htmlarticle

<section> or <article>, which is contained in which


Trying to get my head around the new semantic elements in HTML5.

Does a <section> belong inside an <article> or is it the other way around? Does it even matter?

I'm looking at re-structuring a wordpress blog.


Solution

  • From the HTML5 spec:

    The section element represents a generic document or application section. A section, in this context, is a thematic grouping of content, typically with a header and possibly a footer.

    and

    The article element represents an independent section of a document, page, or site. This could be a forum post, a magazine or newspaper article, a blog entry, a user-submitted comment, or any other independent item of content.

    So I would say both section and article elements can contain the other element, if appropriate. I think your diagram makes sense, apart from the nested section elements:

    The section element is not a generic container element. When an element is needed for styling purposes or as a convenience for scripting, authors are encouraged to use the div element instead. A general rule is that the section element is appropriate only if the element's contents would be listed explicitly in the document's outline.

    Maybe use a <div> for the outer one?