HTML5 Microdata: Why isn't anyone talking about it? Written by Brian Cray on September 8th, 2010 Many big web design blogs are raving about HTML5, as they should be. But if you read many of them, [1, 2, 3], you'll be bombarded with an over-publicizing of header, article, footer, et. al tags, which reminds me of circa 2002 when we were all jumping onto the XHTML bandwagon. But 8 years later where'd XHTML get us? Suddenly we're moving back to HTML. Why? XHTML provided no actual benefits. HTML5 on the other hand is bringing with it a ton of actually useful technologies, including much needed advances in HTML forms, native video support, and a vector API/canvas.
But back to circa 2010/2002-wannabe. So my fellow web design bloggers: let's shift our focus to something that's a part of the HTML5 definition, changes the way we write tags, and has actual benefits: Microdata. A few web design blogs, including one of my favorites, NETTUTS, has covered Microdata briefly, and I want to add some more fuel to the conversation. What is HTML5 Microdata? Microdata: HTML5's Best-Kept Secret. Given the amount of industry noise about native video and scripted animations, you’d be forgiven if you had never heard of the new microdata specification included in HTML5.
Similar to outside efforts like Microformats, HTML5′s microdata offers a way of extend HTML by adding custom vocabularies to your pages. The easiest way to understand it is to consider a common use case. Let’s say you want list details about a business on your page — the name, address, telephone number and so on. To do that you’ll need to use some vocabulary in addition to HTML, since there is no <business> tag. Using microdata, you can create your own custom name/value pairs to define a vocabulary that describes a business listing. When a search engine spider comes along, it will know that not only is your data a business listing, but it can discover the address, the phone number, or even the precise geo-coordinates if you want to include them.
Given that HTML5 is still a draft at this point, why bother? Microdata. HTML5 Microdata: Welcome to the Machine. I don't think it is hyperbole to say that HTML5 will change the way that you think about web development. I welcome many of the changes as they make development easier, and the user experience richer. With any change, though, there is certain to be a bit of trepidation and controversy. One addition that certainly is not without its controversy is the Microdata specification, but I believe the benefits of this very simple specification are going to change how you look at your mark-up in the very near future.
Introduction and Scope: Context for Machines I am focusing on the Microdata specification in this tutorial. You do need to understand that the specification is not solid at the moment, nor is it widely adopted. To understand the controversy, you need to understand that Microdata is a subset of making a document have meaning to machines, just as it has meaning to a reader of the document. Microdata in Theory: The Big Picture Suppose you are a collector of comic books. Conclusion. HTML5 Microdata: Why isn't anyone talking about it? HTML5 Microdata: What is it, and why should you care? HTML5 is booming. One of the main reasons more and more articles about this subject are popping up on the web, is because more and more webbrowsers are supporting it.
Even the most feared browser by webdevelopers "Internet Explorer" is making huge progress to make IE9 HTML5 ready. The demo's Microsoft created tell us enough already. But what exactly is HTML5? This subject is way too big to place into one blog article, but I'm trying to handle several aspects of the subject in several posts. I assume you don't want to read any further, if you can't start using this HTML5 microdata right now. Semantics As many people know by now, is that one of the goals of HTML5 is to be semantic (give meaning to the HTML).
Seems pretty familiar, doesn't it? Since the browser doesn't understand what id="footer" means, it doesn't do anything special with it. That is where HTML5 semantics kick in. As you can see, the HTML now has a lot more meaning. We want more! Cool! That looks pretty good, doesn't it? The Lowdown on Structured Data and Schema.org - Your Questions Answered! First of all, thank you to everyone who listened in to the Microformats and Schema.org webinar with Richard Baxter and myself.
If you are a PRO member and haven't had a chance to listen in, be sure to check it out! During and after the webinar we received a ton of great feedback and questions which we unfortunately just didn't have time to cover off (ah man!). But…as they were awesome questions, SEOmoz have given us the chance to rock out a blog post as a follow up. So, sit back and enjoy as we take your head from confusion to conclusion. 1. Can you show/speak about pros and cons of using Schema versus using micro formats? I don't think we can really compare micro formats to schema.org directly - micro formats are a form of structured data, like microdata and RDFa with a limited set of pre-defined properties.
Due to the extensive vocabulary on offer and universal support from the major search engines, the future is looking bright for the growth of Schema.org. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. How to Implement Schema.org into Your SEO Efforts: Part 2. By Jessica Davidson | Jun 22, 2012 More Articles by Jessica In Part One, I discussed what schema.org is, its basic elements, embedded items, and missing information. Now, with a basic knowledge of schema.org, I will provide video, recipe, and product examples as well as the benefits of adding schema markup to your SEO repertoire. Video Object Schema The following code provides an example of schema.org for videos on a web page: The video’s length, or any time or date for that matter, must be denoted in the ISO 8601 date/time standard.
“M” represents minutes and “S” indicates seconds. Therefore, T3M17S means that the video’s duration is 3 minutes and 17 seconds. In the example, the object and param tags are abbreviated for the purpose of highlighting the schema code. Although there are lots of different properties of a video that can be marked up, as seen on schema.org’s website, there are only a couple of items that are required. Recipe Schema Product Schema Benefits of Schema.org.