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diff --git a/htdocs/docs/help.html b/htdocs/docs/help.html index 19f2050..5f5bba9 100755 --- a/htdocs/docs/help.html +++ b/htdocs/docs/help.html @@ -1,16 +1,34 @@ -<!--#set var="revision" value="\$Id: help.html,v 1.14 2003-05-24 20:32:46 link Exp $" ---><!--#set var="date" value="\$Date: 2003-05-24 20:32:46 $" +<!--#set var="revision" value="\$Id: help.html,v 1.15 2004-05-09 15:56:50 link Exp $" +--><!--#set var="date" value="\$Date: 2004-05-09 15:56:50 $" --><!--#set var="title" value="Help for The W3C Markup Validation Service" --><!--#set var="relroot" value="../" --><!--#include virtual="../header.html" --> +<div class="doc"> +<h2>Help and <acronym title="Frequently Asked Questions">FAQ</acronym> for the Markup Validator</h2> + +<p><q cite="http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-validator/2004Jan/0101.html">Nothing wrong with +the validator here, it just knows HTML better than you do.</q> -- David Dorward, Validator's +mailing-list.</p> + +<h3 id="TableOfContents">Table of contents</h3> <div id="toc"> -<h2 id="TableOfContents">Table of contents</h2> <ul> <li>About the Markup Validator <ul> + <li> + <a href="#clickedandlost">Help me! I clicked on an icon and ended up + on this strange site!</a> + </li> + <li> + <a href="#validation_basics">What is <em>Markup Validation</em>?</a> + </li> + <li> + <a href="#validandquality">Is validation some kind of quality control? + Does "valid" mean "quality approved by W3C"?</a> + </li> <li> - <a href="#what-is-it">What is the Markup Validator and what does it do?</a> + <strong><a href="#what-is-it">What is the Markup Validator and what does it do?</a></strong> </li> <li> <a href="#why-validate">Why validate?</a> @@ -33,7 +51,7 @@ <li>Using this service <ul> <li> - <a href="#manual">How do I use the Markup validator?</a> + <strong><a href="#manual">How do I use the Markup validator?</a></strong> </li> <li> <a href="#errors">What is (are) this (these) error message(s)?</a> @@ -44,22 +62,24 @@ <li> <a href="#cleanup">I don't want error messages, I want you to clean up my page!</a> </li> + <li> + <a href="#icon">My document is valid, can I use your "valid" icon?</a> + </li> </ul> </li> <li>Miscellaneous (Very) Frequently Asked Questions <ul> <li> - <a href="#faq-doctype">No DOCTYPE Declaration Found!</a> + <a href="#faq-doctype"><q>No DOCTYPE Declaration Found!</q></a> </li> <li> - <a href="#faq-charset">The validator is <q>not able to extract - a character encoding</q></a> + <a href="#faq-charset"><q>No Character Encoding Found!</q></a> </li> <li> <a href="#faq-ampersand">The validator complains about "&" in my URLs!</a> </li> <li> - <a href="#faq-javascript">The validator complains about something in my Javascript!</a> + <a href="#faq-javascript">The validator complains about something in my JavaScript!</a> </li> <li> <a href="#faq-linkandmeta">Why doesn't the validator like my <link ... /> @@ -69,15 +89,81 @@ <a href="#faq-typo">I found some nasty typo like <p<a ...> and the validator accepted it!</a> </li> + <li> + <a href="#faq-referer">/check/referer does not work</a> or the validator says it does not support + my <a href="#faq-referer">"undefined" URI scheme</a> + </li> </ul> </li> </ul> </div> -<div id="skip"> -<h2 id="about">About the Markup Validator</h2> - <h3 id="what-is-it">What is the Markup Validator and what does it do?</h3> +<div><a id="skip" name="skip"></a> +<h3 id="about">About the Markup Validator</h3> + <h4 id="clickedandlost">Help me! I clicked on an icon and ended up on this strange site!</h4> + <p>Don't panic!</p> + + <p> + The author of the Web page you come from once used our service + to <em>validate</em> that page, and the page passed validation. + The author was then authorized to use the icon on that page, as + a claim of <em>validity</em>. The icon is used as a link back to + the validation service, so that the author can <em>revalidate</em> + whenever necessary. This is why, by clicking on the icon, you + followed a link to the current <em>validation results</em> for + the page you came from. + </p> + + <p> + The validation result was certainly positive ("this page is valid..."), + but if it wasn't, you would probably do the author of the page where + the icon was a favor if you could warn him/her of this abnormal situation. + </p> + + + <p> + If you are curious about Markup validation you may read this + help document further, or you may simply use the back button + of your Web browser to come back to the page where you found + the "valid" icon. + </p> + + <h4 id="validation_basics">What is <em>Markup Validation</em>?</h4> + <p>Most pages on the World Wide Web are written in computer languages + (such as <acronym title="Hypertext Markup Language">HTML</acronym>) + that allow Web authors to structure text, add multimedia content, and + specify what appearance, or style, the result should have.</p> + + <p>As for every language, these have their own <em>grammar</em>, <em>vocabulary</em> + and <em>syntax</em>, and every document written with these computer languages + are supposed to follow these rules. However, just as texts in a natural language + can include spelling or grammar errors, documents using Markup languages + may (for various reasons) not be following these rules.</p> + + <p>The process of verifying whether a document actually follows the rules for the + language(s) it uses is called <em>validation</em>, and the tool used for that + is a validator. A document that passes this process with success is called + <em>valid</em>. + </p> + + <h4 id="validandquality">Is validation some kind of quality control? + Does "valid" mean "quality approved by W3C"?</h4> + + <p>Validity is one of the quality criteria for a Web page, but there are + many others. In other words, a <em>valid</em> Web page is not necessarily + a good web page, but an <em>invalid</em> Web page has little chance + of being a good web page.</p> + + <p>For that reason, the fact that the W3C Markup Validator says that + one page passes validation does <strong>not</strong> mean that + W3C assesses that it is a good page. It only means that a tool (not + necessarily without flaws) has found the page to comply with a specific + set of rules. No more, no less. This is also why the "valid ..." icons + should never be considered as a "W3C seal of quality".</p> + + + <h4 id="what-is-it">What is the Markup Validator and what does it do?</h4> <p> The Markup Validator is a free tool and service that checks the syntax of (X)HTML documents.</p> @@ -88,7 +174,7 @@ </p> <p><a href="../about.html">Learn more</a> about the Markup Validator.</p> - <h3 id="why-validate">Why should I validate my HTML pages?</h3> + <h4 id="why-validate">Why should I validate my HTML pages?</h4> <p> One of the important maxims of computer programming is: <q>Be conservative in what you produce; be liberal in what you accept.</q> @@ -108,16 +194,19 @@ sure your pages are legal HTML. The best way to do that is by running your documents through one or more HTML validators. </p> - + <p>A <a href="why.html">lengthier answer</a> to this question is + also available on this site if the explanation above did not satisfy + you. + </p> - <h3 id="who-does-validator">Who owns/maintain the Markup Validator?</h3> - <p>The Markup Validator is Maintained at <acronym + <h4 id="who-does-validator">Who owns/maintain the Markup Validator?</h4> + <p>The Markup Validator is maintained at <acronym title="World Wide Web Consortium">W3C</acronym> by W3C staff and - benevolent collaborators, who receive a lot of help from contributors. - (Read the <a href="http://validator.w3.org:8001/about.html#credits">full credits</a>) + benevolent collaborators, who receive a lot of help from contributors + (read the <a href="../about.html#credits">full credits</a>). </p> - <h3 id="others">What other validators are there?</h3> + <h4 id="others">What other validators are there?</h4> <p> We're doing our best to provide clear and reliable results as well as a good interface with the Markup Validator, but for some reason you @@ -137,7 +226,7 @@ </p> - <h3 id="how">How does The Validator work?</h3> + <h4 id="how">How does The Validator work?