Editing HTML (section)

== History ==

=== Development ===
[[File:Tim Berners-Lee April 2009.jpg|thumb|right|upright|alt=Photograph of Tim Berners-Lee in April 2009|[[Tim Berners-Lee]] in April 2009]]

In 1980, [[physicist]] [[Tim Berners-Lee]], a contractor at [[CERN]], proposed and prototyped [[ENQUIRE]], a system for CERN researchers to use and share documents. In 1989, Berners-Lee wrote a memo proposing an [[Internet]]-based [[hypertext]] system.<ref>Tim Berners-Lee, "[https://www.w3.org/History/1989/proposal.html Information Management: A Proposal]". CERN (March 1989, May 1990). W3C.</ref> Berners-Lee specified HTML and wrote the browser and server software in late 1990. That year, Berners-Lee and CERN [[data system]]s engineer [[Robert Cailliau]] collaborated on a joint request for funding, but the project was not formally adopted by CERN. In his personal notes of 1990, Berners-Lee listed "some of the many areas in which hypertext is used"; an [[encyclopedia]] is the first entry.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.w3.org/DesignIssues/Uses.html |title=Intended Uses |first1=Tim |last1=Berners-Lee |website=W3C}}</ref>

The first publicly available description of HTML was a document called "HTML Tags",<ref>{{cite web |title=Tags used in HTML |url=http://info.cern.ch/hypertext/WWW/MarkUp/Tags.html |website=info.cern.ch |access-date=2 March 2023 |date=October 1991}}</ref> first mentioned on the Internet by Tim Berners-Lee in late 1991.<ref name="tagshtml" /><ref>{{cite web|title=Re: status. Re: X11 BROWSER for WWW |url=http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-talk/1991SepOct/0003.html|last=Berners-Lee|first=Tim|date=October 29, 1991|publisher=World Wide Web Consortium|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070524045009/http://lists.w3.org:80/Archives/Public/www-talk/1991SepOct/0003.html|archive-date=May 24, 2007|access-date=April 8, 2007}}</ref> It describes 18 elements comprising the initial, relatively simple design of HTML. Except for the hyperlink tag, these were strongly influenced by [[CERN SGML]], an in-house [[Standard Generalized Markup Language]] (SGML)-based documentation format at CERN. Eleven of these elements still exist in HTML 4.<ref>{{cite web|title=Index of the HTML 4 elements |url=https://www.w3.org/TR/1999/REC-html401-19991224/index/elements|date=December 24, 1999|publisher=World Wide Web Consortium|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070505172415/https://www.w3.org/TR/1999/REC-html401-19991224/index/elements|archive-date=May 5, 2007|access-date=April 8, 2007}}</ref>

HTML is a [[markup language]] that [[web browser]]s use to interpret and [[Typesetting|compose]] text, images, and other material into visible or audible web pages. Default characteristics for every item of HTML markup are defined in the browser, and these characteristics can be altered or enhanced by the web page designer's additional use of [[CSS]]. Many of the text elements are mentioned in the 1988 ISO technical report TR 9537 ''Techniques for using SGML'', which describes the features of early text formatting languages such as that used by the [[TYPSET and RUNOFF|RUNOFF command]] developed in the early 1960s for the [[Compatible Time-Sharing System|CTSS]] (Compatible Time-Sharing System) operating system. These formatting commands were derived from the commands used by typesetters to manually format documents. However, the SGML concept of generalized markup is based on elements (nested annotated ranges with attributes) rather than merely print effects, with separate structure and markup. HTML has been progressively moved in this direction with CSS.

