Specification For HTML Meta Element with Name Value Page-Version
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Section 1: Introduction
This is the specification for the HTML meta element with the name attribute value set to “page-version”. This is version 2.0.3 of this specification.
This is not the specification for the HTML meta element with the name attribute value set to “version” and the synonym “page-version”. Except as otherwise specified, this specification is not about such synonym. Non-normatively, it is noted that such synonymizing was probably in error, because the synonym should have been different from the name attribute values for all other HTML meta elements.
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 page-version is a ‘version of the page either within the time range (such as a date) expressed in the value of the content attribute of the HTML meta element with the name attribute value set to “created” or since an arbitrary datetime’.
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.
A page may be revised more than once in a day. While a meta element with the name attribute value set to “created” supports a datetime of creation with a granularity of a fraction of a second, when a page has to be approved more than once before being hosted any such date or time may be erroneous and, within a range, arbitrary, especially when different approvals have different scopes (for example, the last approval may be only for technological readiness for uploading to a host and not for editorial decisions previously approved). In addition, even a creation date without a time may have to be vague to be accurate. In such cases, a version number may be necessary for page history and may be more useful for searches including the rendering of cached past versions. Thus, a page version is needed as an option for the page author and a machine-readable format for the page version is needed. Because multiple page versions with explicit or implicit decimal points and with different lengths to the left of the decimal point may have to be sorted in accordance with ASCII and because an author may wish for a page version to be represented with decimal places even if they contain zeros, an option to pad the sides with zeros is needed. Because a page author may wish to designate a page version as a draft, the convention used for beta versisons of software programs of numbering with a decimal number that has to the left of the decimal point only one digit and that digit a zero has to be supported herein; and, for convenience, “0” (zero) alone should also be supported.
Sec. 2: Method
There may be an HTML meta element with the name attribute value set to “page-version” and, if that element is present, it shall have the content attribute value set to any spaceless nonnegative base-10 rational number expressed as an integer (which may be a zero) or a decimal stated in ASCII digits, with any number of decimal places, and may be padded with any number of zeros that do not alter the mathematical value of the content attribute value. Consecutiveness is recommended to the page author but shall not be presumed by anyone else. Ascension is recommended to the page author and may be presumed by anyone else. The ascension of version numbers may start or restart on an arbitrary date. Non-normatively, it is noted that ascension may be within a single date, restarting with each new date.
If a meta element with the name attribute value “page-version” appears more than once, only such element as has the mathematically largest content attribute value shall be determinative and all other such elements shall be ignored.
A content attribute value that is mathematically less than 1 may be presumed to mean that the page is a draft. A content attribute value that is mathematically 1 or more may be presumed to mean that the page is not a draft. Either presumption is rebuttable by other information. Non-normatively, it is noted that a page author should consider stating in renderable content whether the page is a draft or not and any information with respect to editions, versions, related concepts, and dates, using whatever language and phrasing the page author deems best.
A user agent or search engine shall process the value of the content attribute in its entirety, not at all, or by reference to the existence of the value and, except to ignore zeros for padding, shall not round or truncate it. It is acceptable that the reference take the form of 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 page differences 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 at , at https://wiki.whatwg.org/index.php?title=MetaExtensions&oldid=4088 (with the page differences at https://wiki.whatwg.org/index.php?title=MetaExtensions&diff=4088&oldid=3824) into a version that was undesignated but, normatively, it was implicitly version 1.1 and should now be so known. Version 1.1 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 1.1.1 and should now be so known. Version 1.1.1 was revised 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) 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 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 1.1.3 and should now be so known. Version 1.1.3 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 .
This paragraph is only about the synonym “page-version” (for the name attribute value “version”) and not the name attribute value “page-version”. A version of that synonym’s specification was first published on https://wiki.whatwg.org/wiki/MetaExtensions at , at https://wiki.whatwg.org/index.php?title=MetaExtensions&oldid=9679 (with the differences page at https://wiki.whatwg.org/index.php?title=MetaExtensions&diff=9679&oldid=9678) and that version was revised at , at https://wiki.whatwg.org/index.php?title=MetaExtensions&oldid=9680 (with the differences page at https://wiki.whatwg.org/index.php?title=MetaExtensions&diff=9680&oldid=9679) (deprecation of synonym).
For the HTML meta element with the name attribute value set to “page-version”, this version (identified by number in section 1, above) was published on this page on .
Sec. 3.3: Backwards Compatibility
Backwards compatibility is intended with one exception, that of the treatment of multiple meta elements each with the name “page-version” appearing on one page, that treatment having changed since the prior version of this specification.
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 alls 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.
