=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= EDline Vol. 7, no. 54 (22 February 2002) Editorial mailing list (digest version) Published by the Electric Editors =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Contents: Q & A [2sm] Meta tags =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= ---[2]-- Q & A -------------------------------------------------- ** [2sm] Meta tags Date: Fri, 15 Feb 2002 From: Jo Rudd, jorudd@sia.net.au Could anyone guide me in the spelling etc. of meta tags, please? Searching the Net, I found these variations: META tags meta tags Meta tags meta-tags Is META an acronym, perhaps? ---------------------- Date: Fri, 15 Feb 2002 From: Michael Lewis, mlewis@brandle.com.au "Meta" is a flavour-of-the-decade prefix meaning, essentially, "beyond" or "only more so". (I don't have a dictionary handy.) Perhaps the most widely used word including this prefix is metaphysics (no hyphen). In linguistics, we speak of meta-language (usually hyphenated); this is "language about language", and can include expressions such as "Now I'm going to tell you ". In computing, metadata (optionally hyphenated, I think) is "data about data", and includes control information built into certain file formats. Presumably, meta-tags (I would hyphenate; others might not) are "tags about tags" -- but they could be tags in metadata, as opposed to tags in the "real" data. ---------------------- Date: Fri, 15 Feb 2002 From: Ian Kingston, ian@iankingston.com META tags are a specific kind of HTML tag. They appear within the HEAD tag at the start of the document and are used, among other things, to provide information about the document, such as keywords for search engines to index. It is common for HTML tags to be typed in upper case for readability within the HTML code. I would use upper case for 'META tags' in the context of HTML (and probably set 'META' in a monospaced font); in other contexts I might make a different decision. ---------------------- Date: Fri, 15 Feb 2002 From: Jane Kerr, bywater@ntlworld.com If you're talking specifically about HTML, then there is a tag whose name is meta (which provides information about the document for search engines, and which is not actually visible when someone views the page on the web). Therefore, in this context it should be "meta tag". ---------------------- Date: Fri, 15 Feb 2002 From: Nick Hudson, hudson@c031.aone.net.au Useless information for the weekend: Did you realise that 'metaphysics' was coined not by Aristotle to mean 'the stuff that takes over where the wisdom of physics finishes', but by a librarian to mean 'the unnamed scroll which lives next to his 'Physics' in our Library'. I'd agree with Michael Lemis. It's the same question as the e- business: once readers are used to a term, the hyphen can be dropped; until then, the hyphen is helpful. (It is certainly NOT meta tags (two words). ---------------------- Date: Fri, 15 Feb 2002 From: Michael Lewis, mlewis@brandle.com.au Thank you. As you point out, there is a specific meaning (and typographical convention) for META tags that is not shared by meta[-]tags. I think it's fair to say that META tags are, indeed, tags in metadata -- but there is something that puts them in a dictionary definition of their own. (Always assuming, of course, that such an animal as a meta[-]tag exists!) ---------------------- Date: Sat, 16 Feb 2002 From: Jo Rudd, jorudd@sia.net.au > From what you say, I lean towards 'meta-tags' - can't have 'meta' floating around free if it's a prefix! Thank you for this! I was aware of the meaning of 'meta' as a prefix, but had seen it several times all in caps and thought perhaps it was an acronym. Ian Kingston wrote: > I would use upper case for 'META tags' in the context of HTML > (and probably set 'META' in a monospaced font); in other > contexts I might make a different decision. Thank you for this, Ian. This is the context in which I've seen it used, all in caps. So now I have two choices, depending on context! Reading the latest issue of a magazine called 'Computer Choice' (published by the Australian Consumers Association), I came across the sentence: 'The ICRA uses these answers to generate ratings on sex, nudity, violence and bad language, which are added to each page's metatags - the descriptors used by search engines to determine the content of the web.' It seems that the ACA has made its decision about spelling and hyphenation, although I don't look up to them as an arbiter of correct usage. I still don't really understand what metatags are, but that doesn't really matter, as long as I know how to spell the word! After all, it's one of those invisible, intangible, inscrutable computer terms, right? ---------------------- Date: Sun, 17 Feb 2002 From: Jane Kerr, bywater@ntlworld.com > it's one of those invisible, intangible, inscrutable computer > terms, right? No. The ACA is simply wrong. There are lots of tags in html. They each have a name, e.g. head, body, table, td, tr, a. I can't imagine them writing "headtag", "tdtag" etc., so the only reason they've used "metatag" is because they're getting confused with the meta- prefix used in words like meta(-)physics. I think it would be just about acceptable to use hyphens, if this was done consistently, but to write "metatag" in the context of html is just ignorant. ----------------------- Date: Tues, 19 Feb 2002 From: Peter Best, pbest@idl.net.au If you're still not sure about Meta-tags - Next time you're using your browser, click on VIEW > SOURCE You should see the site's HTML coding. Make sure you're at the very top of the page and the Meta-tags should be visible - the line will begin with META and the keywords designed to be read by search engines, but not displayed in the viewer's browser, should follow. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= END OF EDline 7.54 Admin page: < http://www.electriceditors.net/edline/admin.htm > ** The views expressed in this mailing list are strictly those of the individual contributors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the moderators or of the Electric Editors. ** Articles (c) 2001, 2002, by individual contributors Design (c) 1996--2002 Iain Brown Compilation (c) 2002, Iain Brown / The Electric Editors =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=