An identifier in the HTML document, that tells to the browser which type of HTML it needs to use to show contents of that document. Specifying different versions of HTML will result in different behavior of the document. If the type hasn't been specified at the beginning of HTML document the browser might load it slowly or even with the errors.
Usage:
<!DOCTYPE HTML /*Here goes type of the document specification (DTD)*/>
The <!DOCTYPE> declaration must be the very first thing in your HTML document, before the <html> tag.
The <!DOCTYPE> declaration is not an HTML tag; it is an instruction to the web browser about what version of HTML the page is written in.
The <!DOCTYPE> declaration refers to a Document Type Definition (DTD). The DTD specifies the rules for the markup language, so that the browsers render the content correctly.
An HTML DOCTYPE defines which version of the language you are using, and let's the browser act accordingly. The DOCTYPE in an HTML document is an idea borrowed from XML. The DOCTYPE file defines the rules that the language has to follow. By making sure you've declared the doctype in an HTML document, you let the browser know how you're expecting that HTML to be treated. In an ideal environment, adding a doctype will allow you to be sure of exactly how the code will be rendered by the user's browser.
A doctype is a header, so it should be placed at the top of the webpage. When writing HTML for a website, it should be placed directly above the tag.
doctype, html,head, body, and title
This is not a question, it is a statement with a question mark on the end.
<tag>...</tag> For tags that open and close. Or <selfclosingtag> for tags that don't. Or <selfclosingtag /> if you're using XHTML **Note: neither of those are real HTML tags. For the first the paragraph tag <p>The content of the paragraph.</p> is a good example. For the second, <img src="image.jpg" alt="Image"> or <img src="image.jpg" alt="Image" />
The term DOCTYPE tells the browser which type of HTML is used on a webpage. In turn, the browsers use DOCTYPE to determine how to render a page. Failing to use DOCTYPE or using the wrong DOCTYPE may load your page in Quirks Mode. AchieversIT Training Institute.
An HTML DOCTYPE defines which version of the language you are using, and let's the browser act accordingly. The DOCTYPE in an HTML document is an idea borrowed from XML. The DOCTYPE file defines the rules that the language has to follow. By making sure you've declared the doctype in an HTML document, you let the browser know how you're expecting that HTML to be treated. In an ideal environment, adding a doctype will allow you to be sure of exactly how the code will be rendered by the user's browser.
A doctype is a header, so it should be placed at the top of the webpage. When writing HTML for a website, it should be placed directly above the tag.
a <!DOCTYPE>declaration
You will generally want to end any tag that does not have a closing tag with "/" at the end before closing it. The DTD Doctype declaration is the exception since the HTML tag is not opened until after it.
doctype, html,head, body, and title
This is not a question, it is a statement with a question mark on the end.
That's the DocType for HTML 4.01. It is normally used at the very beginning of an HTML 4.01 document to tell the browser what version of HTML it should use to render the page.
<tag>...</tag> For tags that open and close. Or <selfclosingtag> for tags that don't. Or <selfclosingtag /> if you're using XHTML **Note: neither of those are real HTML tags. For the first the paragraph tag <p>The content of the paragraph.</p> is a good example. For the second, <img src="image.jpg" alt="Image"> or <img src="image.jpg" alt="Image" />
There is not much in migrating from HTML to HTML5. You have to include the DOCTYPE in the html tag.
The !DOCTYPE tag tells the browser what markup to expect in the rest of the document.
Your best bet is going to be looking for a "doctype declaration." For instance <!DOCTYPE html> will precede all HTML 5 pages. The same works for XHTML. The trouble becomes that HTML 4.01, and earlier, will not allow for this. Then you'll be forced to look at the code's tags, specifically, and attempt to work backwards from there. Good luck, by the way. The modern browsers automatically enter a mode of rendering called "quirks mode" whenever a doctype is not declared, or when one is declared, but its standards are not adhered to.