Berners-Lee considered HTML to be an application of SGML. It was formally defined as such by the [[Internet Engineering Task Force]] (IETF) with the mid-1993 publication of the first proposal for an HTML specification, the "Hypertext Markup Language (HTML)" Internet Draft by Berners-Lee and [[Dan Connolly (computer scientist)|Dan Connolly]], which included an SGML [[Document type definition]] to define the syntax.<ref>{{cite web|title=Re: SGML/HTML docs, X Browser |url=http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-talk/1991NovDec/0020.html|author=Berners-Lee|first=Tim|date=December 9, 1991|website=w3|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071222060359/http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-talk/1991NovDec/0020.html|archive-date=December 22, 2007|access-date=June 16, 2007|quote=SGML is very general. HTML is a specific application of the SGML basic syntax applied to hypertext documents with simple structure. }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Hypertext Markup Language (HTML): A Representation of Textual Information and MetaInformation for Retrieval and Interchange|url=https://www.w3.org/MarkUp/draft-ietf-iiir-html-01.txt|last1=Berners-Lee|first1=Tim|last2=Connolly|first2=Daniel|date=June 1993|website=w3|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170103041713/https://www.w3.org/MarkUp/draft-ietf-iiir-html-01.txt|archive-date=January 3, 2017|access-date=January 4, 2017}}</ref> The draft expired after six months, but was notable for its acknowledgment of the [[Mosaic (web browser)|NCSA Mosaic]] browser's custom tag for embedding in-line images, reflecting the IETF's philosophy of basing standards on successful prototypes. Similarly, [[Dave Raggett]]'s competing Internet Draft, "HTML+ (Hypertext Markup Format)", from late 1993, suggested standardizing already-implemented features like tables and fill-out forms.<ref name="html+">{{cite web|title=A Review of the HTML+ Document Format |url=http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/htmlplus_paper/htmlplus.html|author=Raggett, Dave|author-link=Dave Raggett|website=w3|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000229205146/http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/htmlplus_paper/htmlplus.html|archive-date=February 29, 2000|access-date=May 22, 2020|quote=The hypertext markup language HTML was developed as a simple non-proprietary delivery format for global hypertext. HTML+ is a set of modular extensions to HTML and has been developed in response to a growing understanding of the needs of information providers. These extensions include text flow around floating figures, fill-out forms, tables, and mathematical equations.}}</ref>

After the HTML and HTML+ drafts expired in early 1994, the IETF created an HTML Working Group. In 1995, this working group completed "HTML 2.0", the first HTML specification intended to be treated as a standard against which future implementations should be based.{{Ref RFC|1866|quote=This document thus defines an HTML 2.0 (to distinguish it from the previous informal specifications). Future (generally upwardly compatible) versions of HTML with new features will be released with higher version numbers. }}

Further development under the auspices of the IETF was stalled by competing interests. {{As of|1996|since=y|post=,}} the HTML specifications have been maintained, with input from commercial software vendors, by the [[World Wide Web Consortium]] (W3C).<ref name="raggett">{{cite book|last=Raggett|first=Dave|url=https://www.w3.org/People/Raggett/book4/ch02.html|title=Raggett on HTML 4|year=1998|access-date=July 9, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070809234115/https://www.w3.org/People/Raggett/book4/ch02.html|archive-date=August 9, 2007}}</ref> In 2000, HTML became an international standard ([[International Organization for Standardization|ISO]]/[[International Electrotechnical Commission|IEC]] 15445:2000). HTML 4.01 was published in late 1999, with further errata published through 2001. In 2004, development began on HTML5 in the [[Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group]] (WHATWG), which became a joint deliverable with the W3C in 2008, and was completed and standardized on 28 October 2014.<ref>{{cite web|title=HTML5 – Hypertext Markup Language – 5.0|url=https://www.w3.org/2014/10/html5-rec.html.en|date=28 October 2014|publisher=Internet Engineering Task Force|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141028233921/https://www.w3.org/2014/10/html5-rec.html.en|archive-date=October 28, 2014|access-date=November 25, 2014|quote=This document recommends HTML 5.0 after completion.}}</ref>

