Your web pages will have a chance of rendering properly on everyone's browser if you validate your HTML. Internet Explorer (the majority of your traffic) accepts invalid or HTML and still shows your page just fine. Netscape, Mozilla, Firefox/Firebird, Opera, and Safari really require valid HTML for proper operation. Your page will display incorrectly, and it may be unreadable.

»validator.w3.org/ is the standard HTML validator. You can give it HTML or XHTML source or have it read your pages directly from your web site. It's an invaluable tool.

You can link to it from your page like this:
When you click on the Valid HTML link the validator will run on the referer, in this case your page.

If you see lots of errors on your page, try fixing them one at a time, starting with the first one reported. Most of the time a syntax error one place will look like two (or more) errors.

You must have a DOCTYPE as the first non blank line on each page in order to have valid HTML/XHTML. If you are just starting out, and you aren't sure what DOCTYPE to use, try using HTML 4.01 Transitional, the DOCTYPE sure to be standards compliant, yet allowing for the widest interpretation of the rules.

Once your pages are valid HTML/XHTML, they have a great chance of being seen by everyone visiting your site.

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by big greg
last modified: 2004-06-07 08:12:36