@content : The Metadata Content Value Attribute

The content attribute specifies the value for metadata properties in HTML <meta> elements. It works in conjunction with the name, property, or http-equiv attributes to define document metadata that can be embedded in PDF properties or used for documentation purposes.

Usage

The content attribute is used with <meta> elements to:

Provide values for document metadata properties
Set PDF document information (author, subject, keywords)
Define Open Graph protocol values
Specify HTTP header equivalent values
Supply custom metadata values

<head>
    <meta name="author" content="John Smith" />
    <meta name="description" content="Annual financial report for 2024" />
    <meta name="keywords" content="finance, report, annual, 2024" />
    <meta property="og:title" content="Annual Report 2024" />
</head>

Supported Elements

The content attribute is supported by the following element:

Element	Description
`<meta>`	Metadata element for document properties

Usage with Different Meta Types

With `name` Attribute (Standard Metadata)

<meta name="author" content="Jane Doe" />
<meta name="description" content="Product catalog 2024" />
<meta name="keywords" content="products, catalog, shopping" />

These values are embedded in PDF document properties:

author → PDF Author field
description → PDF Subject field
keywords → PDF Keywords field

With `property` Attribute (Open Graph/RDF)

<meta property="og:title" content="Company Annual Report" />
<meta property="og:type" content="document" />
<meta property="og:description" content="Financial summary" />

These values are informational in PDFs (not embedded in standard PDF metadata).

With `http-equiv` Attribute (HTTP Headers)

<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />
<meta http-equiv="Content-Language" content="en-US" />

These values are informational in PDFs (HTTP headers don’t apply to PDF files).

Binding Values

The content attribute fully supports data binding:

Static Content

<meta name="author" content="Corporate Team" />
<meta name="description" content="Annual Report" />

Dynamic Content with Data Binding

<!-- Model: { author: "Jane Smith", reportTitle: "Q4 Report", year: 2024 } -->
<meta name="author" content="" />
<meta name="description" content=" for " />
<meta name="keywords" content="report, , financial" />

Calculated Content

<!-- Model: { firstName: "John", lastName: "Doe", date: "2024-01-15" } -->
<meta name="author" content=" " />
<meta name="generator" content="Report Generator v2.0 - " />

Conditional Content

<!-- Model: { isPublic: false } -->
<meta name="classification"
      content="" />

Notes

PDF Metadata Embedding

When generating PDFs, Scryber embeds certain metadata into the PDF document properties:

Meta Name	PDF Property	Description
`author`	Author	Document creator
`description`	Subject	Document subject/description
`keywords`	Keywords	Searchable keywords
`generator`	Producer	Generating application

These appear in PDF readers under File → Properties → Description.

Content Value Formats

The content attribute accepts various formats:

Format	Example	Use Case
Plain text	`"John Smith"`	Names, titles
Comma-separated	`"PDF, document, report"`	Keywords
Sentences	`"Annual financial report"`	Descriptions
URLs	`"https://example.com"`	Links
Dates	`"2024-01-15"`	Dates (ISO format recommended)
Numbers	`"1.0"`	Versions

Empty Content

An empty content attribute is valid but results in empty metadata:

<!-- Empty author -->
<meta name="author" content="" />

<!-- Equivalent to omitting the meta tag -->

Multiple Values

For properties that support multiple values (like keywords), use comma-separated values:

<meta name="keywords" content="finance, accounting, report, 2024, annual" />

Or use multiple meta tags with the same property:

<meta property="article:tag" content="Finance" />
<meta property="article:tag" content="Accounting" />
<meta property="article:tag" content="Report" />

Examples

Example 1: Basic Document Metadata

<head>
    <title>Annual Report 2024</title>
    <meta charset="UTF-8" />
    <meta name="author" content="Finance Department" />
    <meta name="description" content="Annual financial report for fiscal year 2024" />
    <meta name="keywords" content="annual, report, finance, 2024" />
</head>

Example 2: Comprehensive PDF Metadata

<head>
    <title>Technical Documentation</title>
    <meta charset="UTF-8" />
    <meta name="author" content="Engineering Team" />
    <meta name="description" content="Complete API reference documentation for version 2.0" />
    <meta name="keywords" content="API, documentation, reference, technical, guide" />
    <meta name="generator" content="DocGen 1.5 - Scryber PDF" />
</head>

Example 3: Data-Bound Metadata

<!-- Model: {
    author: "Jane Doe",
    department: "Marketing",
    title: "Product Catalog",
    year: 2024
} -->

<head>
    <title> </title>
    <meta name="author" content="" />
    <meta name="description" content=" created by " />
    <meta name="keywords" content="catalog, products, , " />
    <meta name="generator" content="Catalog Generator - " />
</head>

Example 4: Open Graph Metadata

<head>
    <title>Company Blog Post</title>

    <!-- Standard metadata -->
    <meta name="author" content="John Smith" />
    <meta name="description" content="Latest insights on PDF generation" />

    <!-- Open Graph metadata -->
    <meta property="og:title" content="Mastering PDF Generation with Scryber" />
    <meta property="og:type" content="article" />
    <meta property="og:description" content="Learn advanced techniques for PDF generation" />
    <meta property="og:image" content="https://example.com/article-image.jpg" />
    <meta property="og:url" content="https://example.com/blog/pdf-generation" />
</head>

