Articles archived for January 2009
XHTML Validation: Does Your Blog Comply?
Since there was such interest in XHTML and HTML Validation, I thought I’d share two more aspects of HTML that can affect the validation of your website or blog. Making changes to your site helps you develop the habit of correctly coding your blog posts or web pages. These points are simple, and you can significantly enhance your site’s load time by improving the consistency of your web pages and blog posts.
Using The Right Nesting Twigs
With HTML, tags usually come in pairs. These pairs like to stay together, they like to nest together. It is important to nest your tags correctly because, as with other aspects of your HTML code, the browser expects them to be nested in the right way. Incorrectly nested tags create confusion and slow down the speed a browser can process code and return a web page.
Correct:
<p>This is a paragraph tag. Inside it we could place a correctly nested tag called <strong>strong</strong></p>
Notice in the above code that the strong tag stays together, completely nested within the paragraph tag. It would have been easy to instead write:
Incorrect:
<p>This is a paragraph tag. Inside it we could place an incorrectly nested tag called <strong>strong</p></strong>
The appearance of the text on the screen would have been identical. It would not appear to be an error when someone views the page, however, while most browsers forgive the error and displays the paragraph with a bold word, it stumbled over the incorrect nesting, taking a moment longer to understand the intention of the code.
The importance of nesting is more significant with some tags. The <div> tag, for example, can play an important part in the layout and design of your blog. Incorrectly nesting this tag will cause display errors on the page. Nesting errors in <table> <tr> & <td> tags can also create display issues and serious loading delays.
Please Lower Your Case
When I first learned to write HTML it was taught in uppercase. Tags were in uppercase, attributes in lower case, and there was a kind of ‘prettiness’ about the code. It looked interesting but the case was not significant. XHTML is less forgiving. Lower Case is considered the right case and uppercase tags are not recognized in the same way.
Tommy Olsson covered this question more eloquently than I have just done in his SitePoint article, “Bulletproof HTML: 37 Steps To Perfect Markup“:
Is HTML case-sensitive?
No, but XHTML is. In XHTML, all tags and attributes must be in lowercase. Traditionally, HTML element names and tags were written in uppercase, but with the advent of XHTML, this convention has slowly given way to the XHTML standard of lowercase element names.
<A HREF=""> is not longer the same as <a href="">. The former will return a validation error. While both cases will work correctly in most browsers the lowercase is considered uniform and script is now always taught (or should be) in lower case.
Want To Learn More?
Still not satiated when it comes to hints and tips for having valid XHTML and HTML? Are there other validation errors on your site or blog that you don’t understand? Please, leave a comment! I’d love to help out with any site issues you’re having and will continue to explain XHTML and HTML Validation if you’re interested in learning more.
You can learn more about valid XHTML, HTML, and CSS in the programmers gospel, W3 Schools.
Test the validation of your own blog with W3′s Validation Service.
Hire a Web Tech to bring your site to compliance because honestly, wouldn’t you rather just be writing?
Does your website or blog comply with XHTML industry standards?
For many bloggers, maintaining a blog means writing new content and managing comments. There are elements of a blog far beyond average user control, such as the design, scripting, and accessibility. These key factors, however, control the quality of your platform. Your platform on the Web is almost as important as the speech you give from atop it.
One of the greatest keys to expanding your platform is your blog’s accessibility. The internet is a diverse culture of users from all walks of life. Their differences range from technological to physical and this creates a challenge when attempting to provide for the dial-up modem, aged browser version, or sight-impaired.
A quality Web designer knows how to maximize your website’s performance. For those who want an optimal platform but wish to only write new content and manage comments, hire a Web Tech.
If you’d rather learn a few simple tricks to do this yourself, read on!
HTML Tips To Aid Validation
Over the years, programmers have developed a standard for the coding languages involved in creating websites. This standard is a collaboration from talented programmers and designers, created to streamline the functionality of Web pages. It encourages Web designers to develop coding habits for increased browser compatibility and a uniform approach to Web scripting.
Valid HTML follows certain procedures. Each element of the Web page contains aspects that, when read by the server, returns information to the client in a certain way. If these elements are incorrectly coded the server is forced to slow down, attempt to understand the code, format an error, or determine how to get past the inconsistency and continue to display the content requested.
Display Valid Images
Graphics and images are powerful stimulus for your blogs content but equally powerful for the accessibility of your site when coded correctly. There are three primary requirements in every image tag.
