Showing posts with label wordpress. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wordpress. Show all posts
Validation is simply ensuring that your
blog site has HTML that is error free. In this HTML validation of your Blog
Site : How to guide, we shall look into the various aspects of validation and
why it is such an important issue.
W3C and Validation
The World Wide Web Consortium (w3.org) formulates rules that govern HTML coding. The
site also provides all the tools you will need to validate your blog site.
Apart from the W3C, there are other applications and sites that can check
your code either online or on your computer. The parameters used,
however, are those defined by the W3C.
What Validation Does not Guarantee
Making your blog site code error free does not guarantee that it will be
rendered perfectly on all browsers. That requires a cross-browser check: a
trial and error method to determine what format of code is rendered in the
desired manner by all or most browsers.
Why Validate?
Modern browsers are equipped with the capacity to 'guess' the best possible
solution to a missing piece of markup. Most of the time you can get away with
invalid code. This raises questions regarding the necessity of validation. It
is fine for coders to make their work flawless, but for the average webmaster
with a blog site, how does it matter? Visitors can see the web page just fine!
Actually, browsers mostly do not agree with each other while taking their 'best guesses'. An invalid markup can be rendered in any number of ways depending upon what browser your visitors are using. An error in an HTML form, for example, could cause your blog's squeeze page to stretch horizontally so that the form is not visible without scrolling. Less extreme possibilities include unexpected line breaks and text decorations.
Apart from this, when a blog site has too many errors, the browser's 'guessing time' translates to extra loading time for the site, and nothing drives away visitors more than a web page that takes forever to load. Even the server is burdened with repeated queries as the browser tries to figure out a way to render the page.
Another disastrous effect is that search engines, who are less forgiving than browsers, might give up on the guessing game and stop indexing your pages altogether. Invalid markup does not create a good impression upon anyone, be it a search-bot or those among your visitors checking out your source code.
Actually, browsers mostly do not agree with each other while taking their 'best guesses'. An invalid markup can be rendered in any number of ways depending upon what browser your visitors are using. An error in an HTML form, for example, could cause your blog's squeeze page to stretch horizontally so that the form is not visible without scrolling. Less extreme possibilities include unexpected line breaks and text decorations.
Apart from this, when a blog site has too many errors, the browser's 'guessing time' translates to extra loading time for the site, and nothing drives away visitors more than a web page that takes forever to load. Even the server is burdened with repeated queries as the browser tries to figure out a way to render the page.
Another disastrous effect is that search engines, who are less forgiving than browsers, might give up on the guessing game and stop indexing your pages altogether. Invalid markup does not create a good impression upon anyone, be it a search-bot or those among your visitors checking out your source code.
Case Study: HTML Validation of Your Blog Site on Wordpress
Wordpress uses PHP to render web pages on the fly. In other words, what you see
by viewing the source code in browser is not really there in that exact form.
You will need to access the theme editor through the dashboard if
you want to validate anything. There will be a number of files available in
that area, and you will need to copy the code from each and paste it into the
W3C validation tool. The tool also supports upload of files (web pages) and url
detection.Errors, if any, will be highlighted in the report that you receive. Problem is, when you see a certain number of errors mentioned, 13, for example, there may be only 3 or 4. This happens because 'nested' code is also included in the error count. This problem goes away once you correct the codes. Frequently, however, you will find an error indicated in a line which is perfectly coded. The trick is to 'look before and after' - the previous line could have a closing tag missing. Understanding the validating tool's behavior makes correcting errors a less daunting task.
You could resort to other sites for an alternate perspective on the problems. The WDG HTML Validator, for example, refers to its own pool of resources so that explanations regarding errors are a little different from the W3C's. You could also use an add-on or an extension in case you are using Firefox or Chrome, respectively, to check your site's pages as you are visiting them. This is a little more user friendly, and should provide you with further insights when you deal with the theme editor.
All reputed themes have expert coding and should contain very little error. If you take the time to study basic HTML and use more than one validation tool, HTML validation of your blog site should not be too different from proofreading your own posts.
What do you need to know about WordPress? Well for one thing, it’s
the world’s most used site builder, that we can tell you without having to
reach for the sheet with the statistics printed all over it. Though if you want
to verify this for yourself, hey, don’t take our word for it, check it out
yourself! It’s free, the staff doesn’t compromise on standards, aesthetics or
quality, and it is user friendly with online tech support available 24/7.
But the people at WordPress haven’t let their (well deserved) fame
get to their heads. Instead of sitting back and letting things go, they
recognize the need to adapt and change in our ever changing world. So they
regularly test out new things, updating their site and allowing us to
experience all the features we so desperately want and need- they just make it
a lot easier than anyone else has so far.
You really need to keep your eyes peeled for these updates you
know. Some new updates have recently been announced, and we figured you should
get to know.
WordPress 3.4:
- Awesome
functionality to the virtual world’s favourite content management system
- So
much easier to handle with the one click update feature- that opens up a
world of possibilities without putting you through the absolute torture
that is the effort of mucking through html codes and the like.
- A
new theme customizer that makes it easier to customize your theme to your
liking and preferences. Play around with colours, custom headers,
backgrounds etc. and go crazy with tag lines and titles.
- Ability
to embed tweets, boosting the potential for increased follower ratings.
- Image
Caption Styling
- And
so, so, so much more…
Sink your teeth into this- one click away folks!
Or, How About WordPress 3.5?
Okay, so it’s not done yet. But in a nutshell? WordPress 3.5 seems
set to be the next big thing.
- New
default theme in Twenty Twelve.
- Some
user interface tweaks.
- Updates
to the theme customizer
- Removal
of the Link manager.
- Improved
gallery management
- Revamped
image upload/insert workflows.
The tentative date for release is December 5th 2012. Excited?
Yeah, we know. Us too.
The Deets - How To:
Next, make sure to take a backup of your database. You do not want
to lose any logs you had, Trust us on that one.
Just in case your plug-ins don’t support the update, do yourself a
favour. Instead of finding out later when they cause problems, simply uninstall
the plugins now.
And hey presto! Simply go to the Tools tab, go to the Update page
via Upgrades, and click on the “Update Automatically” button. If everything
goes right, you won’t have to do anything but sit back, relax, and think about
the next masterpiece you’re going to write as soon as you can get your hands on
your updated site.
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