</h4> <p> The Validator is based on <a href="http://www.jclark.com/">James Clark</a>'s <code><a href="http://www.jclark.com/sp/">nsgmls</a></code> @@ -146,7 +235,7 @@ resulting error list for easier reading. </p> - <h3 id="howto-feedback">How do I send feedback/bug reports about the Markup Validator?</h3> + <h4 id="howto-feedback">How do I send feedback/bug reports about the Markup Validator?</h4> <p>Read the instructions on our <a href="../feedback.html">Feedback page</a>.</p> </div> @@ -154,12 +243,15 @@ <div> -<h2 id="using">Using this service</h2> - - <h3 id="manual">How do I use this service?</h3> - <p> - Most probably, you will want to use the online Markup Validation service. - Read the <a href="users.html">user's manual</a> for further help with this +<h3 id="using">Using this service</h3> + + <h4 id="manual">How do I use this service?</h4> + <p>Most probably, you will want to use the online Markup Validation service. + The simple way to use this service to validate a Web page is to paste its + address into the <a href="../#uri">text area</a> on the + <a href="..">validator's home page</a>, and press the "Check" button.</p> + <p>There are other possible uses and a few usage options, please + read the <a href="users.html">user's manual</a> for further help with this service. </p> <p> @@ -167,14 +259,14 @@ check out our <a href="devel.html">developer's documentation</a>. </p> - <h3 id="errors">What are these error messages?</h3> - <p>The output of the Markup Validator may be hard to decypher for + <h4 id="errors">What are these error messages?</h4> + <p>The output of the Markup Validator may be hard to decipher for newcomers and experts alike, so we are maintaining a <a - href="http://validator.w3.org:8001/docs/errors.html">list of error + href="errors.html">list of error messages and their interpretation</a>, which should help. </p> - <h3 id="munged-doctype">Many error messages? Don't panic.</h3> + <h4 id="munged-doctype">Many error messages? Don't panic.</h4> <p> Don't panic. Did The Validator complain about your <code>DOCTYPE</code> declaration (or lack thereof)? Make sure your @@ -195,16 +287,58 @@ Markup Validator to clean up your HTML documents in no time. </p> - <h3 id="cleanup">I don't want error messages, I want you to clean up my page!</h3> + <h4 id="cleanup">I don't want error messages, I want you to clean up my page!</h4> <p>The Markup Validator can not do this for you. You may want to have a look at tools such as <a href="http://tidy.sourceforge.net">HTML Tidy</a>.</p> + <h4 id="icon">My document is valid, can I use your "valid" icon?</h4> + <h5>Practical use of the icon</h5> + <p> + <img class="inline-badge" src="http://www.w3.org/Icons/valid-xhtml10" alt="Valid XHTML 1.0!" height="31" width="88" /> + Yes. To show readers that one has taken some care to create an + interoperable Web page, a "W3C valid" badge may be displayed + (here, the "valid XHTML 1.0" badge) <strong>on any page + that validates</strong>. + </p> + <p> + We encourage you to use the XHTML code below (or its HTML equivalent), + but you may use a different code to integrate the icon within your web page + as long as the icon is used as a link to revalidate the Web page it is in. + Sample code is as follows: + </p> + <pre> + <p> + <a href="http://validator.w3.org/check/referer"><img + src="http://www.w3.org/Icons/valid-xhtml10" + alt="Valid XHTML 1.0!" height="31" width="88" /></a> + </p> + </pre> + <h5>License and Guidelines for usage of the "valid" icons</h5> + <p>Web content providers are granted the right to use the "W3C valid" logo + on pages that pass validation (though the use of the + <a href="http://validator.w3.org/">W3C Markup Validator</a>) + for the W3C technology represented by the icon, and <strong>only</strong> + on pages that pass validation. + The icon must be used as a link to revalidate the Web page, thus providing + a way to verify the page author's assertion that it passed validation.</p> + + <p>Note that "W3C Valid" icons are not an endorsement by the W3C of the page's + author, the substantive content of the page, nor its design. + Instead, the icons are <strong>only</strong> a mechanism to identify + pages that have been determined to be valid, and to easily + re-validate pages as often as as they are modified.