Source
Every image requires a call to its source. This is the location of the file that should be displayed. On the internet there are a number of image types available, the most common being “.gif”, “.jpg”, and “.png”. These images are the industry standard for Web usage and should display in all image-enabled browsers.
Alternative
If a browser is not image-enabled then something needs to replace the image on the screen. This is why the alternative tag is important. Images might be turned off for any number of reasons and without an alternative the server takes a moment trying to decide what should fill that hole. For sight-impaired users the alternative provides text to describe the image or at least explain the gap in the pages text. An image alternative should offer enough information to explain the image. Remember, that the alternative text is also information search engines take into account when considering your Web pages.
Opening and Closing
Finally, every HTML tag must be closed. This is how a server knows the information for that section of the page is complete. Because an image tag is self contained it does not have a separate open and close tag like many Web page elements do which is why it can be easy to forget. Don’t forget, close your image tags.
Empowered Linkage
Another element you will use in your blog posts and website is links. A link creates text that users can click to go elsewhere, be that to other sections of your page, other pages within your blog/site, or to other sites and blogs. Some links are more complex than others but they all contain key aspects.
A link requires opening and closing tags, a destination, and clickable content. More complex links, however, might contain:
Ampersands (&)
Usually, these will be found in the querystring of a link. A querystring is additional information that is sent with the link. It is begun with a question mark followed by a label, equal sign, and value. When more than one piece of additional information is required they are tacked on with ampersands. The trouble is, when a browser loads a page the ampersand has multiple meanings. It is most commonly used to indicate a small command code that needs to be translated. Therefore, when a link requires an ampersand it is generally best to use the command code (&) rather than an actual ampersand.
Spaces ( )
Sometimes, links contain spaces, be they in a querystring or in the name of the page. Most of the time a link will work correctly by just writing the link with spaces as they appear, however, to avoid the potential for error it is better to replace empty spaces in URLs with their alternative (%20). It is best to avoid browser confusion where possible.
There Is Always More To Learn
Writing validating XHTML and HTML is a HUGE topic. There is so much more to learn and it would be impossible to cover the entire topic in a single blog post. This post highlights just two elements but I feel they’re the most important for bloggers because these two elements are used in most blog entries. Every blogger should develop the habit of ensuring their image and link tags are correctly formatted within their posts.
You can learn more about valid XHTML, HTML, and CSS in the programmers gospel, W3 Schools.
Test the validation of your own blog with W3′s Validation Service.
Hire a Web Tech to bring your site to compliance because honestly, wouldn’t you rather just be writing?
“Overcome freelance limits and unleash your true business potential”
Being a freelancer in any field is challenging. There are thousands of pitfalls and, while freelancing has its benefits, even these can sometimes feel like burdens. How do we continue to move forward and grow our business as time takes its toll, limiting our success?
Two very successful freelancers got together to answer questions just like this one. Mason Hipp of Freelance Folder and James Chartrand from Men With Pens put together a fantastic information packed book to help any freelancer break the shackles of their freelance business and become the ultimate, unlimited freelancer!
How many hats do you juggle each day?
As a single mother running a freelance business it sometimes feels like I never wear one hat very long before it’s blown off in a flurry of activity. From one moment to the next a new item is added to a never-ending “To-Do” list. Tasks range; day to day living (laundry, dishes, vacuuming); business organization and maintenance (email, invoicing, queries, blogging, research). Parenting seems to be a blend between, especially these six weeks of Summer holidays.
Amongst all this activity it is no wonder I often feel like I’m racing in a hamster wheel. Busy, busy, busy, but just not getting anywhere. This is what the Writer’s Round-About is for freelancers. We spin in constant circles. Thankfully, imperceptible as it may seem at times, our circles spiral upward, boosting us at varying momentum toward greater success.
Repetition is a necessary downside to the most rewarding elements of life. To be rewarded with an enchanting home there are certain chores we must do every day simply to maintain the status quo. Each day our own bodies require the same vigilant, yet repetitive, care. We sleep, we eat, we wash, over and over again.
A successful business requires similar upkeep to avoid stagnation or decline. In the beginning, freelancers wear all the hats of their business. We must keep our own books, send our own invoices, do our own research, and keep our own home office space in an order of some sort. Each of these routine tasks take their toll on the time we have available for those projects that make up the bread and butter of our business.