=== HTML version timeline ===
==== HTML 2 ====
:; November 24, 1995: HTML 2.0 was published as {{IETF RFC|1866}}. Supplemental [[Request for Comments|RFCs]] added capabilities:
::* November 25, 1995: {{IETF RFC|1867}} (form-based file upload)
::* May 1996: {{IETF RFC|1942}} (tables)
::* August 1996: {{IETF RFC|1980}} (client-side image maps)
::* January 1997: {{IETF RFC|2070}} ([[internationalization and localization|internationalization]])

==== HTML 3 ====
:; January 14, 1997: HTML 3.2<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html32|title=HTML 3.2 Reference Specification |publisher=World Wide Web Consortium |date=January 14, 1997|access-date=November 16, 2008}}</ref> was published as a [[W3C Recommendation]]. It was the first version developed and standardized exclusively by the W3C, as the IETF had closed its HTML Working Group on September 12, 1996.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.w3.org/MarkUp/HTML-WG/|title=IETF HTML WG|access-date=June 16, 2007 |quote=Note: This working group is closed}}</ref>
:: Initially code-named "Wilbur",<ref name="engelfriet" /> HTML 3.2 dropped math formulas entirely, reconciled overlap among various proprietary extensions and adopted most of [[Netscape]]'s visual markup tags. Netscape's [[blink element]] and [[Microsoft]]'s [[marquee element]] were omitted due to a mutual agreement between the two companies.<ref name="raggett" /> A markup for mathematical formulas similar to that of HTML was standardized 14 months later in [[MathML]].

==== HTML 4 ====
:; December 18, 1997: HTML 4.0<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40-971218/|title=HTML 4.0 Specification|publisher=World Wide Web Consortium|date=December 18, 1997|access-date=November 16, 2008}}</ref> was published as a W3C Recommendation. It offers three variations:
:;* Strict, in which deprecated elements are forbidden
:;* Transitional, in which deprecated elements are allowed
:;* Frameset, in which mostly only [[Framing (World Wide Web)|frame]] related elements are allowed.
:Initially code-named "Cougar",<ref name="engelfriet">{{cite web|url=http://htmlhelp.com/reference/wilbur/intro.html|title=Introduction to Wilbur|first=Arnoud |last=Engelfriet|authorlink=Arnoud Engelfriet|website=htmlhelp.com|access-date=June 16, 2007}}</ref> HTML 4.0 adopted many browser-specific element types and attributes, but also sought to phase out Netscape's visual markup features by marking them as [[deprecation|deprecated]] in favor of style sheets. HTML 4 is an SGML application conforming to ISO 8879&nbsp;– SGML.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.w3.org/TR/html4/conform.html#h-4.2|title=HTML 4 – 4 Conformance: requirements and recommendations|access-date=December 30, 2009}}</ref>
:;April 24, 1998
: HTML 4.0<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.w3.org/TR/1998/REC-html40-19980424/|title=HTML 4.0 Specification|publisher=World Wide Web Consortium|date=April 24, 1998|access-date=November 16, 2008}}</ref> was reissued with minor edits without incrementing the version number.
:; December 24, 1999: HTML 4.01<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.w3.org/TR/html401/|title=HTML 4.01 Specification|publisher=World Wide Web Consortium|date=December 24, 1999|access-date=November 16, 2008}}</ref> was published as a W3C Recommendation. It offers the same three variations as HTML 4.0 and its last errata<ref>{{cite web |title=HTML 4 Errata |url=https://www.w3.org/MarkUp/html4-updates/errata |publisher=W3C |access-date=March 2, 2023}}</ref> were published on May 12, 2001.
:; May 2000: ISO/IEC 15445:2000<ref name="iso-html">{{cite web |url=https://www.iso.org/standard/27688.html |title= ISO/IEC 15445:2000 – Information technology – Document description and processing languages – HyperText Markup Language (HTML) |author=ISO |year=2000|access-date=March 1, 2023}}</ref> ("[[International Organization for Standardization|ISO]] HTML", based on HTML 4.01 Strict) was published as an ISO/IEC international standard.<ref>{{cite web |title=ISO/IEC 15445:2000(E) ISO-HTML |url=https://www.scss.tcd.ie/misc/15445/15445.HTML |website=www.scss.tcd.ie |publisher=ISO/IEC |access-date=March 1, 2023 |location=Geneva, CH |language=EN |date=May 15, 2000}}</ref> In the ISO, this standard is in the domain of the [[ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 34]] (ISO/IEC Joint Technical Committee 1, Subcommittee 34&nbsp;– Document description and processing languages).<ref name="iso-html" />
:;: After HTML 4.01, there were no new versions of HTML for many years, as the development of the parallel, XML-based language XHTML occupied the W3C's HTML Working Group.

