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HTML

Posted by Joshua Sommerfeld
Joshua Sommerfeld
5,697 Points

Are <q> tags always necessary for quotes?

Is it always necessary to use a <q> tag when using quotations marks within a paragraph?

For example: Is one of these more "correct" than the other? <p>A wise man once said <q>I think, therefore I am.</q></p> <p>A wise man once said "I think, therefore I am."</p>

Is the only reason you use the <q> tag so you can use CSS to style them more easily, or is there some other reason to be aware of?

Thanks

1 Answer

Kevin Korte
Kevin Korte
28,149 Points

I would say it would be good to use them on quotes. There are more than just CSS style reasons to use a particular tag. It's good for semantics. Search engine crawlers use the various types of tags you used to understand what your site is about and how to properly index it.

You could visually achieve a quote styling using divs, but that would tell the crawler that "hey, I have a quote here".

https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Element/q

Joshua Sommerfeld
Joshua Sommerfeld
5,697 Points

Thanks Kevin. Big help! I'm definitely bookmarking the Mozilla Developer Network.

James Barnett
James Barnett
39,199 Points

I usually recommend of checking sitepoint reference and only going to MDN if I need more details as it can be dense reading sometimes.

Also HTML Dog is a great quick reference source.

Joshua Sommerfeld
Joshua Sommerfeld
5,697 Points

Bookmarked both. I love the quick reference sheets at HTML dog -- I'm always forgetting syntax and it's easy to see there. There are some nice little tutorials too. Thanks much.