putting script blocks outside of the head tag ok?

[jeanpaul1979]

Is it ok to put script tags outside of the head tag? The same question goes for style tags.

I have done this and it works just fine but i'm wondering if this could bite me later since a book i have about javascript specificly sais i should put those tags in the head of the document.

I have my reasons for doing this.

[AutisticCuckoo]

SCRIPT elements are allowed outside the HEAD element. Whether it is 'OK' depends on whom you ask. Unobtrusive external scripts in the HEAD are usually considered preferable.

STYLE elements may not occur outside the HEAD, however.

[siteguru]

Script blocks in the BODY of the page will be parsed and executed inline as the document loads (much like those in the HEAD). I think one difference is the blocks in the BODY can interfere with your layout. But the main difference is that blocks in the BODY may not react to events.

Some reading ...

http://www.tizag.com/javascriptT/jav...theadnbody.php
http://www.w3schools.com/js/js_whereto.asp

[jeanpaul1979]

STYLE elements may not occur outside the HEAD, however.

I assume that you mean style elements within style tags outside of the head?
It does work. What is the reason not to do it?

Thanks for the readings siteguru, i will have a look at them.

[AutisticCuckoo]

I assume that you mean style elements within style tags outside of the head?

An element consists of a start tag, some content and an end tag. For example:

<style type="text/css">
  html {background:#fff; color:#000}
</style>

This element consists of a start tag with an attribute (<style type="text/css">), content (html {background:#fff; color:#000}) and an end tag (</style>).

It does work. What is the reason not to do it?

Because it is invalid HTML (or XHTML). The DTD does not allow a STYLE element to occur outside of the HEAD element. There is nothing in the standards that says how a user agent should handle such an occurrence. The fact that some contemporary browsers apply the CSS as if it were specified in the correct place is irrelevant. You never know what the next generation of browsers will do. They may choose to reformat your hard drive if they find a STYLE element within BODY, and that would not be contrary to the specification.

What is the reason not to spell 'fish' as 'ghoti'? George Bernard Shaw presented a valid argument for that spelling. Could it be because our 'standards' specify the former? Or because there's a risk some readers won't understand the latter?

If you 'need' to use STYLE elements in the BODY, then your template system is badly broken. I would recommend setting class or id attributes on the elements you want to affect, and put the corresponding styles in an external CSS style sheet referenced from the HEAD.

[jeanpaul1979]

Allright, that's clear now. Thanks for you explanation.

I am using Code igniter and i have standard headers for groups of pages, i have made it so that i can pass additional head code to the header. So it will be no problem to do so.

It does mean that the queried css data has to travel from the controller trough the view to the header so the view is a middle man that does nothing to the data exept pass it on.

[AutisticCuckoo]

It does mean that the queried css data has to travel from the controller trough the view to the header so the view is a middle man that does nothing to the data exept pass it on.

Yes, that can be rather tedious. It's often possible to separate the actual presentation from the content, though, as I outlined in my previous post. This, of course, requires that the number of styles is finite.

If the content (model object) can be classified, the view can easily assign the appropriate attribute and the controller doesn't have to know anything at all about this part. With the class styling in an external style sheet you also get the benefit of less bandwidth and better cacheability.

I've run into similar problems in a Java-based CMS with nested JSP templates, so I feel your pain.

[jeanpaul1979]

I don't understand entirely what you are saying

If the content (model object) can be classified, the view can easily assign the appropriate attribute and the controller doesn't have to know anything at all about this part.

but i do have the option to include the style elements in an external css file, the main css file. This file has a php extension with a css header(), it also recieves dynamic information.

Do you know if a php document with a css header will be cached by default like a css document?
And what the rules are for retrieving a fresh copy of a css document?

I'm not familiar with caching yet, it is next on my list.

[AutisticCuckoo]

Do you know if a php document with a css header will be cached by default like a css document?

It depends on the cache control HTTP headers sent by the server. With PHP, of course, you can control those yourself with the header() function.

The Caching Tutorial for Web Authors and Webmasters is a good primer which I can recommend.

[jeanpaul1979]

Allright, thanks man. I appriciate your support.