Advanced 1 - Validating Your Page   Back | Next

Why Validate?

One reason to make your pages validate, is so they will be easier to code for cross-browser compatibility. Although validation does not guarantee cross-browser compatibility, it goes a long way toward making that job easier.

Perhaps equally important, is getting your pages noticed by Google, and other search engines. It has been said that one single invalid line will cause a search engine to ignore your page entirely.

You can certainly help or hurt your search engine visibility by the way you code your pages. The World Wide Web Consortium (w3 for short) sets the standards for what browsers are supposed to do with html code. So if you're interested in having search engines, such as Google, find your page once you make it public, you need to learn about validating your code.

How do I validate my page?

To see if the page you have created will validate, click on the link on the last page of this tuturial that goes to the validator.w3.org, and give it a try. The link will take you to the w3 validation service page. To validate your page, scroll down to where it says to enter the name of the local file (on your computer) you wish to validate and enter the path to the file.

To make it easier, the validation service page has a "browse" function. Click on the "browse" button and search your computer for the file you wish to validate. When you find that file, double-click on it, and you will be returned to the validation service page. Click on "check" and wait. In a few seconds, you will receive the response that either your page is "valid html" or that your page is "not valid" html. The w3.org web site and validation pages have links to help you learn how to make your page validate.

Don't be alarmed if your first effort brings a "does not validate" message listing 3, 16, 63 or even 104 errors! Mine all did at first. The W3C site offers useful explanations. It tells you exactly what and where the errors are, kind of like a spellcheck. Often, correcting a single "cascading error" will clean up several dozen others at the same time. Working out the validation process may be exasperating at first, but it will speed up and sharpen your grasp of HTML code. You and your web site will both improve!

Oh, and yes, the page you are reading does validate! Now you know that that phrase at the bottom of each page means.

Is your page sophisticated enough for the web? Read on...

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