Headings

Abstract

Use of head to encode headings, and permissible values for type attribute

heading subheading
head type

Encoding Instructions (new P5 version)

The WWP uses head to encode headings, but we restrict the possible type attribute values to main and sub.

The default value for type is “main”, and if no attribute value is specified this is what will be assumed. This value should be used when the heading is the chief one of several sibling headings, or when there is only one heading present. We use <head type="sub"> where one heading is clearly subordinate to a sibling heading. This subordination may be signalled by words like “or” (see example 1), but such words are not necessary. head type="sub" should only be used for sibling headings, not for headings of a subordinate div; it is important to be certain to which div a given heading belongs. If it is unclear whether one heading is subordinate to the other, no type="sub" need be used.

Note that a single heading may be broken across two or more lines. To distinguish between a single multi-line heading and multiple separate headings (or subheadings), we judge on the basis of syntax: if the heading forms a single unbroken syntactic unit, it should be treated as a single heading. In cases where a word like “or” is used to join a heading and a subheading, the join-word should be encoded as part of the subheading, as in the first example, even if it is on a line by itself. This practice preserves the syntactic independence of the main heading (whose “mainness” implies that it could stand on its own).

Examples

A heading and subheading for a single div, joined by or.

<div type="chapter">
  <head>The Bucket of Posies</head>
  <head type="sub">or, Flowers of the Hills</head>
  <!-- ... -->
</div>

A heading and subheading for a single div without any linking words.

<div type="chapter">
  <head>What the Hills Know</head>
  <head type="sub">A Tale of the Countryside</head>
  <!-- ... -->
</div>

A single heading broken across a line break

<head>The Morning
<lb/>of the Battle</head>

A heading for a parent div, followed by headings for subdivisions of that div

<div type="chapter">
  <head>The Bucket of Posies</head>
  <div type="section" n="1">
    <head>1: Flowers of the Hills</head>
    <!-- ... -->
  </div>
  <div type="section" n="2">
    <head>2: Flowers of the Valleys</head>
    <!-- ... -->
  </div>
</div>

Successive headings with no clear subordination (all default to “main”)

<div type="section">
  <head>The Star to the Wise</head>
  <head>To the High Court of Parliament, the Honourable
    House of Commons;</head>
  <head>The Lady Eleanor her Petition</head>
  <!-- ... -->
</div>