HTML <nav> data-* Attribute

HTML <meter>

HTML <noscript>

A data-* attribute on a <nav> tag attaches additional data to the navigation element.

To create a custom attribute, replace * with a lowercase string, such as data-id, data-status, or data-location.

Example

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A custom data-navigation-type attribute on a <nav> element.
The attribute value is not visible, but it is readable by JavaScript.

<nav data-navigation-type="website main navigation">
  <a href="javascript:alert('Going to Introduction')">Introduction</a> <br />
  <a href="javascript:alert('Going to What Is HTML')">What is HTML</a>  <br />
  <a href="javascript:alert('Going to HTML Syntax')">HTML Syntax</a>  <br />
  <a href="javascript:alert('Going to HTML Elements')">HTML Elements</a>
</nav>

Using data-*

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The data-* attribute adds custom information to a <nav> element.

The * part is replaced with a lowercase string, such as data-id, data-cost, or data-location.

An <nav> element can have any number of data-* attributes, each with their own name.

Using data-* attributes reduces the need for requests to the server.

Note: The data-* attribute is not visible and does not change the appearance of the nav.

Syntax

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<nav data-*="value">

Note: The * can be any string, such as data-id, data-cost, data-supplier, etc.

Values

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Value	Description
value	A string value. Can be numeric, alphanumeric, JSON, etc.

More Examples

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A custom data-nav-type attribute on a <nav> tag.
Clicking the button will display the navigation type value.

<nav id="mynav" data-nav-type="Main navigation">
  <a href="javascript:alert('Going to Introduction')">Introduction</a> <br />
  <a href="javascript:alert('Going to What Is HTML')">What is HTML</a>  <br />
  <a href="javascript:alert('Going to HTML Syntax')">HTML Syntax</a>  <br />
  <a href="javascript:alert('Going to HTML Elements')">HTML Elements</a>
</nav>

<br/>
<button onclick="show();">Show data</button>

<script>
  let show = () => {
    let element = document.getElementById("mynav");
    alert("Navigation type = " + element.getAttribute('data-nav-type'));
  }
</script>

Code explanation

The <nav> tag has a custom data-navigation-type attribute.

The data-navigation-type attribute stores the type or purpose of the navigation.

Clicks are handled by the onclick event.

Onclick invokes a JavaScript function that extracts and displays the <nav> type.

Note: Notice how the type displays immediately without server call.

Browser support

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Here is when data-* support started for each browser: