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 | So, you want to make a Web Page! Lesson 24 |
If you've ever looked at a busy city street... cars
flying this way and that... people walking around and crossing those
streets... it's almost a wonder that they all don't just crash into each
other. The reason they don't (or don't very often) is because of
standards... otherwise known as traffic laws.
Well, HTML is much the same way. Over the years,
standards have developed that, while not "laws", are guidelines for HTML
structure and well formed web pages so that things work as expected.
The current HTML standard (or specification) is HTML 4.01. There are three variations of this standard...
- HTML 4.01 Transitional
- HTML 4.01 Frameset
- HTML 4.01 Strict
The flavor of HTML that we have been learning here is HTML 4.01 Transitional.
It's a less strict HTML specification that allows more traditional
markup. Not to mention it's a whole lot easier for beginners to learn. 
HTML 4.01 Frameset is the specification that deals with framed pages. We'll get into that in Frames Tutor.
HTML 4.01 Strict seeks to completely separate
presentational markup (colors, fonts, borders, alignment, etc.) from
structural markup (paragraphs, lists, line breaks, tables, etc). This is
accomplished using somewhat limited and rigid HTML markup for the
document structure, and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) for presentational items.
Ok Joe, that's all well and good, but what does that have to do with the HTML I'm learning today?
Good question. It's a perfect introduction to learning about Document Type Declarations and Validation.
Here's a simple HTML document...
<html> <head> <title>My big ole bad page!</title> </head> <body> Hello Joe! </body> </html>
Now add a DocType declaration at the very top...
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd">
<html>
<head>
<title>My big ole bad page!</title>
</head>
<body>
Hello Joe!
</body>
</html>
This is the Document Type declaration for HTML 4.01 Transitional. It has two purposes.
One, to tell web browsers or other "user agents"
which specification the document is using. (That said, for nearly all
normal web browsing, browsers can easily do without it and process your
HTML in a perfectly proper manner.)
And two, more importantly, it helps with validation.
A HTML validator is nothing more than a
software program that scans your HTML markup looking for errors. In
order to work properly, you must first tell the validator which
specification you wish to conform to. In our document above, we are
telling the validator to check our document against the HTML 4.01
Transitional specification.
The next thing you need is a validator. The most popular validator can be found at web site of the World Wide Web Consortium... the folks that write the specifications.
To validate your HTML, first open validator.w3.org
in another browser window. You'll find three options for input. Find
the section labeled "Validate by Direct Input". Now copy the HTML code
above into that box and click the Check button. The result should be
valid HTML 4.01 Transitional.
Now, let's play a little. We'll deliberately create an error in the HTML document. We'll wrap "Hello Joe!" in two closing bold tags...
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"> <html> <head> <title>My big ole bad page!</title> </head> <body> </b>Hello Joe!</b> </body> </html>
Now copy and paste this altered HTML doc into the
validator and check it. You'll note it tells us that there are errors.
You can see how such validation can be quite useful.
I suppose I should be very clear here...
a validator ONLY checks for structurally correct HTML and proper
attributes against a particular specification. It doesn't check for
broken links, it doesn't assure that your page will look good at all
resolutions, it doesn't make sure your images can be found and it
doesn't make sure that you don't use dark blue text on a black
background. Think of a validator as an inspector that certifies your
automobile has 4 wheels and doors that open, but has no control over how
you drive...
