<td>Exactly one <a href="title.html">TITLE</a> element, optional <a href="base.html">BASE</a><span class=transitional> and <a href="../block/isindex.html">ISINDEX</a></span> element<span class=transitional>s</span>, and zero or more <a href="../special/script.html">SCRIPT</a>, <a href="style.html">STYLE</a>, <a href="meta.html">META</a>, <a href="link.html">LINK</a>, or <a href="../special/object.html">OBJECT</a> elements</td>
</tr>
<tr valign=top>
<th>Contained in</th>
<td><a href="../html/html.html">HTML</a></td>
</tr>
</table>
<p>The <strong class=html>HEAD</strong> element contains <em>header information</em> about the document, such as its title, keywords, description, and style sheet. <strong class=html>HEAD</strong> is required in all documents, but its start and end tags are always optional. The <strong class=html>HEAD</strong> element is followed by the <strong class=html><a href="../html/body.html">BODY</a></strong><span class=frameset> in HTMLá4.0 <a href="../html/doctype.html#strict">Strict</a> and <a href="../html/doctype.html#transitional">Transitional</a> documents; in HTMLá4.0 <a href="../html/doctype.html#frameset">Frameset</a> documents, the <strong class=html>HEAD</strong> is followed by a <strong class=html><a href="../frames/frameset.html">FRAMESET</a></strong> element</span>.</p>
<p>Content in the <strong class=html>HEAD</strong> is generally not rendered, with the exception of the required <strong class=html><a href="title.html">TITLE</a></strong> element. If the <strong class=html></HEAD></strong> end tag is omitted, the first <strong class=html><a href="../html/body.html">BODY</a></strong><span class=frameset> or <strong class=html><a href="../frames/frameset.html">FRAMESET</a></strong></span> element infers the end of the <strong class=html>HEAD</strong>.</p>
<p>The optional <strong class=html>PROFILE</strong> attribute of <strong class=html>HEAD</strong> gives the location of a metadata profile. A profile defines properties that may be used by <strong class=html><a href="meta.html">META</a></strong> and <strong class=html><a href="link.html">LINK</a></strong> elements within the <strong class=html>HEAD</strong>. There is no prescribed format for profiles.</p>
<p class=note>Work is currently underway on improving the use of metadata on the Web. See the <abbr class=initialism title="World Wide Web Consortium"><a href="http://www.w3.org/">W3C</a></abbr>'s <a href="http://www.w3.org/Metadata/">Metadata and Resource Description</a> area for the latest information.</p>
<h2>More Information</h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/struct/global.html#edef-HEAD">HEAD in <abbr class=initialism title="World Wide Web Consortium">W3C</abbr> HTMLá4.0 Recommendation</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html32#head">HEAD in <abbr class=initialism title="World Wide Web Consortium">W3C</abbr> HTMLá3.2 Recommendation</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/html-spec/html-spec_5.html#SEC5.2">HEAD in HTMLá2.0 Standard</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.htmlhelp.com/reference/wilbur/head/head.html">HEAD in <abbr class=initialism title="Web Design Group">WDG</abbr> HTMLá3.2 Reference</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.hut.fi/u/jkorpela/HTML3.2/5.27.html">HEAD in <cite>Learning HTMLá3.2 by Examples</cite></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.w3.org/Metadata/">Metadata at W3C</a></li>
</ul>
<div class=footer>
<address>Maintained by <a href="http://www.htmlhelp.com/%7Eliam/">Liam Quinn</a> <<a href="mailto:liam@htmlhelp.com">liam@htmlhelp.com</a>></address>