Document Indexing
Computer hieroglyphic META Tags for Document Indexing
The META element is used within the HEAD element to embed document meta-information not defined by other HTML elements. Such information may be extracted by servers/browsers for indexing.

<META NAME="resource-type" CONTENT="document">
<META NAME="resource-type" CONTENT="document">

At the moment, the only resource type that can be embedded in a document is "document", so you won't need to change this. This is the only absolutely necessary tag. If you omit the others, the index will list only the TITLE of your document.
<META NAME="description" CONTENT="a sentence to a paragraph describing your document">
<META NAME="description" CONTENT="a sentence to a paragraph describing your document">

This will be displayed along with the title of your document in the index listing. It should enable the person looking at it to easily determine the content (and thus their interest) of the series of documents it leads into. Example:

"Contains information about HTML Tutor, a.k.a., The HTML Rosetta Stone."
<META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="key words">
<META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="key words">

Words logically related to the content of the document series (think what you might enter into a keyword search to locate this document). Do not repeat words in an effort to give you a better rating in a search engine. Include all words that will help identify your site, in the order of importance. Only the singular form need be used, and it is best to use lowercase form.
<META NAME="distribution" CONTENT="global">
<META NAME="distribution" CONTENT="global">

Use global for major entry points to your site(s). Use local for local indexes.
Computer hieroglyphic Optional META Tags for document indexing
<META NAME="copyright" CONTENT="a sentence or so declaring copyright Information">
<META NAME="copyright" CONTENT="a sentence or so declaring copyright Information">

Places a copyright message in the automatically generated index file.
"This document copyright 1999 by R.L. Smith. Use for non-profit and education purposes explicitly granted."
<META HTTP-EQUIV=Varname CONTENT=Data> 
HTTP-EQUIV
binds the Varname to an HTTP header field. An HTTP server may use this information to process the document. In particular, it may include a header field in the responses to requests for this document. the header name is taken from the HTTP-EQUIV Varname value, and the header value is taken from the Data value of the CONTENT attribute. HTTP header names are not case sensitive. 
NAME
specifies the name of the name/value pair. If not present HTTP-EQUIV's value is used for the name. HTTP-EQUIV specifies the Varname. 
CONTENT
contains the Data associated with Varname

EXAMPLES
If the document contains: 

<META HTTP-EQUIV="Expires"   CONTENT="Wed, 31 Dec 1999 23:59:59 PST"> 
<META HTTP-EQUIV="Keywords"  CONTENT="HTML Rosetta Stone">
<META HTTP-EQUIV="Reply-to"  CONTENT="webmaster@computersmiths.com (Randy Smith)"> 
<META HTTP-EQUIV="Keywords"  CONTENT="Tutorial education teach">

then the server may include the following header fields: as part of the HTTP response to a `GET' or `HEAD' request for that document. 

Expires : Wed, 31 Dec 1997 23:59:59 PST
Keywords: HTML Rosetta Stone, Tutorial education teach
Reply-to: webmaster@computersmiths.com (Randy Smith)
An HTTP server must not use the META element to form an HTTP response header unless the HTTP-EQUIV attribute is present.

An HTTP server may disregard any META elements that specify information controlled by the HTTP server, for example `Server', `Date', and `Last-modified'.
Computer hieroglyphic Auto-Load META Tag
<META HTTP-EQUIV="Refresh" CONTENT=" 3; URL= http://www.computersmiths.com">
The two HIGHLIGHTED values are the parameters to the "Refresh" command. The First Argument 3 specifies a delay value in seconds. After the page has completely loaded the browser will wait 3 seconds before loading the resource. This value can be 0.

The Second Argument http://www.computersmiths.com, is the URL of the resource to load.

A nifty trick is to specify an audio file and a Delay value of 0. This will cause the browser to play the specified audio file, while allowing the user to continue reading your page with an audio background.

But also keep in mind that each individual "Refresh" directive is one-shot and non-repeating. The directive doesn't say "go get this page every 3 seconds from now until infinity"; it says "go get this page in 3 seconds".

Send e-mail to randy@computersmiths.com
www.computersmiths.com
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