HTML <footer> Tag
The HTML <footer> tag represents the footer of an HTML document or a section within the document.
Footers typically contain information such as the author of the document, copyright information, links to terms of use, privacy policy, etc.
Syntax
The <footer> tag is written as <footer></footer> with the footer content inserted between the start and end tags.
Like this:
The <footer> tag can be placed anywhwere that "flow content" is expected (typically anywhwere within the body of the document), however, cannot be placed within a <header> or another <footer> element, and it cannot contain a <header> element.
Examples
Basic tag usage
Here's an example of the <footer> tag being used to markup the footer of a whole document.
Footer at Top of Document
The <footer> tag doesn't necessarily need to appear at the bottom of the document (although this is probably the most common usage).
Here's an example of placing the <footer> tag near the top of the document.
Multiple <footer> Elements
A document can have multiple <footer> elements. Here's an example of a document with two footers (one at the top and one at the bottom).
Section Footers
Just as a whole document can contain <footer> elements, so can each section within a document.
Here, we have two <article> elements that contain their own respective footers. The document itself has its own separate footer.
Addresses
Footers often contain contact information for the document's author. Contact information within a <footer> tag should be marked up using the <address> tag.
Attributes
Attributes can be added to an HTML element to provide more information about how the element should appear or behave.
There are 3 kinds of attributes that you can add to your HTML tags: Element-specific, global, and event handler content attributes.
The <footer> element accepts the following attributes.
Element-Specific Attributes
This table shows the attributes that are specific to the <footer> tag/element.
| Attribute | Description |
|---|---|
| None |
Global Attributes
The following attributes are standard across all HTML5 elements. Therefore, you can use these attributes with the <footer> tag , as well as with all other HTML tags.
- accesskey
- class
- contenteditable
- contextmenu
- dir
- draggable
- dropzone
- hidden
- id
- inert
- itemid
- itemprop
- itemref
- itemscope
- itemtype
- lang
- spellcheck
- style
- tabindex
- title
- translate
For a full explanation of these attributes, see HTML 5 global attributes.
Event Handler Content Attributes
Event handler content attributes enable you to invoke a script from within your HTML. The script is invoked when a certain "event" occurs. Each event handler content attribute deals with a different event.
Below are the standard HTML5 event handler content attributes.
Again, you can use any of these with the <footer> element, as well as any other HTML5 element.
- onabort
- oncancel
- onblur
- oncanplay
- oncanplaythrough
- onchange
- onclick
- oncontextmenu
- ondblclick
- ondrag
- ondragend
- ondragenter
- ondragexit
- ondragleave
- ondragover
- ondragstart
- ondrop
- ondurationchange
- onemptied
- onended
- onerror
- onfocus
- onformchange
- onforminput
- oninput
- oninvalid
- onkeydown
- onkeypress
- onkeyup
- onload
- onloadeddata
- onloadedmetadata
- onloadstart
- onmousedown
- onmousemove
- onmouseout
- onmouseover
- onmouseup
- onmousewheel
- onpause
- onplay
- onplaying
- onprogress
- onratechange
- onreadystatechange
- onscroll
- onseeked
- onseeking
- onselect
- onshow
- onstalled
- onsubmit
- onsuspend
- ontimeupdate
- onvolumechange
- onwaiting
For a full explanation of these attributes, see HTML 5 event handler content attributes.
Differences Between HTML 4 & HTML 5
The <footer> element was introduced in HTML5.
For more detail on the element, see HTML5 <footer> Tag. Also check out the links to the official specifications below.
Template
Here's a template for the <footer> tag with all available attributes for the tag (based on HTML5). These are grouped into attribute types, each type separated by a space. In many cases, you will probably only need one or two (if any) attributes. Simply remove the attributes you don't need.
Note that the <footer> element does not actually have any local attributes (i.e. attributes that are specific to the element), but the following global attributes and event handlers are available to the element (and all other HTML elements).
For more information on attributes for this tag, see HTML5 <footer> Tag.
Tag Details
For more details about the <footer> tag, see HTML5 <footer> Tag.
Specifications
Here are the official specifications for the <footer> element.
- HTML5 Specification (W3C)
- HTML Living Standard (WHATWG)
- Current W3C Draft (the next version that is currently being worked on)
What's the Difference?
W3C creates "snapshot" specifications that don't change once defined. So the HTML5 specification won't change once it becomes an official recommendation. WHATWG on the other hand, develops a "living standard" that is updated on a regular basis. In general, you will probably find that the HTML living standard will be more closely aligned to the current W3C draft than to the HTML5 specification.