Should I include a <meta generator> tag?

Question

Suppose I have some sort of proprietary web framework. Should I include a <meta generator="My framework"> tag in the generated files?

I noticed that StackExchange 0.9 applications do that, and wondered what are the pros/cons of doing it. Does it have any effect, or is it just useful for people looking at the source to see?

Gautious

Answer 1

I've never seen a tag formatted like that before, with an attribute called generator and the generating software as its value. Usually you'll see it presented as name="generator" and the generating software as its corresponding content, for example:

<meta name="generator" content="WordPress 3.0.1" /> <!-- leave this for stats -->

Previously I was unaware of any standard for this, however it looks like HTML5 has gone ahead and standardized the use of "generator" as a metadata name. It describes it thus:

The value must be a free-form string that identifies one of the software packages used to generate the document. This value must not be used on pages whose markup is not generated by software, e.g. pages whose markup was written by a user in a text editor.

In the past when dynamic web apps weren't that prevalent, certain web site editors, like FrontPage (there, I said it), would automatically insert generator tags when you create new HTML documents or publish sites using them. This was taken to mean "This page was created using FrontPage". I don't think any modern editors or IDEs do this anymore, but I could be wrong. It's definitely commonly used in dynamic web apps today, however.

Thallic

Ah, I remember that. The steps to creating a web page: (1) Create a web page. (2) Delete generator tag. – Gautious

I'd like something a little more concrete than "I don't think". Might it have standard/common use in targeting exploit attacks? In your example: cvedetails.com/vulnerability-list/vendor_id-2337/… – Sundberg

@Pete: Good call - I did a quick search and it looks like there are new leads. I'll update my answer. – Thallic

And can someone celebrate a bit on the benefit of this meta? Thanks! – Patron

Hey, I'd just like to point out that the "generator '''tag''' " is used sometimes in XML like in the tumblr RSS feed url. For example: <generator>Tumblr (3.0; @magpythief)</generator> this is inside <rss> <channel> and <description> tags. For more: magpythief.tumblr.com/rss – Abhorrence

@gordlonious isn't that because rss / xml allows you to create your own markers for your own purposes, whatever they may be. I could make a <i_am_awesome>Phill</i_am_awesome> tag if I wanted, it wouldn't have any relation to similarly named tags/markup elsewhere though. – Cru

this doesn't answer the question. Does it have any effect or is it ok? – Rackrent

@Binu Jasim: As you can see in the WordPress example, the meta tag appears to be read and used by WordPress.com Stats (or some other internal analytics tool from Automattic). So you could consider that an example of it having an effect. I already answered "Is it ok?" by citing the HTML5 spec. – Thallic

Answer 2

A benefit (or a con?) is that you can show up in searches done for generator.

Banquette

Answer 3

This can make a hacker's job bit easier, therefore it would be wise to just keep selective generators instead.

Criseyde

Answer 4

Automatically generated (also called "auto-generated"—content) is content that's been generated programmatically. In cases where it's intended to manipulate search rankings and not help users, Google may take actions on such content. Some example cases include, but are not limited to:

Text that makes no sense to the reader but which may contain search keywords. Text translated by an automated tool without human review or curation before publishing. Text generated through automated processes, such as Markov chains. Text generated using automated synonymizing or obfuscation techniques. Text generated from scraping Atom/RSS feeds or search results. Stitching or combining content from different web pages without adding sufficient value. form google...

Embalm

While your answer contains some potentially useful information, it does not relate to the question asked. – Marx