Preserved Topic: HTTP-EQUIV TAG...What the .... ? (Page 1 of 1)

I'm trying to figure out what META tags I really want to include in my sites. I see this HTTP-EQUIV tag on some and have no idea what it really does or, if I should really include it. I see Dr. Ozone has it one his site.

Here is some info I found on it....but I'll be #@%! if I understand a word of the following:

"HTTP-EQUIV tags
META tags with an HTTP-EQUIV attribute are equivalent to HTTP headers. Typically, they control the action of browsers, and may be used to refine the information provided by the actual headers. Tags using this form should have an equivalent effect when specified as an HTTP header, and in some servers may be translated to actual HTTP headers automatically or by a pre-processing tool.
Note: While HTTP-EQUIV META tag appears to work properly with Netscape Navigator, other browsers may ignore them, and they are ignored by Web proxies, which are becoming more widespread. Use of the equivalent HTTP header, as supported by e.g. Apache server, is more reliable and is recommended wherever possible. "

Can someone explain this to me?

e-maestro

Well, when a web browser sends a request to a server for a page, the server sends back more information than the browser actually displays. The server first sends information such as the type of file, the size of the file, any cookies associated with it, and some other things before actually sending the file. This beginning information is what's called the "http header."

These META tags are used as ways of pretending you put something in the http header without actually putting it there. The web browser is supposed to pretend that it saw the information in the meta tag in the header.

OK, I think I sort of understand that.

Now the practical questions is:

Should include this tag with my meta tags, and if so, what should the actual content of the tag be? What exactly should it "look" like?

e-maestro

Well, there is more than one. Here are the ones I have on just one site:
<meta http-equiv="refresh" content="1200" />
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=windows-1252" />
<meta http-equiv="window-target" content="_top" />
<meta http-equiv="Pragma" content="no-cache" />
<meta http-equiv="Content-Language" content="en-us" />
<meta http-equiv="reply-to" content="webmaster@macombsheriff.com" />
<meta http-equiv="pics-label" content='(pics-1.1 "http://www.icra.org/ratingsv02.html" l gen true for "http://www.macombsheriff.com" r (cz 1 lz 1 nz 1 oz 1 va 1 ve 1 vh 1 vi 1 vk 1 vs 1) "http://www.rsac.org/ratingsv01.html" l gen true for "http://www.macombsheriff.com" r (n 0 s 0 v 4 l 0))' />
<meta http-equiv="PICS-Label" content='(PICS-1.1 "http://www.classify.org/safesurf/" l r (SS~~000 1))' />
<meta http-equiv="PICS-Label" content='(PICS-1.1 "http://www.weburbia.com/safe/ratings.htm" l r (s 0))' />
<meta http-equiv="keywords" content="police, mcso, Police Department, Sheriff's Office, community, community policing, law enforcement, Sheriff Hackel, dare, community events, county jail, jail, inmates, prisoners, drugs, Mark A. Hackel, online police, County of Macomb, safety, security, crime prevention, crime tips, safety tips, personal safety, wanted, theft, crime, fugitives, criminals, bike patrol, comet, mats, dive team, explorers, focet, jail, marine patrol, motor carrier, mounted patrol, road patrol, swat, traffic patrol, youth bureau, sex offender, offender tracking, prisoner, friend of the court, police boat, police horse, police motorcycle, neighborhood, crime watch, officers killed, Harrison Twp., Macomb Twp., C*****n Twp., Ray Twp., Washington Twp., Village of Memphis, Bruce Twp., Lennox Twp., Mount Clemens, Chesterfield Twp., Armada Twp., Richmond Twp., ccw, concealed weapons, guns, weapons, Undersheriff, Lieutenant, Sergeant, Inspector, Sheriff, deputy, corrections officer, jailer, Mark Hackel, sexual predator, Macomb County, Civil Infraction, Misdemeanor, ticket, Felony, fraud, violence, prison, arrest, warrant, uniform, tactical, search and rescue, abuse, recruitment, jobs, employment, career, dispatcher, communications, patrol cars, grafiti, gangs, rape, murder, accident" />
<meta http-equiv="imagetoolbar" content="no" />
<meta http-equiv="MSThemeCompatible" content="no" />

As you can see, there are many different options to the meta http-equiv tags. Some deal with caching, some with things like IE options (the last two), etc.

Since your on the topic, what does this do?

<meta http-equiv="PICS-Label" content='(PICS-1.1 "http://www.rsac.org/ratingsv01.html" l gen true comment "RSACi North America Server" for "http://www.gurusnetwork.com" on "2000.07.17T17:22-0800" r (n 0 s 0 v 0 l 0))'>


Thanks

I believe that was answered here.

Oh nice!!!!!!!!!! I love this thread!

:: m a x ::