==== HTML 5 ====
{{Main|HTML5}}
:; October 28, 2014 : HTML5<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.w3.org/TR/2014/REC-html5-20141028/|title=HTML5: A vocabulary and associated APIs for HTML and XHTML|publisher=World Wide Web Consortium|date=28 October 2014|access-date=31 October 2014 }}</ref> was published as a W3C Recommendation.<ref>{{cite press release|url=https://www.w3.org/2014/10/html5-rec.html.en|title=Open Web Platform Milestone Achieved with HTML5 Recommendation|publisher=World Wide Web Consortium|date=28 October 2014|access-date=31 October 2014 }}</ref>
:; November 1, 2016 : HTML 5.1<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.w3.org/TR/2016/REC-html51-20161101/|title=HTML 5.1|publisher=World Wide Web Consortium|date=1 November 2016|access-date=6 January 2017 }}</ref> was published as a W3C Recommendation.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.w3.org/blog/news/archives/5932|title=HTML 5.1 is a W3C Recommendation|publisher=World Wide Web Consortium |date=1 November 2016|access-date=6 January 2017 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.w3.org/blog/2016/11/html-5-1-is-the-gold-standard/|title=HTML 5.1 is the gold standard|author=Philippe le Hegaret|publisher=World Wide Web Consortium|date=17 November 2016 |access-date=6 January 2017 }}</ref>
:; December 14, 2017 : HTML 5.2<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.w3.org/TR/2017/REC-html52-20171214/|title=HTML 5.2|publisher=World Wide Web Consortium|date=14 December 2017|access-date=15 December 2017 }}</ref> was published as a W3C Recommendation.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.w3.org/blog/news/archives/6696|title=HTML 5.2 is now a W3C Recommendation|publisher=World Wide Web Consortium|date=14 December 2017|access-date=15 December 2017 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.w3.org/blog/2017/12/html-5-2-is-done-html-5-3-is-coming/|title=HTML 5.2 is done, HTML 5.3 is coming|author=Charles McCathie Nevile|publisher=World Wide Web Consortium |date=14 December 2017|access-date=15 December 2017 }}</ref>