</p> + + <p>Consequently, the use of the badge is in accordance with and governed by + the W3C <a href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Legal/trademark-license">Trademark License</a> + and <a href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Legal/logo-usage-20000308.html">Logo and Icon usage</a> + policy.</p> + </div> <div> -<h2 id="very-faq">Miscellaneous (Very) Frequently Asked Questions</h2> -<h3 id="faq-doctype">No DOCTYPE Declaration Found!</h3> - <p> +<h3 id="very-faq">Miscellaneous (Very) Frequently Asked Questions</h3> + <h4 id="faq-doctype">No DOCTYPE Declaration Found!</h4> + <p> A DOCTYPE Declaration is mandatory for most current markup languages and without one it is impossible to reliably validate a document. </p> @@ -243,56 +377,106 @@ "<a href="http://htmlhelp.com/tools/validator/doctype.html">Choosing a DOCTYPE</a>". </p> -<h3 id="faq-charset">The validator is <q>not able to extract -a character encoding</q></h3> + <h4 id="faq-charset"><q>No Character Encoding Found! </q></h4> + + <p>An HTML document should be served along with its character encoding.</p> + + <p> Specifying a character encoding is normally done in the web server + configuration file or administration program. The <a + href="http://www.w3.org/"><abbr + title="World Wide Web Consortium">W3C</abbr></a> <a + href="http://www.w3.org/International/"><abbr + title="Internationalization">I18N</abbr> Activity</a> has collected + <a href="http://www.w3.org/International/O-HTTP-charset" + title="A Few Tips On How To Specify The Character Encoding">a few + tips on how to do this</a> in popular web server implementations. +</p> + <p> + <a href="http://www.iana.org/"><abbr + title="Internet Assigned Numbers Authority">IANA</abbr></a> + maintains the list of <a + href="http://www.iana.org/assignments/character-sets">official + names for character sets</a> and the <abbr + title="Web Design Group">WDG</abbr> has some <a + href="http://www.htmlhelp.com/tools/validator/charset.html">information + to help you correctly specify the character encoding</a>. + </p> + <p> + To quickly check whether the document would validate after addressing + the missing character encoding information, you can use the "Encoding" + form control (accesskey "2") earlier in the page to force an encoding + override to take effect. "iso-8859-1" (Western Europe and North America) + and "utf-8" (Universal, but not commonly used in legacy documents) are + common encodings if you are not sure what encoding to choose. + </p> + -<p>An HTML document should be served along with its character encoding.</p> -<p>WDG has some good documentation on -<a href="http://www.htmlhelp.com/tools/validator/charset.html">using -character encodings</a> that will help you fix your document or the way it is served -by adding the proper character encoding information.</p> -<h3 id="faq-ampersand">The validator complains about "&" in my URLs!</h3> + <h4 id="faq-ampersand">The validator complains about "&" in my URLs!</h4> <p>Most probably, you should read the <a href="http://www.htmlhelp.com/tools/validator/problems.html#amp">ampersand section</a> of WDG's excellent "<a href="http://www.htmlhelp.com/tools/validator/problems.html">common validation problem</a>" </p> -<h3 id="faq-javascript">The validator complains about something in my Javascript!</h3> -<p>Most probably, you should read the -<a href="http://www.htmlhelp.com/tools/validator/problems.html#script">script section</a> -of WDG's excellent -"<a href="http://www.htmlhelp.com/tools/validator/problems.html">common validation problem</a>" -</p> + <h4 id="faq-javascript">The validator complains about something in my JavaScript!</h4> + <p>Most probably, you should read the + <a href="http://www.htmlhelp.com/tools/validator/problems.html#script">script section</a> + of WDG's excellent + "<a href="http://www.htmlhelp.com/tools/validator/problems.html">common validation problem</a>" + </p> -<h3 id="faq-linkandmeta">Why doesn't the validator like my -<link ... /> or <meta ... />?