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**TWD** · 09:52 PM

I'd like some opinions about what people think is best practice for arranging tags inside the HEAD section of the web page.

I think everyone would agree that this should come first

Quote:

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en">

Next is my question about how things should be ordered between the
<head> and </head>.

Lets assume for the sake of simplicity that there is NO inline CSS or Javascript. Everything is external referenced.

What order would you place:

<title>
<meta tags>
<CSS links>
<JavaScript links>

I can't think what other <head> elements might be relevant but feel free to add them to your answer if you do.

**konetch** · 07-13-2009, 10:24 PM

I always use your method just because it was the order I learned them in. When I use a script to build my pages though, it doesn't always come in that order.

I normally include a base href too

**TWD** · 07-13-2009, 11:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by konetch

I normally include a base href too

Thanks. I didn't know about the tag.
I can see it would have its uses.

What I'm kind of interested in knowing is what is
"best practice" for arranging these tags.

I've read on Google Webmaster Tools that <script> links should always
follow CSS links.
I'm not sure about the <meta> tags and <title> tag though.
I read somewhere that your <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" />
should come just after the Doc Type.
But I'm not sure.

**angele803** · 06:01 PM

The order you posted is IMHO correct...with the exception of the meta tags. I think you are correct in your last post about the meta tags though. From what I have read, the "content type" meta tag should come just after your opening "head" tag. The reason is so that the browser knows what character set your title should use. So, I think it should look like this:

<"content-type" meta tag>
<title>
<other meta tags>
<CSS links>
<JavaScript links>

**chrishirst** · 07-14-2009, 06:33 PM

It really doesn't matter in the slightest. Just as long as the ContentType directive is before the opening <body> (as it only affects the visual elements) nothing will be affected by the head element order.

One exception would be if any javascripts run as the script loads (not by a body onload event) that reference the CSS styles, the stylesheets must be loaded first.

**TWD** · 07-14-2009, 07:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrishirst

It really doesn't matter in the slightest. Just as long as the ContentType directive is before the opening <body> (as it only affects the visual elements) nothing will be affected by the head element order.

One exception would be if any javascripts run as the script loads (not by a body onload event) that reference the CSS styles, the stylesheets must be loaded first.

Thats about what I thought.

Now to add an extra element of difficulty:
Suppose we have an inline block of CSS and an inline block of JavaScript.
Where should they be placed in relation to each other and in relation to the other <head> tags for best practice?

I know you shouldn't really be using inline scripts but lets assume for the sake of the argument that it's required.
What then?

**darfun** · 07-15-2009, 04:16 AM

the tags you already know are enough,
i think the head section should not contain any unnecesry tags like some people add lots of meta tags, i like and use only the meta descrioption and mets keywords.

**TWD** · 07-15-2009, 05:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by darfun

the tags you already know are enough,
i think the head section should not contain any unnecesry tags like some people add lots of meta tags, i like and use only the meta descrioption and mets keywords.

Errors found while checking this document as HTML 4.0 Transitional!

Result: 84 Errors, 10 warning(s)

Need we say anymore.

**chrishirst** · 07-16-2009, 03:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TWD

Thats about what I thought.

Now to add an extra element of difficulty:
Suppose we have an inline block of CSS and an inline block of JavaScript.
Where should they be placed in relation to each other and in relation to the other <head> tags for best practice?

I know you shouldn't really be using inline scripts but lets assume for the sake of the argument that it's required.
What then?

Just the same, there is no "right" or "wrong" order. Same as "shouldn't use inline/inpage scripts/styles". It really doesn't matter.
If the style or script only applies to one page, leave it in the page. That way it cannot intefere with any global scripts/styles but can be used to override global scripts/styles.
Same with inlne items, if it only applies to one element in the entire site, set it as inline on that element.

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