=== HTML draft version timeline ===
; October 1991 : ''HTML Tags'',<ref name="tagshtml" /> an informal CERN document listing 18 HTML tags, was first mentioned in public.
; June 1992 : First informal draft of the HTML DTD,<ref>{{cite web|last=Connolly|first=Daniel|title=MIME as a hypertext architecture |url=http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-talk/1992MayJun/0020.html|publisher=CERN|access-date=24 October 2010|author-link=Dan Connolly (computer scientist)|date=6 June 1992}}</ref> with seven subsequent revisions (July 15, August 6, August 18, November 17, November 19, November 20, November 22)<ref>{{cite web|last=Connolly|first=Daniel|title=HTML DTD enclosed|url=http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-talk/1992JulAug/0020.html|publisher=CERN|access-date=24 October 2010|author-link=Dan Connolly (computer scientist)|date=15 July 1992}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Connolly|first=Daniel|title=document type declaration subset for Hyper Text Markup Language as defined by the World Wide Web project|url=http://lost-contact.mit.edu/afs/cern.ch/w3.org/www/Frame/fminit2.0/html.dtd|publisher=CERN|access-date=24 October 2010|author-link=Dan Connolly (computer scientist)|date=18 August 1992|archive-date=14 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314055308/http://lost-contact.mit.edu/afs/cern.ch/w3.org/www/Frame/fminit2.0/html.dtd|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="html11">{{cite web|last=Connolly|first=Daniel|title=Document Type Definition for the Hyper Text Markup Language as used by the World Wide Web application|url=http://lost-contact.mit.edu/afs/cern.ch/w3.org/www/MarkUp/Connolly/921125/archive.sh#html.dtd|publisher=CERN|access-date=24 October 2010|author-link=Dan Connolly (computer scientist)|date=24 November 1992|archive-date=18 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118155040/http://lost-contact.mit.edu/afs/cern.ch/w3.org/www/MarkUp/Connolly/921125/archive.sh#html.dtd|url-status=dead}} See section "Revision History"</ref>
; November 1992 : HTML DTD 1.1 (the first with a version number, based on RCS revisions, which start with 1.1 rather than 1.0), an informal draft<ref name="html11" />
; June 1993 : Hypertext Markup Language<ref>{{cite web|last1=Berners-Lee|first1=Tim|title=Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) Internet-Draft version 1.1|url=http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-ietf-iiir-html-00|publisher=IETF IIIR Working Group|access-date=18 September 2010|author-link=Tim Berners-Lee|first2=Daniel|last2=Connolly|author-link2=Dan Connolly (computer scientist)|date=June 1993}}</ref> was published by the [[Internet Engineering Task Force|IETF]] IIIR Working Group as an Internet Draft (a rough proposal for a standard). It was replaced by a second version<ref name="ietfiiir">{{cite web|last1=Berners-Lee|first1=Tim|title=Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) Internet-Draft version 1.2|url=https://www.w3.org/MarkUp/draft-ietf-iiir-html-01.txt|publisher=IETF IIIR Working Group|access-date=18 September 2010|author-link=Tim Berners-Lee|first2=Daniel|last2=Connolly|author-link2=Dan Connolly (computer scientist)|date=June 1993}}</ref> one month later.
; November 1993: [https://www.w3.org/MarkUp/HTMLPlus/htmlplus_1.html HTML+] was published by the IETF as an Internet Draft and was a competing proposal to the Hypertext Markup Language draft. It expired in July 1994.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-raggett-www-html/history/|title=History for draft-raggett-www-html-00|website=IETF Datatracker|access-date=2019-11-18|date=1993-11-08|last1=Raggett|first1=Dave}}</ref><!-- Forms and input tags introduced -->
; November 1994: First draft (revision 00) of HTML 2.0 published by IETF itself<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Berners-Lee|first1=Tim|title=HyperText Markup Language Specification – 2.0 INTERNET DRAFT|url=http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-ietf-html-spec-00|website=Internet Engineering Task Force |access-date=24 October 2010|author-link=Tim Berners-Lee|first2=Daniel|last2=Connolly|author-link2=Dan Connolly (computer scientist)|date=28 November 1994}}</ref> (called as "HTML 2.0" from revision 02<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-ietf-html-spec-02#section-1.1|title=Hypertext Markup Language – 2.0|last=Connolly |first=Daniel W.|website=tools.ietf.org|language=en|access-date=2019-11-18|date=1995-05-16}}</ref>), that finally led to the publication of {{IETF RFC|1866}} in November 1995.{{Ref RFC|1866}}
; April 1995 (authored March 1995) : HTML 3.0<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.w3.org/MarkUp/html3/|title=HTML 3.0 Draft (Expired!) Materials|publisher=World Wide Web Consortium|date=December 21, 1995|access-date=November 16, 2008}}</ref> was proposed as a standard to the IETF, but the proposal expired five months later (28 September 1995)<ref name=html30cover /> without further action. It included many of the capabilities that were in Raggett's HTML+ proposal, such as support for tables, text flow around figures, and the display of complex mathematical formulas.<ref name=html30cover>{{cite web|url=https://www.w3.org/MarkUp/html3/CoverPage|title=HyperText Markup Language Specification Version 3.0|access-date=June 16, 2007}}</ref>