</h3> -<p>HTML is based on <a href="sgml.html">SGML</a> and uses an SGML -feature (called SHORTTAG) (note that this is <strong>not</strong> -the case with XHTML).</p> - -<p>With this feature enabled, the "/" in <link ... /> or <meta ... /> -already closes the link (or meta) tag, and the ">" becomes some regular text, - which is not allowed in the <head> element. Since </head><body> -is optional in HTML (again, <strong>not</strong> in XHTML), it is silently inserted, -thus head-only elements like meta and style as well as -"</head>" and "<body>", which may apear only once, become false. -</p> + <h4 id="faq-linkandmeta">Why doesn't the validator like my + <link ... /> or <meta ... />?</h4> + <p>HTML is based on <a href="sgml.html">SGML</a> and uses an SGML + feature (called SHORTTAG) (note that this is <strong>not</strong> + the case with XHTML).</p> + + <p>With this feature enabled, the "/" in <link ... /> or <meta ... /> + already closes the link (or meta) tag, and the ">" becomes some regular text, + which is not allowed in the <head> element. Since </head><body> + is optional in HTML (again, <strong>not</strong> in XHTML), it is silently inserted, + thus head-only elements like meta and style as well as + "</head>" and "<body>", which may appear only once, become false. + </p> -<p>(explanation courtesy of Christoph Päper)</p> + <p>(explanation courtesy of Christoph Päper)</p> -<h3 id="faq-typo">I found some nasty typo like <p<a ...> -and the validator accepted it!</h3> + <h4 id="faq-typo">I found some nasty typo like <p<a ...> + and the validator accepted it!</h4> -<p>This again (as in the <a href="#faq-linkandmeta">previous case</a>) comes from the -SHORTTAG feature in HTML (<strong>not</strong> in XHTML). The typo is actually a -"shorthand markup" and is a valid construct in HTML, even though its use -<a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/appendix/notes.html#h-B.3.7">is not -recommended</a>.</p> + <p>This again (as in the <a href="#faq-linkandmeta">previous case</a>) comes from the + SHORTTAG feature in HTML (<strong>not</strong> in XHTML). The typo is actually a + "shorthand markup" and is a valid construct in HTML, even though its use + <a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/appendix/notes.html#h-B.3.7">is not recommended</a>. + </p> + <h4 id="faq-referer">/check/referer does not work - or - the validator says it does not support + my "undefined" URI scheme</h4> + + <p>Browsers and other Web agents usually send information about the page they come from, in a + <code>Referer</code> header. The validator uses this information for a features that allows + it to validate whatever page the browser last visited. The "valid" icons on some Web page usually + point to the validation of the page using this feature.</p> + + <p>Unfortunately, some zealous "security software" or Web proxies strip the referrer + information from what the browser sends. Without this information the validator is not able to + find what the URI of the document to validate is, and gives the same error message as when it is + given a type of URI it does not understand.</p> + + <p><strong>How to fix</strong>:</p> + <ul> + <li>Check that it is indeed the <code>Referer</code> issue. The validator should have redirected you to + <code>http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=</code>. Otherwise, check the address you have given the validator.</li> + <li>The validator can not fix this issue. You will have to (ask your administrator to) reconfigure + whichever zealous software is stripping this referrer info.</li> + <li>If you have a link on your page using the "/check/referer" feature, you could replace them with the + a link to the validator without this feature, e.g. <code>http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=http://www.example.com</code></li> + <li>If you have no control over the page or annoying software, simply append the address of the page you wanted validated + to the <code>http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=</code> address.</li> + </ul> +</div> </div> - <!--#include virtual="../footer.html" --> </body> </html> |