W3C won't validate FP code

[Jo]

I get dozens of errors on my site, all from the code generated by FP2003,
despite all my pages set to use XML formatting rules. It does that in the
code I have created in my pages, but when it compiles the final files, I get
validation errors in what looks like the shared borders, navigation bars and
other code that I have no control over. This includes tags in uppercase and
tags that don't seem to be recognised (e.g., nobr??). Why on earth would FP
generate bad code when it obviously gives you the option to use XML
formatting? It seems illogical to me. Is there anything I can do about it,
short of not using FP features like themes, shared borders, etc.?

Jo

 

[Mark Fitzpatrick]

Most of those items are comments or things only for FrontPage to bother with
and are ignored by browsers (usually the offending items are commented out).
The <nobr> element is still used not just in FP, but is a proprietary
addition from IE to prevent an area of text from receiving a carriage return
(useful for things like mathematical formulas). XML formatting typically
applies only to the HTML elements and not certain items that don't require
it, such as the code used as placeholders for shared border information.

I wouldn't fret too much over W3C validation. I've yet to see a tool that
creates 100% valid HTML, mainly because no browser will behave 100% like
expected in the rules. A lot of the tricks used to get Netscape based
browsers to play exactly like we want will throw validation exceptions. A
lot of the items that throw errors in FP now must remain the same for
backward compatibility with previous versions of FP (which is a pain). A lot
of the validation errors are simply meta tags, which are supposed to be
flexible since they provide content information about the page being viewed
and there are ton's of meta tags used (not just by FP) out there to help web
authors and content management systems keep track of things.

The HTML validation tools are a great way to prevent eggregious issues, but
if something works for you now and your site behaves like you want it to in
all the major browsers, don't worry too much.

Hope this helps,
Mark Fitzpatrick
Microsoft MVP - FrontPage

 

[Thomas A. Rowe]

Certain feature that you can use will never validate, so if you want your page to validate, then you
can't use those features.

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[Jo]

Thanks Mark. I guess I'll just have to get over it. I was kind of hoping for
the gold star that W3C gives. ;-) Some of the errors seem like stupid
oversights on MS's part, like using all caps for some tags. I hope oversights
like this will be corrected in FP05. The site seems to be working okay in the
major browsers. Thanks for clarifying.

Jo

 

[Jo]

Ya...I was afraid someone was going to say that. LOL Oh well, thanks for
clarifying.

Jo

 

[David Baxter]

Stop worrying about W3C. Just make your pages look good, work on
optimizing the content for your prime search terms, create good page
titles and descriptions, submit to reputable free directories, and work
on getting backlinks to the site. Then put your energies into creating
fresh content to keep feeding the spiders.

You'll do just fine without W3C. Search engines don't give a damn about
W3C. Neither do visitors.