; : W3C began development of its own [[Arena (web browser)|Arena browser]] as a [[test bed]] for HTML 3 and Cascading Style Sheets,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.w3.org/People/Raggett/html3/html3.txt|title=HyperText Markup Language Specification Version 3.0|last=Raggett|first=Dave|date=28 March 1995|website=HTML 3.0 Internet Draft Expires in six months|publisher=[[World Wide Web Consortium]]|access-date=17 June 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Bowers |first1=N. |chapter=Weblint: just another perl hack |chapter-url=https://www.usenix.org/publications/library/proceedings/usenix98/freenix/bowers.pdf |title=1998 USENIX Annual Technical Conference (USENIX ATC 98) |date=1998 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author-link=Håkon Wium Lie|first1=Håkon Wium|last1=Lie|last2=Bos|first2=Bert|author-link2=Bert Bos|title=Cascading style sheets: designing for the Web|url=https://archive.org/details/cascadingstylesh00lieh|url-access=registration|access-date=9 June 2010|date=April 1997|publisher=Addison Wesley Longman|page=[https://archive.org/details/cascadingstylesh00lieh/page/263 263]|isbn=978-0-201-41998-6}}</ref> but HTML 3.0 did not succeed for several reasons. The draft was considered very large at 150 pages and the pace of browser development, as well as the number of interested parties, had outstripped the resources of the IETF.<ref name="raggett" /> Browser vendors, including Microsoft and Netscape at the time, chose to implement different subsets of HTML 3's draft features as well as to introduce their own extensions to it.<ref name="raggett" /> (See [[browser wars]].) These included extensions to control stylistic aspects of documents, contrary to the "belief [of the academic engineering community] that such things as text color, background texture, font size, and font face were definitely outside the scope of a language when their only intent was to specify how a document would be organized."<ref name="raggett" /> Dave Raggett, who has been a W3C Fellow for many years, has commented for example: "To a certain extent, Microsoft built its business on the Web by extending HTML features."<ref name="raggett" />
[[File:HTML5-logo.svg|thumb|right|upright|alt=Official HTML5 logo|Logo of HTML5]]
; January 2008 : [[HTML5]] was published as a [[World Wide Web Consortium#Certification|Working Draft]] by the W3C.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.w3.org/TR/html5/|title=HTML5|publisher=World Wide Web Consortium|date=June 10, 2008|access-date=November 16, 2008}}</ref>
; : Although its syntax closely resembles that of [[SGML]], [[HTML5]] has abandoned any attempt to be an SGML application and has explicitly defined its own "html" serialization, in addition to an alternative XML-based XHTML5 serialization.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.w3.org/blog/2008/01/html5-is-html-and-xml/|title=HTML5, one vocabulary, two serializations|date=15 January 2008 |access-date=February 25, 2009}}</ref>
; 2011&nbsp;HTML5 – Last Call :
; : On 14 February 2011, the W3C extended the charter of its HTML Working Group with clear milestones for HTML5. In May 2011, the working group advanced HTML5 to "Last Call", an invitation to communities inside and outside W3C to confirm the technical soundness of the specification. The W3C developed a comprehensive test suite to achieve broad interoperability for the full specification by 2014, which was the target date for recommendation.<ref name="w3c2014">{{cite web|url=https://www.w3.org/2011/02/htmlwg-pr.html|title=W3C Confirms May 2011 for HTML5 Last Call, Targets 2014 for HTML5 Standard|publisher=[[World Wide Web Consortium]]|access-date=18 February 2011|date=14 February 2011}}</ref> In January 2011, the WHATWG renamed its "HTML5" living standard to "HTML". The W3C nevertheless continued its project to release HTML5.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blog.whatwg.org/html-is-the-new-html5|title=HTML Is the New HTML5|author=Hickson, Ian |website=The WHATWG Blog |date=January 19, 2011 |access-date=21 January 2011|archive-date=6 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191006023430/https://blog.whatwg.org/html-is-the-new-html5}}</ref>
; 2012&nbsp;HTML5 – Candidate Recommendation :
; : In July 2012, WHATWG and [[W3C]] decided on a degree of separation. W3C will continue the HTML5 specification work, focusing on a single definitive standard, which is considered a "snapshot" by WHATWG. The WHATWG organization will continue its work with HTML5 as a "Living Standard". The concept of a living standard is that it is never complete and is always being updated and improved. New features can be added but functionality will not be removed.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.netmagazine.com/news/html5-gets-splits-122102|title=HTML5 gets the splits|publisher=Net magazine |first1=Craig |last1=Grannell |date=July 23, 2012 |access-date=23 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120725214739/http://www.netmagazine.com/news/html5-gets-splits-122102 |url-status=dead |archive-date=Jul 25, 2012 }}</ref>
; :In December 2012, W3C designated HTML5 as a Candidate Recommendation.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.w3.org/TR/2012/CR-html5-20121217/|title=HTML5|publisher=W3C|date=2012-12-17|access-date=2013-06-15}}</ref> The criterion for advancement to [[W3C recommendation#W3C recommendation (REC)|W3C Recommendation]] is "two 100% complete and fully interoperable implementations".<ref name="W3Crec">{{cite web|url=http://wiki.whatwg.org/wiki/FAQ#What.27s_this_I_hear_about_2022.3F|title=When Will HTML5 Be Finished?|website=FAQ|publisher=WHAT Working Group|access-date=29 November 2009}}</ref>
; 2014&nbsp;HTML5 – Proposed Recommendation and Recommendation :
; : In September 2014, W3C moved HTML5 to Proposed Recommendation.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.w3.org/blog/news/archives/4074|title=Call for Review: HTML5 Proposed Recommendation Published W3C News|publisher=W3C|date=2014-09-16|access-date=2014-09-27}}</ref>
; : On 28 October 2014, HTML5 was released as a stable W3C Recommendation,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.w3.org/2014/10/html5-rec.html.en|title=Open Web Platform Milestone Achieved with HTML5 Recommendation|publisher=W3C|date=28 October 2014|access-date=29 October 2014}}</ref> meaning the specification process is complete.<ref name=finalars>{{cite web|url=https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/10/html5-specification-finalized-squabbling-over-who-writes-the-specs-continues/|title=HTML5 specification finalized, squabbling over specs continues|website=Ars Technica|date=2014-10-29|access-date=2014-10-29}}</ref>

