of the order of components of the name, the way with fewer or no commas should be the value. If there is more than one creator, more than one HTML meta element with the name attribute value set to “creator” should be provided and, if more than one such element is so provided, all such elements shall be determinative, except that a creator shall not be identified more than once. If one creator contributed more to the act of creation than did another, the HTML meta element with the name attribute value set to “creator” for the creator who contributed more to the act of creation should be provided before the other HTML meta element with the name attribute value set to “creator”.
A user agent or search engine shall process the content attribute value in its entirety, not at all, or by reference to the existence of the value and shall not truncate the value. The reference may be represented by a notice to a user that the value is present and how the user may attempt to perceive it.
Sec. 3: Security, History, and Backwards Compatibility
This section is non-normative except as otherwise stated.
Sec. 3.1: Security
No security implication has been identified with respect to this specification.
Sec. 3.2: History
The original author and editor of this specification, except as otherwise stated, was Nick Levinson, who can be contacted through a link on this page.
A version of this specification was first published on https://wiki.whatwg.org/wiki/MetaExtensions at , at https://wiki.whatwg.org/index.php?title=MetaExtensions&oldid=3624 (with the differences page at https://wiki.whatwg.org/index.php?title=MetaExtensions&diff=3624&oldid=3540); its version was undesignated but, normatively, it was implicitly version 1 and should now be so known. Version 1 was revised at , at https://wiki.whatwg.org/index.php?title=MetaExtensions&oldid=3695 (with the page differences at https://wiki.whatwg.org/index.php?title=MetaExtensions&diff=3695&oldid=3626) into a version that was undesignated but, normatively, it was implicitly version 1.0.1 and should now be so known. Version 1.0.1 was revised at , at https://wiki.whatwg.org/index.php?title=MetaExtensions&oldid=3700 (with the page differences at https://wiki.whatwg.org/index.php?title=MetaExtensions&diff=3700&oldid=3695) into a version that was undesignated but, normatively, it was implicitly version 1.0.2 and should now be so known. Version 1.0.2 was revised at , at https://wiki.whatwg.org/index.php?title=MetaExtensions&oldid=3727 (with the page differences at https://wiki.whatwg.org/index.php?title=MetaExtensions&diff=3727&oldid=3705) into a version that was undesignated but, normatively, it was implicitly version 1.0.3 and should now be so known. Version 1.0.3 was revised at , at https://wiki.whatwg.org/index.php?title=MetaExtensions&oldid=3810 (with the page differences at https://wiki.whatwg.org/index.php?title=MetaExtensions&diff=3810&oldid=3732) into a version that was undesignated but, normatively, it was implicitly version 1.0.4 and should now be so known. Version 1.0.4 was revised on , at https://wiki.whatwg.org/index.php?title=MetaExtensions&oldid=3811 (with the page differences at https://wiki.whatwg.org/index.php?title=MetaExtensions&diff=3811&oldid=3810); its version was undesignated but, normatively, it was implicitly version 1.0.5 and should now be so known. Version 1.0.5 may or may not have been revised, but probably was not, in the course of being moved on the WHATWG MetaExtensions wiki page at , at https://wiki.whatwg.org/index.php?title=MetaExtensions&oldid=5908 (with the page differences at https://wiki.whatwg.org/index.php?title=MetaExtensions&diff=5908&oldid=5604) into a version that was undesignated but, normatively, it was implicitly version 1.0.6 and should now be so known. Version 1.0.6 was revised on , at https://wiki.whatwg.org/index.php?title=MetaExtensions&oldid=6170 (with the page differences at https://wiki.whatwg.org/index.php?title=MetaExtensions&diff=6170&oldid=6130); its version was undesignated but, normatively, it was implicitly version 1.0.7 and should now be so known. Version 1.0.7 was revised on , at https://wiki.whatwg.org/index.php?title=MetaExtensions&oldid=6184 (with the page differences at https://wiki.whatwg.org/index.php?title=MetaExtensions&diff=6184&oldid=6170); its version was undesignated but, normatively, it was implicitly version 1.1 and should now be so known. Version 1.1 was revised on , at https://wiki.whatwg.org/index.php?title=MetaExtensions&oldid=6432 (with the page differences at https://wiki.whatwg.org/index.php?title=MetaExtensions&diff=6432&oldid=6431); its version was undesignated but, normatively, it was implicitly version 1.1.1 and should now be so known. Version 1.1.1 was revised at , at https://wiki.whatwg.org/index.php?title=MetaExtensions&oldid=6557 (with the page differences at https://wiki.whatwg.org/index.php?title=MetaExtensions&diff=6557&oldid=6519) into a version that was undesignated but, normatively, it was implicitly version 1.1.2 and should now be so known. Version 1.1.2 was revised into version 2, which was published on this page on . Version 2 was revised into version 2.0.1, published on . Version 2.0.1 was revised into version 2.0.2, published on . Version 2.0.2 was revised into this version, being published on .
Discussion on the WHATWG wiki MetaExtensions Talk page occurred at the topic or section Re: Proposed 'creator' MetaExtension.
Sec. 3.3: Backwards Compatibility
Backwards compatibility is intended.
Sec. 4: Intellectual Property For This Specification
Sec. 4.1: Copyright Status
Insofar as lawful, with respect to the CC0 1.0 Universal legal tool (herein “CC0”) (summarized at https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) (both URLs as accessed ) of the Creative Commons Corporation, Nick Levinson, the original author and editor of this specification, has, upon first publication of this specification, hereby become the Affirmer under CC0 and hereby elected to apply CC0 to this specification, to publicly distribute this specification, and to make this specification available, all such electing as provided for in CC0, and hereby waived, abandoned, surrendered, granted, affirmed, offered, and disclaimed, all such waiving, abandoning, surrendering, granting, affirming, offering, and disclaiming being with respect to this specification and being as provided for in CC0.
Sec. 4.2: Trademarks, Endorsements, and Associations
“Creative Commons” is a trademark of Creative Commons Corporation; use of such trademark does not imply endorsement by or association with Creative Commons Corporation.
“CC0” is a trademark of Creative Commons Corporation; use of such trademark does not imply endorsement by or association with Creative Commons Corporation.
Sec. 4.3: Other Claims
Except as otherwise referenced, the original author and editor of this specification, Nick Levinson, is not aware of any claim by any other person or entity to intellectual property adversely affecting this specification.
Sec. 5: Section Titles Not Restrictive
Titles of sections, including subsections at all subsectional depths, are provided solely for convenience and do not restrict the meaning of the content of the respective sections. Titles of sections include headlines of sections.
