Specification For HTML Meta Element with Name Value Nonfiction
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Section 1: Introduction
This is the specification for the HTML meta element with the name attribute value set to “nonfiction”. This is version 1.0.3 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).
Nonfiction is ‘what the owner of the website of which the page is a portion determines or believes is nonfiction’. The validity, consistency, accuracy, precision, and other qualities of the website owner’s determination or belief are beyond the scope of this specification.
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 specification is intended to aid search engines in classifying World Wide Web content and to aid directory compilers; and other uses are not forbidden by this specification. The balance of this paragraph is non-normative. A page author may want to categorize page content as generally fictional or as not. This may be useful where, for example, the author desires to be clear about that quality but without stating it too obviously in the content, often the case with humor. A subexample where this might be especially useful is with so-called fake news, which could thus be characterized as fiction by applying a meta element.
Sec. 2: Method
There may be an HTML meta element with the name attribute value set to “nonfiction” and, if that element is present, it shall have the content attribute value set to one and only one value from the following list:
- — “true”, meaning that all or almost all of the page content is nonfiction
- — “stretch”, meaning that all or almost all of the page content is nonfiction although generally probably not to be trusted as literal (non-normatively, this, for example, might be used for sarcasm, such as to say that a cockroach is almost as tall as a giraffe, since the word “almost” makes the statement not false, although exaggerated)
- — “false”, meaning either that all or almost all of the page content is fiction or that a significant portion of the page content is fiction; while those two definitions differ and, in some circumstances, conflict, a page author may rely on either definition; an author may determine that a stretched truth is false and therefore that the value may be “false” instead of “stretch”
- — “mix”, meaning that a substantial portion of all or almost all of the page content is nonfiction and another substantial portion of all or almost all of the page content is fiction (non-normatively, while fiction is often characterizable as “mix” because it may be impossible to compose pure fiction, setting the value to “mix” might be especially useful where, for example, a page contains two separate writings of approximately equal weight, one fictional and one nonfictional)
The absence of such meta element shall not have a meaning. Non-normatively, search engines and directory editors may use another means to determine how to treat the page with respect to being nonfiction, fiction, or both.
If more than one such meta element is in the head element, only the first such element shall be determinative and all other such elements shall be ignored.
Sec. 3: Security, Synonymy, 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: Synonymy
Normatively, an HTML meta element with the name attribute value set to “fiction” and the content attribute value set to “false” is exactly synonymous with an HTML meta element with the name attribute value set to “nonfiction” and the content attribute value set to “true” and an HTML meta element with the name attribute value set to “fiction” and the content attribute value set to “true” is exactly synonymous with an HTML meta element with the name attribute value set to “nonfiction” and the content attribute value set to “false”. Non-normatively, it is noted that the name value that is herein specified as “nonfiction” could have been specified as “fiction” and that such value appeared to the original author and editor of this specification to have been more intuitive than “nonfiction”, but specifying the content value as “true” appeared to the same author and editor to be more intuitive than any other considered and specifying “fiction” and “true” as values in the same meta element appeared to the same author and editor as incongruous and likely to contribute to confusion in many instances of implementation of this specification in website pages.
Sec. 3.3: 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.
For editorial suggestions, thanks are extended to Edward Welbourne (Eddy).
Version 1 of this specification was published on this page on . Version 1 was revised into version 1.0.1, published on . Version 1.0.1 was revised into version 1.0.2, published on . Version 1.0.2 was revised into this version, being published on .
Sec. 3.4: Backwards Compatibility
In a future version, backwards compatibility should be provided.
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.
