totse.com | Does Validation (w3c complaince) really matter?

The Leper Messiah · #1 2008-08-15, 23:51

Honestly, does it really matter in the long run? Will the average user even care if your page is validated and in compliance with w3c complaint?

I almost have my website going and I was validating HTML and CSS. I passed CSS, but got 14 HTML errors (see below). They are easy to fix, but that is for tomorrow.

Anyways the errors were all margin related stuff. (I was taught to do things a certain way a long time ago, never knew they were wrong until now.)

What is even more entertaining to me is this.

w3c recommwnded html tidy to "fix" my page. So for shits and giggles I tried it and it pretty much FUBARed my page.

I tested out my page in firefox, IE, mozilla, and Opera. It looks fine in each browser.

So, does w3c compliance matter in the long run?

I have heard rumors it helps out with PageRank. IS this true?

Thanks in advance.

The Leper Messiah · #2 2008-08-16, 00:40

Just so we can get an understanding check out the temple:

http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=ht...Inline&group=0

The Leper Messiah · #3 2008-08-16, 02:16

Did some more research and came along this:

http://blog.naturalhealthperspective...3c-validation/

Quote:

The basic crux of the W3C Validation argument is that all modern webpage coding should comply with the original coding standards. In other words, its basic argument is that all progress is inherently bad. Therefore the basic W3C Validation concept is ludicrous.

W3C Validation is also paired with another ludicrous concept: That all use of tools to automatically generate webpage coding is inherently bad. You will find that promoters of W3C Validation complain vehemently against the use of WYSIWYG HTML editors. According to these purists, the only valid way of writing webpage coding is with a plain text editor. According to them, anybody who cannot knock out HTML coding in notepad don’t know what they are doing. This of course is total nonsense.

He makes some points agree with, but I want answers from the experts here.

Aragami · #4 2008-08-16, 04:27

The average user isn't even going to know what W3C valiadtion is. If the page displays correctly in the browser then I wouldn't even worry about it.

R. Kelly · #5 2008-08-16, 05:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aragami View Post

The average user isn't even going to know what W3C valiadtion is. If the page displays correctly in the browser then I wouldn't even worry about it.

This.

The Leper Messiah · #6 2008-08-17, 02:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aragami View Post

The average user isn't even going to know what W3C valiadtion is. If the page displays correctly in the browser then I wouldn't even worry about it.

Yeah, and like they will care, but my site is business and I can use the validation for "brownie points" as it is meant to serve the community.

I might add I only 14 errors in my html over 10 pages. I was pleased.

Also, should I try to update my site to xml soon as I learn it, or will html cut it? what about xhtml?

When I first learned I only was told to get html, CSS, and JS.

Aragami · #7 2008-08-18, 04:14

What's the site?

As for XML or XHTML, If it's not broken, don't fix it.

The Leper Messiah · #8 2008-08-18, 20:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aragami View Post

What's the site?

As for XML or XHTML, If it's not broken, don't fix it.

Just a site for my local community. And No, i'm not going to post it as it gives my personal info away.

I cleaned up the errors.

I normally don't specify alternate text for my pictures and I was taught to use some margin stuff manually that is apparently incorrect.

Should I learn XML, or try php next? If I wanted to I could just the doctype to XHTML transitional and still get a clean result.

Aragami · #9 2008-08-18, 22:47

Fair enough.

If you want to learn something, learn something that you can use and is interesting to you.

The Leper Messiah · #10 2008-08-19, 03:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aragami View Post

Fair enough.

If you want to learn something, learn something that you can use and is interesting to you.

Well i'm trying to figure out what php is good for, I've also heard of ruby, but I need to research each one and make a decision. Zok helped me when I first started, and I've progressed from not knowing basic HTML, to being functional with JS and making drop down menu's with CSS (still trying to figure out if it would look good on my site, but I'll decide that later.