Revision 1124211 of title

<p>{{HTMLSidebar("Global_attributes")}}</p>

<p>The <strong>title</strong> <a href="/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Global_attributes">global attribute</a> contains a text representing advisory information related to the element it belongs to. Such information can typically, but not necessarily, be presented to the user as a tooltip. Here are some typical uses of this attribute:</p>

<ul>
 <li>Link: the title or a description of the linked document</li>
 <li>Media element like an image: a description or associated credits</li>
 <li>Paragraph: a footnote or a commentary about it</li>
 <li>Quotation: some information about the author, and so on.</li>
</ul>

<p>If this attribute is omitted, it means that the title of the nearest ancestor of this element is still relevant for it (and can legitimately be used as the tooltip for that element). If this attribute is set to the <em>empty string</em>, it explicitly means that its nearest ancestor's title is not relevant for this element (and shouldn't be used in the tooltip for that element).</p>

<p>Additional semantics are attached to the <strong>title</strong> attributes of the {{ HTMLElement("link") }}, {{ HTMLElement("abbr") }}, {{ HTMLElement("input") }} and {{ HTMLElement("menuitem") }} elements.</p>

<p>The <strong>title</strong> attribute may contains several lines. Each <code>U+000A LINE FEED</code> (<code>LF</code>) inserted represents such a newline. Some caution must be taken though, as that means that:</p>

<pre class="brush: html">
&lt;p&gt;Newlines in title should be taken into account,like this &lt;abbr title="This is a
multiline title"&gt;example&lt;/abbr&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
</pre>

<p>defines a two-line title.</p>

<h2 id="Specifications">Specifications</h2>

<table class="standard-table">
 <tbody>
  <tr>
   <th scope="col">Specification</th>
   <th scope="col">Status</th>
   <th scope="col">Comment</th>
  </tr>
  <tr>
   <td>{{SpecName('HTML WHATWG', "elements.html#the-title-attribute", "title")}}</td>
   <td>{{Spec2('HTML WHATWG')}}</td>
   <td>No change from latest snapshot, {{SpecName('HTML5.1')}}</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
   <td>{{SpecName('HTML5.1', "dom.html#the-title-attribute", "title")}}</td>
   <td>{{Spec2('HTML5.1')}}</td>
   <td>Snapshot of {{SpecName('HTML WHATWG')}}, no change from {{SpecName('HTML5 W3C')}}</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
   <td>{{SpecName('HTML5 W3C', "dom.html#the-title-attribute", "title")}}</td>
   <td>{{Spec2('HTML5 W3C')}}</td>
   <td>Snapshot of {{SpecName('HTML WHATWG')}}. From {{SpecName("HTML4.01")}}, it is now a true global attribute.</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
   <td>{{SpecName('HTML4.01', 'struct/global.html#adef-title', 'title')}}</td>
   <td>{{Spec2('HTML4.01')}}</td>
   <td>Supported on all elements but {{HTMLElement("base")}}, {{HTMLElement("basefont")}}, {{HTMLElement("head")}}, {{HTMLElement("html")}}, {{HTMLElement("meta")}}, {{HTMLElement("param")}}, {{HTMLElement("script")}}, and {{HTMLElement("title")}}.</td>
  </tr>
 </tbody>
</table>

<h2 id="Browser_compatibility">Browser compatibility</h2>

<p>{{ CompatibilityTable() }}</p>

<div id="compat-desktop">
<table class="compat-table">
 <tbody>
  <tr>
   <th>Feature</th>
   <th>Chrome</th>
   <th>Firefox (Gecko)</th>
   <th>Internet Explorer</th>
   <th>Opera</th>
   <th>Safari</th>
  </tr>
  <tr>
   <td>Basic support</td>
   <td>{{ CompatVersionUnknown() }}</td>
   <td>{{ CompatVersionUnknown }}</td>
   <td>{{ CompatVersionUnknown() }}</td>
   <td>{{ CompatVersionUnknown() }}</td>
   <td>{{ CompatVersionUnknown() }}</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
   <td>Multi-line support</td>
   <td>{{ CompatVersionUnknown() }}</td>
   <td>{{CompatGeckoDesktop(12)}}</td>
   <td>{{ CompatVersionUnknown() }}</td>
   <td>{{CompatUnknown}}</td>
   <td>{{CompatUnknown}}</td>
  </tr>
 </tbody>
</table>
</div>

<div id="compat-mobile">
<table class="compat-table">
 <tbody>
  <tr>
   <th>Feature</th>
   <th>Android</th>
   <th>Chrome for Android</th>
   <th>Firefox Mobile (Gecko)</th>
   <th>IE Mobile</th>
   <th>Opera Mobile</th>
   <th>Safari Mobile</th>
  </tr>
  <tr>
   <td>Basic support</td>
   <td>{{ CompatVersionUnknown() }}</td>
   <td>{{ CompatVersionUnknown() }}</td>
   <td>{{ CompatVersionUnknown }}</td>
   <td>{{ CompatVersionUnknown() }}</td>
   <td>{{ CompatVersionUnknown() }}</td>
   <td>{{ CompatVersionUnknown() }}</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
   <td>Multi-line support</td>
   <td>{{CompatUnknown}}</td>
   <td>{{CompatUnknown}}</td>
   <td>{{CompatGeckoMobile(12)}}</td>
   <td>{{CompatUnknown}}</td>
   <td>{{CompatUnknown}}</td>
   <td>{{CompatUnknown}}</td>
  </tr>
 </tbody>
</table>
</div>

<h2 id="See_also">See also</h2>

<ul>
 <li>All <a href="/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Global_attributes">global attributes</a>.</li>
 <li>{{domxref("HTMLElement.title")}} that reflects this attribute.</li>
</ul>