Article element

HTML5 Article

HTML5 Article is a semantic HTML5 element such as <section> and <header>. It is most commonly used to contain information that may be distributed independently from the rest of the site or application it appears in.

<article> element

The HTML5 <article> element represents a complete composition in a web page or web application that is independently distributable or reusable, e.g. in syndication. This could be a forum post, a magazine or newspaper article, a blog entry, a user-submitted comment, an interactive widget or gadget, or any other independent item of content.

Supported Browsers

• Desktop
  • Google Chrome 5.0 and higher
  • Firefox 4.0 and higher
  • Internet Explorer 9.0 and higher
  • Safari 4.1 and higher
  • Opera 11.1 and higher
• Mobile
  • Android 2.2 and higher
  • Firefox Mobile (Gecko) 4.0 and higher
  • IE Mobile 9.0 and higher
  • Safari Mobile 5.0 and higher
  • Opera Mobile 11.0 and higher

<article> element examples

At its most basic, <article> can be used to encapsulate a body of text and a corresponding title like so:

<article>
  <h2>Insert Title Here</h2>
  <p>Insert  a paragraph of text here</p>
</article>

Forum entries and comments are typically implemented by nesting <article> tags:

<article>
  <header>
    <h1>Entry Title</h1>
    <p>Header Info</p>
  </header>
  <p>Content of entry...</p>
  <article>
    <header>
      <h2>Author: John Smith</h2>
      <p>Comment Info</p>
    </header>
    <p>Comment text...</p>
  </article>
  <article>
    <header>
      <h2>Author: Jane Johnson</h2>
      <p>2nd Comment's Info</p>
    </header>
    <p>Comment text...</p>
  </article>
</article>

Attributes of <article>

The <article> element only includes the global HTML attributes such as contenteditable, id, and title. However, pubdate, an optional boolean attribute of the <time> element, is often used in conjunction with <article>. If present, it indicates that the <time> element is the date the <article> was published. Note that pubdate applies only to the parent <article> element, or to the document as a whole.

Comparison of <article> and <section>

It is often difficult to determine when to use the <article> tag versus the <section> tag. Much like <article>, <section> is a semantic HTML tag introduced in HTML5. The <section> tag defines sections in a document, such as chapters, headers, footers, or any other sections of the document. The <article> element is a specialized kind of <section>; it has more specific semantic meaning than <section> in that it is an independent, self-contained block of related content.

Nesting Examples

<section> tags can be nested inside <article> tags to better organize independent content:

<article>
  <h2>Names of Shapes</h2>
  <p>There are several different types of shapes...</p>

  <section>
    <h4>Triangles</h4>
    <p>Here is some info about triangles</p>
  </section>
  <section
    <h4>Circles</h4>
    <p>These Pi-shaped wonders are mesmerizing and...</p>
  </section>
</article>

In certain cases, it may be appropriate to nest an <article> element inside a <section> element. Consider a web page containing several articles on varying subjects:

  <section>
    <h1>Articles about Paris Tourism</h1>
    <article>
      <h3>The Eiffel Tower</h3>
      <p>Standing at over 12 inches high...</p> 
    </article>
    <article>
      <h3>The Louvre</h3>
      <p>A must-see in Paris tourism...</p>
    </article>
  </section>