CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javascriptjqueryhtmlcoding-style
kamikaze_pilot
kamikaze_pilot

Reputation: 14834

Is there any possible negative repercussions of using made up attributes in html tags

So suppose I have this tag

<a href=""></a>

and then I make up some non-standard attribute

<a lol="haha" href=""></a>

If you ask why, well so that I can conveniently use that made up attribute in my javascript...

My question is...is there any possible negative repercussion of doing this....is there any good reason why I shouldn't be doing this?

Upvotes: 2

Views: 214

Answers (4)

Ricardo Tomasi
Ricardo Tomasi

Reputation: 35253

There is an attribute family that was made exactly for that: data-*. You should use

<a data-lol="haha" href="#"></a>

That will be valid and save you from any headaches. A custom attribute might conflict with a predefined one (or one that doesn't exist yet), or cause problems in non-compliant parsers.

Upvotes: 1

Adam Rackis
Adam Rackis

Reputation: 83358

Browsers will almost universally handle custom attributes. And when I say universally, I mean even IE6.

Of course the standard way to do that is with:

<a data-lol="haha" href=""></a>

Which, since you've tagged with jQuery, I'll mention can be read (even in IE6) with

$("a").data("lol");

Upvotes: 7

Blender
Blender

Reputation: 298106

You can do this with HTML5:

<a data-lol="haha" href=""></a>

As for the downsides, I will say this: standards are made for a reason. Just because it looks like it works won't mean that it will work in the future.

Upvotes: 1

Jeff Camera
Jeff Camera

Reputation: 5544

I'd recommend using the HTML data- attribute HTML 5 data- Attributes

Upvotes: 1

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