Validating XHTML - Am I choosing the right doctype?

swillicott · #1 (**permalink**) Sep 11th, 2007, 14:34

Hi,

I have just read this article:

http://webkit.org/blog/?p=68

...which, if I am reading it right, makes me think I have been using thr XHTML dictype incorrectly?

The code for my home page is:

Code: Select all

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
<!-- saved from url=(0014)about:internet -->
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">
<head>

<link rel="Shortcut Icon" href="http://www.webforumz.com/images/favicon.ico"/>

<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" />

<title>eightyone design | dynamic design for print and web | paignton devon</title>
<script type="text/javascript" src="swfobject.js"></script>

<script type="text/javascript" src="popup.js"></script>


<link href="eightyone.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />
</head>
<body class="main-background">

    <div id="flashcontent">
      <div id="nonflashcontent">
        <p class="line-separation-bottom"><img src="http://www.webforumz.com/images/header-banner.gif" alt="welcome to eightyone design | dynamic design for print and web | paignton devon" width="717" height="116" /></p>
        <p class="line-separation-bottom"><span class="html_header_green">about us</span><br />
          eightyone is a small graphic design studio based in paignton, south devon. we specialise in innovative and dynamic design for print and web, and anything else we can get our hands on. our aim is to provide creative solutions to any brief, with enthusiasm and a friendly approach.</p>
        <p class="line-separation-bottom"><span class="html_header_green">our work</span><br />
            a selection of our work can be viewed on the flash version of our website. This requires Flash software which can be <a href="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer">downloaded here</a></p>
        <p class="line-separation-bottom"><span class="html_header_green">latest news </span><br />
          please <a href="flash_content/eightyone-news.html">click here</a> for the latest news from eightyone design </p>
        <p class="line-separation-bottom"><span class="html_header_green">contact us </span><br />
          e. info@eightyonedesign.co.uk | t. (01803) 390859 | a. 3 honeysuckle close | paignton | devon | tq3 3pb</p>
        <p class="centeralign"> <span class="html_header_green">you do not have the latest version of adobe flash player</span><span class="html_text"><br />
        </span>our website makes use of adobe flash software. you have an older version of adobe flash player which cannot play the content we have created. why not <a href="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer">download and install the latest version</a> now? it will only take a moment.</p>
      </div>
    </div>

    <script type="text/javascript">
        // <![CDATA[
        
        var so = new SWFObject("eightyone-main.swf", "eightyonemain", "737", "526", "8", "#FFFFFF");
        so.write("flashcontent");
        
        // ]]>
    </script>

<div class="justify" id="info">
<table width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" class="main_text">
  <tr>
    <td class="leftalign">email: <a href="mailto:info@eightyonedesign.co.uk">info@eightyonedesign.co.uk</a> | tel: (01803) 390859 </td>
    <td class="rightalign">&copy; 2007 <a href="http://www.eightyonedesign.co.uk">eightyone design</a> | dynamic design for print and web </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><a href="javascript:popUp('eightyone-news.html')" class="leftalign">latest news from eightyone design</a> | <a href="http://eightyonedesign.blogspot.com">eightyone design blog </a></td>
    <td class="rightalign"><a href="http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=referer">XHTML 1.0 Strict </a> | <a href="http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/check/referer">CSS</a></td>
  </tr>
</table>
</div>
</body>
</html>

...which validates as XHTMl 1.0 strict -= but on reading the article, I should be using a html 4.0 transitional doctype which does not validate? Am I doing what is stated in the article and thinking my XHTML is fine when it is actually html 4.0 transitional which does not validate?

I am very confused!!

Thanks for any help!

Steve

alexgeek · #2 (**permalink**) Sep 11th, 2007, 15:35

So it works/looks correctly and validates,
but you're not convinced?

Lchad · #3 (**permalink**) Sep 11th, 2007, 15:44

You are 100% correct! *Gives standing ovation!*

The ultimate goal is to use XHTML Strict 1.0. If you can validate and code for that, you are doing great! HTML transitional is a doc type to use for the widest range of browsers including all the oldies. If you support the use of the old browsers then I suppose you'd be better off using html transitional. However if you are coding for nothing older than IE5, than you are on the right track. Keep it up!

karinne · #4 (**permalink**) Sep 11th, 2007, 16:27

Here's a great article that might help - Choosing the best Doctype for your website

AdRock · #5 (**permalink**) Sep 19th, 2007, 12:21

Quote:

However if you are coding for nothing older than IE5, than you are on the right track. Keep it up!

I bet it would only be a very small amount of users who are using browsers older than IE5 anyway so I would go with XHTML

MikeHopley · #6 (**permalink**) Sep 20th, 2007, 20:07

Quote:

Am I doing what is stated in the article and thinking my XHTML is fine when it is actually html 4.0 transitional which does not validate?

I am very confused!!

I'm not surprised you are confused. It's a complex and bizarre issue.

In practical terms, there's nothing wrong with using XHTML 1.0 Strict. Browsers should cope just fine with it. There are potential pitfalls, but they are quite specific and you probably won't encounter them.

Strictly speaking, however, browsers will interpret your XHTML as HTML (because you told them to do this, when you specified "text/html"). Since XHTML code does not validate as HTML, they will activate their error correction routines to work out how they should render your website.

This would be a big problem if their error correction routines were weak. But since their error correction routines are very strong -- they can cope with much nastier invalid code than yours -- you should be fine.

But if you want to be absolutely sure, use HTML 4.01 Strict.

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Validating XHTML - Am I choosing the right doctype?