==== XHTML versions ====
{{Main|XHTML}}
XHTML is a separate language that began as a reformulation of HTML 4.01 using [[XML]] 1.0. It is now referred to as ''the XML syntax for HTML'' and is no longer being developed as a separate standard.<ref>{{cite web |title=HTML vs XML syntax |url=https://html.spec.whatwg.org/multipage/introduction.html#html-vs-xhtml |publisher=WHATWG |access-date=22 March 2023}}</ref>
* XHTML 1.0 was published as a W3C Recommendation on January 26, 2000,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/|title=XHTML 1.0: The Extensible HyperText Markup Language (Second Edition)|publisher=World Wide Web Consortium|date=January 26, 2000|access-date=November 16, 2008}}</ref> and was later revised and republished on August 1, 2002. It offers the same three variations as HTML 4.0 and 4.01, reformulated in XML, with minor restrictions.
* XHTML 1.1<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml11/|title=XHTML 1.1 – Module-based XHTML&nbsp;— Second Edition|publisher=World Wide Web Consortium|date=February 16, 2007|access-date=November 16, 2008}}</ref> was published as a W3C Recommendation on May 31, 2001. It is based on XHTML 1.0 Strict, but includes minor changes, can be customized, and is reformulated using modules in the W3C recommendation "Modularization of XHTML", which was published on April 10, 2001.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.w3.org/TR/2001/REC-xhtml-modularization-20010410/|title=Modularization of XHTML|website=W3C|access-date=2017-01-04}}</ref>
* XHTML 2.0 was a working draft. Work on it was abandoned in 2009 in favor of work on [[HTML5]] and [[XHTML#XHTML5|XHTML5]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml2/|title=XHTM 2.0|publisher=World Wide Web Consortium|date=July 26, 2006|access-date=November 16, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.w3.org/News/2009#item119|title=XHTML 2 Working Group Expected to Stop Work End of 2009, W3C to Increase Resources on HTML5|publisher=World Wide Web Consortium|date=July 17, 2009|access-date=November 16, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=W3C XHTML FAQ|url=https://www.w3.org/2009/06/xhtml-faq.html}}</ref> XHTML 2.0 was incompatible with XHTML 1.x and, therefore, would be more accurately characterized as an XHTML-inspired new language than an update to XHTML 1.x.

