Does anybody have a site that validates properly??

[holarick]

I'm just wondering if anyone here has a site that validates according to W3C standards? It doesn't seem to be a popular topic of discussion around here, which is surprising for a group of webmasters. I've also ran checks on several of the sites posted, and not one has validated properly. I know it's easy to get caught up in the design and aesthetics, but what about complying to web standards? Thoughts?

If you do have a site that validates, please post the link.

Check your markup here: http://validator.w3.org/

Check your CSS here: http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/validator-uri.html

[Thanol]

It's such a pain to try to get pages to vaildate, as long as Mozilla renders the page the way i wanted it to it's close enough to being vaild for me.

[holarick]

Originally Posted by Thanol

It's such a pain to try to get pages to vaildate, as long as Mozilla renders the page the way i wanted it to it's close enough to being vaild for me.

Yeah, I hear that. What do you code with?

[Thanol]

I code by hand. Usually I just copy and paste peices of code from my older websites to make a new one.

[Brian]

xHTML 1.1 and CSS2 for me. (although not done on BPH, since I have better things to worry about at the moment ).

[LazyJim]

Ah I have a new friend here!

I noticed the lack of talk about standards and validation.

The W3C estimate 99% of all web pages are invalid.

The reality is, you do scarafice i little bit of functionality if you only have valid code - most obvious is that new web standard methods to recreate aesthetic effects don't work in old browsers; while you can have good looking designs implimented with standards code that degrades gracefully, degradation might not be wanted if a signifacnt part of your user base use old browsers.

In other words, I find myself adding non-valid attributes to helf the aesthetics work in old, and sometimes not so old, browsers. NN4 is probably the biggest problem.

I think the best reason to give your friends to use valid code, is future proofing. For example, coding in XHTML, means that all your pages will be compatible with future viewing applications (including hand-held browsers, mobiles, text-readers, braille printers, and future releases of desktop web browsers).

Another future proofing aspect is maintainance. - You and others will have a much easier time (and shorter time) updating editing and working with the valid documents you create.

I think we need to gather resources on why we should use web standards and valid code, and how to do so. Then we should collate the information into an artical for the rest of the site users.

[LazyJim]

p.s. I promise to make my next site valid and will post it here!

[Pretend]

It keeps saying that there is no bordercolor attribute and that's the only thing that's wrong.

[holarick]

@Thanol: I don't think I could hand code a valid XHTML document either.

@Brian: Very excellent. Which site of yours is that? Could you post the link?

@LJ: I agree with you 100%. The hurdle is rethinking how we code in order to achieve similar results. Did you see the articles I posted in the Cross Browser Compatibility thread? I think you'll enjoy the one about coding for Netscape.

http://www.internet-marketing-resear...opic.php?t=244

[Thanol]

You have to use CSS to make a border color OR

make 2 tables and make one the color of the border add 1 pixel of cellpadding then put in the other table but make it white or whatever you want and voila it looks exactly like you changed the border color.

Example:
[code:1:b4ed5ec2c9]
<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="1" width="100%" bgcolor="#000000" align="center">
<tr valign="top"><td width="100%">
<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="1" width="100%" bgcolor="#ffffff" align="center">
<tr valign="top">
<td>
Hello
</td></tr>
</table>
</td></tr>
</table>
[/code:1:b4ed5ec2c9]

[Pretend]

How would I use CSS, it sounds simpler.

[holarick]

Originally Posted by Sesshoumaru-Sama

It keeps saying that there is no bordercolor attribute and that's the only thing that's wrong.

Why don't you post the implicated line(s) of code, and exactly what the W3C output says.

[holarick]

Originally Posted by Sesshoumaru-Sama

How would I use CSS, it sounds simpler.

Just point the validator to your CSS file.

[Pretend]

Line 15, column 30: there is no attribute "BORDERCOLOR" (explain...).
<table border="0" bordercolor="#878787" width="770" cellspacing="6" cellpadding=

That's it...

[Thanol]

Use this code, edit the parts you want to change, and put it into your CSS file or area:

.one { border-color: #335a77; border-style: solid; border-width: 2px; }

Do not edit the parts in RED or else this might not work!

THEN add class="one" to your table tag like so:

<table class="one">

It works in Mozilla so I'm pretty sure it'll vaildate.

[LazyJim]

Using nested tables to create a border effect is naughty!

I think there are two ways to approach web standards:
1) Validate all your code successfully.
2) Conform to the spirit of it.

It's easy to create valid code that is still full of stupid hacks ans rubbish like nested tables. But you'll actually be using tables for non-standard purposes and making your code harder to maintain, as well as making your page larger to download compared to using CSS, and making it less accessible.

The best way is to make your page accessible, and "bobby aproved" if possible, as you will have pages that are easy to use for "less-abled" users, and easier to use for "more-abled" users, and POSSIBLE for blind users and users with text-based browsers to use your sites.

[Pretend]

Um... How do I make the rows and stuff have their dividing lines now? (with CSS)

[Thanol]

Add the other commands that you want into the { }'s and seperate them with semi-colons.

Which site are you talking about it would be so much easier to explain if I knew?

[Pretend]

http://theillest.dwcnetwork.com

You'll notice that I've gotten a few of the changes done. But I want the normal lines between the choices on the sidebars.