Example 5: Multi-Author Document

<head>
    <title>Research Paper</title>
    <meta name="author" content="Dr. Jane Smith, Dr. John Doe, Dr. Sarah Johnson" />
    <meta name="description" content="Collaborative research on machine learning applications" />
    <meta name="keywords" content="machine learning, AI, research, collaboration" />
</head>

Example 6: Detailed Keywords

<head>
    <title>Product Specification</title>
    <meta name="author" content="Product Management" />
    <meta name="description" content="Detailed specifications for Model XYZ-2000" />
    <meta name="keywords" content="product, specification, XYZ-2000, technical, features, dimensions, compatibility, performance" />
</head>

Example 7: Localized Content

<head>
    <title>International Report</title>
    <meta charset="UTF-8" />
    <meta name="author" content="Global Team" />
    <meta name="description" content="International sales report - English version" />
    <meta name="keywords" content="international, sales, global, report" />
    <meta http-equiv="Content-Language" content="en-US" />
</head>

Example 8: Version Information

<head>
    <title>Software Documentation v2.1</title>
    <meta name="author" content="Documentation Team" />
    <meta name="description" content="User guide for Software v2.1" />
    <meta name="keywords" content="software, documentation, guide, v2.1" />
    <meta name="generator" content="DocBuilder v3.0" />
    <meta name="version" content="2.1.0" />
</head>

Example 9: Corporate Document

<head>
    <title>Quarterly Business Review</title>
    <meta charset="UTF-8" />
    <meta name="author" content="Executive Team - Acme Corporation" />
    <meta name="description" content="Q4 2024 business review including revenue, expenses, and strategic initiatives" />
    <meta name="keywords" content="quarterly, business review, Q4, 2024, strategy, performance" />
    <meta property="og:title" content="Acme Corp Q4 2024 Business Review" />
    <meta property="og:type" content="document" />
    <meta property="og:description" content="Executive summary of Q4 performance" />
</head>

Example 10: Invoice Metadata

<!-- Model: { invoiceNumber: "INV-2024-001", clientName: "ABC Corp", date: "2024-01-15" } -->

<head>
    <title>Invoice </title>
    <meta name="author" content="Accounting Department" />
    <meta name="description" content="Invoice  for  - " />
    <meta name="keywords" content="invoice, , , billing" />
    <meta property="invoice:number" content="" />
    <meta property="invoice:client" content="" />
    <meta property="invoice:date" content="" />
</head>

Example 11: Academic Paper

<head>
    <title>Climate Change Research Paper</title>
    <meta charset="UTF-8" />
    <meta name="author" content="Dr. Sarah Johnson, Dr. Michael Chen" />
    <meta name="description" content="Research paper on climate change impacts in Arctic ecosystems" />
    <meta name="keywords" content="climate change, Arctic, ecosystems, environmental science, research" />
    <meta property="citation:title" content="Climate Change Impacts on Arctic Ecosystems" />
    <meta property="citation:author" content="Johnson, Sarah" />
    <meta property="citation:author" content="Chen, Michael" />
    <meta property="citation:publication_date" content="2024-01-10" />
</head>

Example 12: Training Manual

<head>
    <title>Employee Training Manual</title>
    <meta name="author" content="Human Resources Department" />
    <meta name="description" content="Comprehensive training manual for new employees covering company policies, procedures, and best practices" />
    <meta name="keywords" content="training, manual, employees, HR, onboarding, policies, procedures" />
    <meta name="generator" content="Training Documentation System v2.0" />
    <meta property="training:level" content="beginner" />
    <meta property="training:duration" content="40 hours" />
</head>

Example 13: Legal Document

<head>
    <title>Service Level Agreement</title>
    <meta name="author" content="Legal Department - Acme Corporation" />
    <meta name="description" content="Service Level Agreement between Acme Corporation and Client Services Ltd, effective January 1, 2024" />
    <meta name="keywords" content="SLA, service level agreement, contract, legal, terms" />
    <meta property="legal:contract-number" content="SLA-2024-045" />
    <meta property="legal:effective-date" content="2024-01-01" />
    <meta property="legal:parties" content="Acme Corporation, Client Services Ltd" />
</head>

Example 14: Conditional Metadata

<!-- Model: { isDraft: true, author: "John Doe", version: "0.9" } -->

<head>
    <title>Project Proposal</title>
    <meta name="author" content="" />
    <meta name="description" content="" />
    <meta name="keywords" content="project, proposal, " />
    <meta name="version" content="" />
    <meta name="status" content="" />
</head>

Example 15: Rich Metadata Collection

<head>
    <title>Comprehensive Document Example</title>
    <meta charset="UTF-8" />

    <!-- Standard HTML metadata -->
    <meta name="author" content="Corporate Documentation Team" />
    <meta name="description" content="Example document showcasing comprehensive metadata usage in PDF generation" />
    <meta name="keywords" content="metadata, PDF, documentation, example, comprehensive" />
    <meta name="generator" content="Scryber PDF Generator v2.0" />

    <!-- HTTP equivalents -->
    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />
    <meta http-equiv="Content-Language" content="en-US" />

    <!-- Open Graph metadata -->
    <meta property="og:title" content="Comprehensive Document Example" />
    <meta property="og:type" content="document" />
    <meta property="og:description" content="Showcase of metadata capabilities" />
    <meta property="og:locale" content="en_US" />

    <!-- Custom application metadata -->
    <meta property="app:document-id" content="DOC-2024-042" />
    <meta property="app:department" content="Documentation" />
    <meta property="app:classification" content="public" />
    <meta property="app:version" content="1.0.0" />
</head>