Forum

[rlunatunes]

I was just wondering if using an html validator was a good idea for checking
your html code.

Thanks,
Randy

 

[sean06]

I've never used one ever, so I can't really help, except to say it's not actually necessary.

 

[rlunatunes]

Hi Sean,
I use Xsite Pro which I like very much. I noticed in the code though
that it adds unnecessary stuff. Especially when I add scripts. I dont
know much code but know enough to know there's some stuff in there
that doesnt need to be there..lol I thought a validator might clean it
up for me.

Randy

 

[sean06]

hey it might, I'm not a coding expert and I don't know how excess coding will affect your SE rankings, could be worth a look.

 

[rlunatunes]

Do you use Dream Weaver Sean?

Randy

 

[sean06]

Yep

 

[markling]

Validating your html is not REALLY necessary. It just means that you've written the HTML for the site to be "correct" based on the type of HTML that you've said that you're writing.

At the top of your page you're meant to have a "doctype declaration" which says whether you're using old-style "HTML 4.0 transitional" (with lots of nasty presentational tags like <center> and <font size=2 color=red> etc) or whether you've decided to try to use a more strict (better) version of (X)HTML.

But really... all it means is that your site is "correct". You can often use a validator to help you see problems with your code (that may or may not affect your sites ability to be crawled and indexed) but depending on what doctype you're using, there are so many things that can invalidate your page, that often its not all that possible to get a completely valid page. And spending time honing your site for validation perfection is not really time well spent, in my books.

Not many of my pages validate :)

Just my two cents. If you can do it -- great! Just don't panic if you can't.

Mark