Alternative to <h1>

Nichod · 2005-12-07 15:39:57

Bombsite discussed that its not recommended to use h1 or that he doesn’t recommend it. What would be a good alternative?

Last edited by Nichod (2005-12-07 15:41:48)

els · 2005-12-07 16:24:01

Try to determine what level your heading is, then use h2, h3 or whatever is appropriate. h1 should be reserved for your site’s title. W3C.

Niconemo · 2005-12-07 16:31:33

It can be interpreted in very different ways though…

h1 is the first level heading of the document… so if the page title actually is the article title (that is if the site name is not on the page) h1 fits for article title. On most blog or corporate sites h1 is the site name, on some documentation site, h1 can be the article title. The only thing to remember is that h1 is the highest level (which is quite logical) and that there can (and must) be only one h1 per page.

Last edited by Niconemo (2005-12-07 16:36:38)

Nichod · 2005-12-07 16:41:23

I decided class was the best method.

Jeremie · 2005-12-07 17:09:13

Nichod wrote:
Bombsite discussed that its not recommended to use h1 or that he doesn’t recommend it. What would be a good alternative?

Bombsite is wrong :p

If h1 and title were the same thing, well h1 or title wouldn’t exist. h1 is the first level heading of your document, it can be used without trouble.

THe issue with TXP/Textile is that on an individual article page, h1 is used for the article’s title. So it can be confusing to re-use it within the article.

Other CMS deal with this by automatically increment the headings withing an article.

thebombsite · 2005-12-07 20:07:48

I knew I should have kept quiet. Actually I suggested that using h1 for the article title wasn’t a very good idea not that it shouldn’t be used at all. First off, there are probably more important things on the page such as the site title that would warrant the h1, and second, if used for the article title it would probably end up being used several times on the same page. Thus, this was a wrong usage for the h1 tag in this instance. I think I’m right. I’m open to argument though. :)

Nichod · 2005-12-08 19:38:07

All I know is that class worked just as well in this case. I understand where Stuart is going in regards to the h1 tag. I’m not an expert at CSS yet, but I’m learning and I’d have to agree that h1 seems to be a tag that is used in a specific function and it makes more sense that it be used in the site title.

On a side note I’m in love with how wonderful TXP is in giving full control of layout to the point that keeping the site compliant is incredibly easy. My site is currently STRICT and I’m loving it.

Jeremie · 2005-12-09 01:56:10

h1 can perfectly be used several times on a single webpage. Nothing wrong with that.

Niconemo · 2005-12-09 08:24:59

TheBombsite, depending on the strcuture of the site, we can perfectly have h1 for an article title when it’s a single article page and h2 when it’s an article list.

Personnaly, Jeremie, I think there must be only one h1 per page/document (on the web or in a paper document, a poster… it’s a very basic stylesheet rule and stylesheets used to exist long before Internet) But it should reflect as far as possible the content of the page. In a blog or a portal site the site name will do… but in lots of sites the article title would be considered as the ideal h1 ;-)

For example, if I have kind of very simple database site called “Animals of the french Alps” :

The h1 in the home-page would be the site name
“Mammals”, “birds”, … can be h2

The h1 in a section or category page would be “Mammals”, “birds”, …
(with a breadcrumb at the top)
“marmot”, “ibex”, “eagle”… (animal names) can be h2

The h1 in an article page would be “marmot”, “ibex”, “eagle”…
(with a breadcrumb too)

It is possible with textpattern and ideal and clean as for referencing as structural logic and accessibility

In fact as the rule is “there must be only one h1 per document”. The question is :
Is each page considered as a single document in my site ?
Or is each page considered as a part of a big virtual document which is the site itself ?
Then it is very easy to define what is the h1.

There are (fortunately) so many kinds of websites that is is impossible to have a single answer to such a question.

Last edited by Niconemo (2005-12-09 08:39:27)

thebombsite · 2005-12-09 12:16:34

If it were a single article I wouldn’t disagree with you Niconemo but you have to remember that this thread has been taken out of context and when I gave the original advice I was under the impression that it would get repeated, thus I suggested the h2 instead. :)

Having said that, I still think your site title is more important than an article title, and even if there were only a single article on a page that did not have your site title displayed, I would still consider using a “hidden” h1 near the top of the page containing the site title and still use h2 for the article. But that’s just me.

Niconemo · 2005-12-09 15:52:06

> thebombsite wrote:
> If it were a single article I wouldn’t disagree with you Niconemo but you have to remember that this thread has been taken out of context and when I gave the original advice I was under the impression that it would get repeated, thus I suggested the h2 instead. :)

;) OK. It is actually a context sensitive question.

paularms · 2005-12-12 03:46:57

Using the h1 tag for your site title, logo, etc… doesn’t seem logical on any page but your main page. If you are using it on an “article” page for the title of the site, you are saying that that page can be summed up in a few words as your site and that everything below it is everything that your site has to offer. By strategically using the title tag in your head by placing your site title in it, along with the page title, you are telling search engines and people who bookmark the page what the site is and what is on the page.

Taken from Section 7.5.5 of the HTML 4.01 spec (emphasis placed by me)

A heading element briefly describes the topic of the section it introduces. Heading information may be used by user agents, for example, to construct a table of contents for a document automatically.

Last edited by paularms (2005-12-12 03:47:32)

Textpattern CMS

Textpattern CMS support forum

#1 2005-12-07 15:39:57

Alternative to <h1>

#2 2005-12-07 16:24:01

Re: Alternative to <h1>

#3 2005-12-07 16:31:33

Re: Alternative to <h1>

#4 2005-12-07 16:41:23

Re: Alternative to <h1>

#5 2005-12-07 17:09:13

Re: Alternative to <h1>

#6 2005-12-07 20:07:48

Re: Alternative to <h1>

#7 2005-12-08 19:38:07

Re: Alternative to <h1>

#8 2005-12-09 01:56:10

Re: Alternative to <h1>

#9 2005-12-09 08:24:59

Re: Alternative to <h1>

#10 2005-12-09 12:16:34

Re: Alternative to <h1>

#11 2005-12-09 15:52:06

Re: Alternative to <h1>

#12 2005-12-12 03:46:57

Re: Alternative to <h1>

Board footer