Microformats

Microformats allow for software to easily identify information such as contacts and events through the use of HTML classes and attributes. Microformats maximize the portability of data so that both humans and computers can access and manipulate it efficiently. Common examples of this portability include adding a contact to an address book or adding an event to a calendar. With microformats, these actions can be carried out with as little as a single click. Popular microformats include hCard, hCalendar and hReview.

Fast Facts

1. Emerged as a grassroots movement
2. Firefox 3 and Internet Explorer 9 expected to support Microformats
3. Abbreviated as μF or uF
4. Uses no new markup language
5. Designed with human semantic behavior in mind

Microformats on Mahalo

During April 2008's SMX Conference in Long Beach, California, Mahalo CEO Jason Calacanis announced his company's push to integrate Microformats into its Web pages. The first phase of this push would feature the inclusion of contact information for hotels and restaurants on travel-related pages; this push will use hCard format.

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