Why should I validate my site?
By Ikki on Apr 21, 2008 in Web Development
Hi people,
Why should I validate my site? You’d be amazed if you knew how many times I’ve read that question in every webmaster forum I have attended for the last 2 years. I’ve also asked that question to myself before so I’m not very surprised to find people with the same doubts. No one teaches you about the importance of having your sites validated.
What is Validation?
Maybe I should explain this a little bit. Validation is the process of checking your html codes against a formal standard (like the one published by the W3C). It’s objective is to check the grammar and syntax of your html markup in order wheter it is valid or not.
That’s fine but why should I care about that anyway?
Most web browsers have an integrated error-correction system. It’s purpose is to correct any errors it finds while rendering your pages so they can display properly… or at least that’s what they try to do.
This error-correction process (a.k.a quirks mode) varies greatly accross different web browsers. While your site appears to display properly on Firefox, on Internet Explorer is a different story (and viceversa).
My sites look perfect on all the best-known web browsers, do I still need to validate my markup?
Yes. There’s a known term that fits perfectly here: WYSINWOG - What You See Is Not What Others Get. While most browsers will display your site in a very similar way on, let’s say, Windows, they often differ a lot on other OSs (like Mac OS). You should also consider that not everyone is using the same version of your browsers on their computers so you can’t rely on that.
OK. You got me. Where can I start validating my markup?
Well, there are many markup validation tools out there that might help you. However, I consider the W3C as the authority here and a respectable member of the web so you should use them as your guide. They have a great markup validation online tool that will point out every single error (if any) so you can have them fixed.
Good luck!
P.S.: oh, and before I forget: if you liked my post please don’t forget to Digg it 
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Really good article and answer really important questions … its really good to know I’m not the only one asking these questions like
“My sites look perfect on all the best-known web browsers, do I still need to validate my markup?”
Sabeur-Wunir | Apr 21, 2008 | Reply
@Sabeur-Wunir: Hi! Yeah, most webmasters don’t know how important is to validate your markup. Neither did I once. That’s why I decided to post about it, maybe I’ll help others to learn about markup validation
Ikki | Apr 21, 2008 | Reply
Thank you. I checked my blog and was warned. It was beneficial to discover the prior unseen mistakes.
However, how can I correct them? I have no access to any codes- I use a free WordPress.com account.
Tomas | Apr 29, 2008 | Reply
@Tomas: To be honest I don’t know how Wordpress.com blogs work. Can you edit your theme’s files (stylesheet, html, etc)? If so then you can correct the errors shown by W3 validator, otherwise there’s not much that you can do.
Ikki | Apr 29, 2008 | Reply
thanks. i never know what forvalidation using for but thanks for your nice article
Locjan | Jul 1, 2008 | Reply
Validating a theme, even though it looks in top-notch is always a good practice. You should follow it, if you’re a developer because it will help you in the long run
Swastik | Jul 24, 2008 | Reply