The HTML article Element
The article element causes a line break, like a div does. It can be styled like a div. But article has a special meaning that div does not.
Content within the HTML article element is considered to be primary content for the web page. It would be the article, blog post, or other content that is the reason for the particular web page to be published.
Format (styling optional):
<article style="border:1px solid #999; padding:1em; border-radius:1em;"> [content here] </article>
Reasons for using the article element instead of a div include:
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To make it easier for search engine spiders to know which content to index — content that is not ads, navigation, or other header/
footer/ sidebar information. -
To specify content that should be included in the Reader View when a site visitor requests their browser to present it.
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To mark content for inclusion in a PDF document when a PDF of content from selected web pages is automatically generated. (Software with this functionality is being worked on. Send me a note if you are interested.)
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To specify the relevant content when content is searched by other bots or spiders.
Ads and other content that is not related to the content in the article element should not be included with the article element content.
More than one HTML article element may be used on a page. As an example, there may be an article element for common Autumn traits on a nature site and another article element for common Spring traits.
(This content first appeared in Possibilities newsletter.)
Will Bontrager
