DevTut

# Doctypes

Doctypes - short for 'document type' - help browsers to understand the version of HTML the document is written in for better interpretability. Doctype declarations are not HTML tags and belong at the very top of a document. This topic explains the structure and declaration of various doctypes in HTML.

# Adding the Doctype

The <!DOCTYPE> declaration should always be included at the top of the HTML document, before the <html> tag.

See HTML 5 Doctype (opens new window) for details on the HTML 5 Doctype.

<!DOCTYPE html>

See HTML 4.01 Doctypes (opens new window) for details on how these types differ from each other.

Strict

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/strict.dtd">

Transitional

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd">

Frameset

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Frameset//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/frameset.dtd">

# HTML 5 Doctype

HTML5 is not based on SGML, and therefore does not require a reference to a DTD.

HTML 5 Doctype declaration:

<!DOCTYPE html>

# Case Insensitivity

Per the W3.org HTML 5 DOCTYPE Spec (opens new window):

A DOCTYPE must consist of the following components, in this order:

    • A string that is an ASCII case-insensitive match for the string "<!DOCTYPE".

    therefore the following DOCTYPEs are also valid:

    <!doctype html>
<!dOCtyPe html>
<!DocTYpe html>

    This SO article discusses the topic extensively: Uppercase or lowercase doctype? (opens new window)

    # HTML 4.01 Doctypes

    The HTML 4.01 specification provides several different types of doctypes that allow different types of elements to be specified within the document.

    # HTML 4.01 Strict

    <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/strict.dtd">

    Includes all HTML elements and attributes, but does not include presentational or deprecated elements and framesets are not allowed.

    # HTML 4.01 Transitional

    <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd">

    Includes all HTML elements and attributes and presentational and deprecated elements, but framesets are not allowed.

    # HTML 4.01 Frameset

    <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Frameset//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/frameset.dtd">

    Includes all HTML elements and attributes, presentational and deprecated elements. Framesets are allowed.

    # Old Doctypes

    # HTML 3.2

    <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2 Final//EN">

    HTML 3.2 is well supported by most browsers in use. However, HTML 3.2 has limited support for style sheets and no support for HTML 4 features such as frames and internationalization.

    # HTML 2.0

    <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//IETF//DTD HTML//EN">

    HTML 2.0 is widely supported by browsers but lacks support for tables, frames, and internationalization, as well as many commonly used presentation elements and attributes.

    # Syntax

    • <!DOCTYPE [version-specific string]>

    # Remarks

    The <!DOCTYPE> declaration is not an HTML tag. It is used for specifying which version of HTML the document is using. This is referred to as the document type declaration (DTD).

    The <!DOCTYPE> declaration is NOT case sensitive. To check if the HTML of your Web pages is valid, go to W3C's validation service (opens new window).

    • Some old versions of IE don't support some HTML tags unless a proper doctype is available.
    • It's vital that a doctype is declared as to make sure the browser doesn't use quirks mode. More info on MDN. (opens new window)

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