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Standard HTML5 Semantic Layout
Raw
semantic-layout.html
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8" />
<title>Title</title>
<link href="stylesheets/main.css" rel="stylesheet" />
</head>
<body>
<header>
<hgroup>
<h1>Header</h1>
<h2>Subheader</h2>
</hgroup>
</header>
<nav>
<ul>
<li><a href="#">Menu Option 1</a></li>
<li><a href="#">Menu Option 2</a></li>
</ul>
</nav>
<section>
<article>
<header>
<h1>Article #1</h1>
</header>
<section>
This is the first article.
</section>
</article>
<article>
<header>
<h1>Article #2</h1>
</header>
<section>
This is the second article.
</section>
</article>
</section>
<aside>
<section>
<h1>Links</h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="#">Link 1</a></li>
<li><a href="#">Link 2</a></li>
</ul>
</section>
<figure>
<img width="85" height="85"
src="http://domain.tld/path/to/image.jpg"
alt="foobar" />
<figcaption>Foobar</figcaption>
</figure>
</aside>
<footer>Footer</footer>
</body>
</html>
Raw
semantic-layout.md

notes

  1. You may omit the <header> and it's decendants if it's only a sole headline and replace it with <h1>.
  2. In this example the navigation <nav> is a page specific navigation, hence after the page header <header>. If the <nav> is a global navigation, it might also be before the first page header <header>.
Raw
semantic-layout.txt
+-----------------------------------+
| header |
+-----------------------------------+
| nav |
+---------------------+-------------+
| | |
| section | aside |
| | |
| | |
| +-----------------+ | |
| | article | | |
| +-----------------+ | |
| | article | | |
| +-----------------+ | |
+---------------------+-------------+
| footer |
+-----------------------------------+
@ve3
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ve3 commented Jun 3, 2016

What about <main> element?
http://www.w3schools.com/html/html5_semantic_elements.asp said Specifies the main content of a document
Html5doctor also use <main> element for content area (section in your example).
http://html5doctor.com/the-main-element/

Which one is better for use in main column position?

@yumyo
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yumyo commented Jul 5, 2016

Sadly, it could not be considered best practice anymore as the HTML 5.1 specification

requires developers to use h1-h6 to convey document structure. The simple reason for this change is that the HTML5 document outline is not implemented and despite efforts to get it implemented, the general response from user agent developers has not been enthusiastic.

References:

Computer says NO to HTML5 document outline
HTML 5.1 specification

@neochrisneo
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You're going to want to use main for ARIA accessibility reasons

@serdarakkilic
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BTW
The only section in this example have to have some meaningful content besides the articles inside it. Otherwise articles will not add any value to the web sites content. You have to consider article as an independent content which will never change the meaning of a web page if removed completely.

if your page telling something about an "A subject", having articles about "A Subject" will add a value. However if you remove the articles, your page should still needs to tell about the "A subject". Otherwise the page will not be considered as a page that gives information about "A Subject". It will be considered as a page that lists articles about "A subject".

This is very important that you need to consider articles as independent content.

Also sections inside a page needs to tell about different things. Every section needs to have a heading that defines what it is telling about. do not afraid to use div's for your layouts. all the html5 tags has meanings and you have to use them correctly to receive its rewards.

@zrayev
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zrayev commented Mar 31, 2018

hgroup - depricated html tag

@TheDefinitionist
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TheDefinitionist commented Jul 5, 2022 •
edited
Loading

Where is main tag

@alvyynm
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alvyynm commented Aug 24, 2022

@TheDefinitionist, I was just about to ask the same. According to W3C, "A main landmark identifies the primary content of the page."

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