An HTML boilerplate is the minimum valid document you duplicate for every new page. In 2026 that is <!DOCTYPE html>, lang, UTF-8 charset, viewport, a unique title, and landmark regions. Skip old resets that pull in unused libraries.
This HTML cheat sheet is written for people searching for a fast, accurate reference: students, junior developers, and teams shipping production software. Pin it, copy the snippets, and come back when syntax slips.
Quick reference
- Doctype: First line:
<!DOCTYPE html>. - Lang:
html lang="en"(or the real language). Affects AT, hyphenation, and translation. - Charset: First in
headso the parser does not guess. - Viewport: Without it, CSS pixels do not match the phone width.
- Title: Required, unique, human-readable. Not “Untitled” or the company name alone.
- CSS: One stylesheet in
head. Avoid @import chains that block render. - JS: Put scripts with
deferor at the end ofbody.type="module"is deferred by default. - Favicon:
<link rel="icon" href="/favicon.ico">plus an SVG icon if you have one.
Copy-paste examples
Starter document
Duplicate this, then change title and main heading per page.
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
<title>Page title</title>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="/assets/app.css">
<script src="/assets/app.js" defer></script>
</head>
<body>
<header><a href="/">Home</a></header>
<main>
<h1>Page title</h1>
</main>
<footer></footer>
</body>
</html>Common mistakes
- Copying a 2012 boilerplate with jQuery, Modernizr, and IE conditionals you do not need.
- Missing
langso screen readers guess the wrong voice. - Inline scripts in
headwithoutdeferthat block first paint. - Same
<title>on every view in a PHP app.
FAQ
- Do I need an HTML5 shiv? Not for current evergreen browsers. Drop IE8-era polyfills unless you still have a documented IE requirement.
- Where does the CSS reset go? At the top of your stylesheet, not as a second blocking file if you can avoid it.
- Is a boilerplate the same as a framework? No. A boilerplate is markup. Frameworks add CSS/JS conventions on top.
Related HTML cheat sheets
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