Presentational

Presentational is an adjective meaning related to presenting or displaying something to an audience. It is used across fields such as media, design, linguistics, and performance to describe aspects that concern appearance, display, or presentation rather than substance or content.

In web development, presentational describes markup or styling that communicates appearance rather than meaning. Examples include font, color, and alignment instructions embedded in markup. Modern practice favors semantic markup for content and CSS for styling, with many presentational HTML elements and attributes deprecated to improve accessibility and maintainability.

In theatre studies, presentational theatre directly addresses the audience and emphasizes stagecraft, as opposed to representational theatre that presents a more naturalistic world without overt address. Presentational techniques include breaking the fourth wall, direct commentary, or visible stage devices that acknowledge the viewer’s presence.

In linguistics, presentational describes constructions that introduce information to the listener, such as existential there constructions like "There is a problem." These forms present new information rather than depicting an existing situation. The term also appears in reference to presentational verbs that denote the act of presenting.

In information design and software, presentational can refer to elements focused on display rather than content structure, such as a presentational layer or presentational user interface patterns. The emphasis is on how information is shown rather than what the information means.

Overall, presentational is a broad, field-dependent term used to categorize aspects concerned with presentation, appearance, or the act of presenting, rather than intrinsic content or meaning.