=== Transition of HTML publication to WHATWG ===
{{See also|HTML5#W3C and WHATWG conflict}}
On 28 May 2019, the W3C announced that WHATWG would be the sole publisher of the HTML and DOM standards.<ref name="W3C transfer blog">{{cite web|url=https://www.w3.org/blog/2019/05/w3c-and-whatwg-to-work-together-to-advance-the-open-web-platform/|title=W3C and WHATWG to Work Together to Advance the Open Web Platform|last1=Jaffe|first1=Jeff|date=28 May 2019|website=W3C Blog|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190529021122/https://www.w3.org/blog/2019/05/w3c-and-whatwg-to-work-together-to-advance-the-open-web-platform/|archive-date=29 May 2019|url-status=live|access-date=29 May 2019}}</ref><ref name="W3C transfer HTML">{{cite web|url=https://www.w3.org/html/|title=W3C and the WHATWG Signed an Agreement to Collaborate on a Single Version of HTML and DOM|date=28 May 2019|website=W3C|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190529012655/https://www.w3.org/html/|archive-date=29 May 2019|url-status=live|access-date=29 May 2019}}</ref><ref name="W3C transfer memo">{{cite web|url=https://www.w3.org/2019/04/WHATWG-W3C-MOU.html|title=Memorandum of Understanding Between W3C and WHATWG|date=28 May 2019|website=W3C|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190529012854/https://www.w3.org/2019/04/WHATWG-W3C-MOU.html|archive-date=29 May 2019|url-status=live|access-date=29 May 2019}}</ref><ref name="W3C transfer ZDNet">{{cite news |last1=Cimpanu |first1=Catalin |title=Browser vendors Win War with W3C over HTML and DOM standards |url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/browser-vendors-win-war-with-w3c-over-html-and-dom-standards/ |access-date=29 May 2019 |work=ZDNet |date=29 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190529021959/https://www.zdnet.com/article/browser-vendors-win-war-with-w3c-over-html-and-dom-standards/ |archive-date=29 May 2019}}</ref> The W3C and WHATWG had been publishing competing standards since 2012. While the W3C standard was identical to the WHATWG in 2007 the standards have since progressively diverged due to different design decisions.<ref name="W3C forks">{{cite web |title=W3C – WHATWG Wiki |url=https://wiki.whatwg.org/wiki/W3C |website=WHATWG Wiki |access-date=29 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190529013834/https://wiki.whatwg.org/wiki/W3C |archive-date=29 May 2019}}</ref> The WHATWG "Living Standard" had been the ''de facto'' web standard for some time.<ref>{{cite web
|url=https://www.cnet.com/news/an-epitaph-for-the-web-standard-xhtml-2/
|title=An epitaph for the Web standard, XHTML 2
|first=Stephen |last=Shankland
|work=CNET
|date=July 9, 2009
|publisher=CBS INTERACTIVE INC
}}</ref>