!doctype

Description
Syntax
Examples
Links

Description

The !doctype element for HTML declares the type of document.

It is case-insensitive and placed at the start of the document.

Syntax

<!doctype top-element availability "registration//organization//type label definition//language" "uniform-resource-locator">

Name	Default	Description
top element	html	top-level element
availability	PUBLIC	formal public identifier (FPI) is a publicly accessible object or a system resource PUBLIC specifies a publicly accessible object SYSTEM specifies a system resource, such as a local file or URL
registration	+	registered by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) + specifies registered - specifies not registered
organization		OwnerID, a unique label indicating the name of the organization responsible for creation and maintenance of the DTD
type	DTD	public text class, the type of object being referenced
label	HTML	public text description, a unique descriptive name for the public text being referenced
definition		document type definition (DTD) Strict specifies non-depreciated and non-frame elements and attributes Transitional specifies depreciated and non-frame elements and attributes Frameset specifies depreciated and frame elements and attributes
language	EN	public text language, the natural language encoding system used in the creation of the referenced object
uniform resource locator		location of the referenced object

HTML 4

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0//EN">
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/strict.dtd">
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Frameset//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/frameset.dtd">
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd">

HTML 4.01

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

HTML5

<!doctype html>

XHTML 1

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Frameset//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-frameset.dtd">
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">

XHTML 1.1

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.1//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml11/DTD/xhtml11.dtd">

XHTML Basic 1.1

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML Basic 1.1//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml-basic/xhtml-basic11.dtd">