html_validation_tips.html, last updated: Saturday 28th March 2015, 11:11 PT, AD
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HELPFUL HINT #1:
Use the Firefox browser.
If you use Internet Explorer,
you will not be able to use the HTML templates (see below).
You have been warned.
HELPFUL HINT #2:
Use the resource HTML 5 template (or XHTML version 1.0 Strict template)
as a starting point for your web pages.
These templates have already been validated with no errors!
Add a few lines of HTML (or XHTML) code at a time
before saving the file and then validating the file.
Add HTML code and validate little and often.
Please note:
the W3C Markup Validation service offers three methods to validate
your HTML (and XHTML) files:
by URI (URL),
by File Upload,
and by Direct Input.
Use the URI method if the file to be validated is on the Internet.
The File Upload method will not work for some versions of some browsers,
so the safest method of validating a file on your hard drive
is to copy and paste the entire HTML/XHTML text
into the text box of the Direct Input method, then scroll down and click on the Check button.
HELPFUL HINT #3
Use the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Markup Validation Service
to check the markup code of all of your HTML (or XHTML) files.
Please note that at the time of writing, this message appears
on the validation service page:
"Note: file upload may not work with Internet Explorer
on some versions of Windows XP"
HELPFUL HINT #4:
When you use the above validation services
to check the validity of your HTML code,
you will see a list of error messages
if your HTML is not fully correct.
Correct the first listed error first,
then re-save and then re-validate the html file.
This may fix all the errors.
This is because sometimes just one error in an HTML file
creates more errors later on.
The trick is to fix the first error, save the file,
and then submit it again to the validation service.
Just work on the first error each time
until all errors are dealt with.