The Hydra: Multi-Project Freelancing
I’ve been in an interesting position these last few months. Instead of having a diverse range of short, quick projects to work on I’m immersed in a handful of longer, more intense projects. Learning how to track the activities needed for these projects and the time I spend working in each aspect has been a challenge.
Do you ever feel torn between the priority of your projects?
Because each of these projects is grandiose in their entirety and on a long term deadline I often find myself working on one project and feeling guilty for not working on another. My own personal projects get pushed aside because they feel less significant. After all, I won’t have an angry client waving their fist at me if I don’t finish this book or put off another blog post.
Even with client projects I feel a conflict between, for example, building search engine optimization into the long tail of a blog and creating new content. Both tasks are important to the wellness of that project, they are both mandates of the job I am doing. How do I decide which takes precedence?
How Do YOU Juggle?
I am sure I’m not alone in this strange juggling act. In a way it is one of the benefits freelancing provides. There is always a diversity of projects to work with and it is impossible to get bored. Maybe a fellow freelancer has discovered the secret to working effectively across the range.
How do you juggle your various hats and the priorities of your projects?
Coming into the final chapters of my current novel’s first draft, I build to the highest peak of climatic plot and feel like I’m barely holding all the threads together.
Writing a novel is a completely unique experience because, unlike short stories, articles, or blog posts, a novelist holds a complex weave of plots, sub-plots, and character growth in their quivering fingers. Each element introduced from the first page to the last must tie into every other element. Every aspect of the novel must have a purpose, every action an outcome, and every sliver of information must have meaning.
When writing a novel we begin by creating a scenario that begs questions within the reader’s mind. This is a vital stage, the development of the hook. In a way this hook is the crochet hook of our novel, it gripes the initial thread, weaving the first knot of our books intricate pattern. With this original hook we write on and at each juncture in our novel we must pick up and tie into the design one of the threads that make up the final design.
As a novel reaches it’s summit there are loose threads from a multitude of sources in an array of colors, lengths, and texture. The novelist needs to maintain tension and keep a firm grasp or risk the entire creation unraveling into a tangle of knots.
This stage of the novel creates an inner turmoil. Anxiety builds. With a project as significant as the writing of a book, fear of it falling apart is real and turgent.
A First Draft Is Just A First Draft
While feeling tangled in the threads of my novel I try to remind myself that, “a first draft is just a first draft”. As with a crocheted design, if a thread is dropped it is possible, although not always easy, to weave that thread back into the pattern after the other threads have been tied. It is the same with a book and indeed, this aspect of the novel process is expected. No one gets it perfect in the first draft.
Still, the risk is very real. While I can later labor over each chapter and line, carefully collecting and restoring loose threads of plot, at this stage it is easy to introduce weaknesses to the tension of the novel in whole. If you’ve taken the time to write a detailed outline you know how your novel should come together. An outline can help you keep the pace of your novel and, just as you would follow a pattern when crocheting, you follow the pattern of your outline.
A Book Is A Puzzle
I recently finished reading Christopher Paolini’s latest installment in The Inheritance Cycle and was charmed by his Acknowledgments in the back of the book. He revealed the same sensation I currently face with my own novel, “Brisingr was a fun, intense, and sometimes difficult book to write. When I started, I felt as if the story were a vast, three-dimensional puzzle that I had to solve without hints or instructions. I found the experience to be immensely satisfying, despite the challenges it occasionally posed.”
Christopher, who had already pulled the threads of Eragon and Eldest together knew the truly daunting task his third book presented. In that way, every book is a puzzle. The pieces vary in shape and size needing a sharp eye, a bright mind, and long patience to find and place each piece to reveal the image.
Be it a Puzzle or a Web, a novel is challenging and difficult to write. The author puts their very essence into the pages, breathing life into the characters, and sharing their hardships.
As I face the final chapters of my current novel I experience the very real fear and confusion of my characters and I suppose they feel mine. They do not know the fate that awaits them and to be honest, I’m not entirely sure how I’ll get them to it. These threads are complex and if I can gather my courage, continue with patience, and push onward, we might just see the completed design.
With the New Year firmly upon us the web is alight with New Year Resolutions and inspirational goals. It is time to examine the year gone by and look ahead to decide what 2009 will bring.
For me, 2009 holds fear and uncertainty. With any opportunity for major growth and development there is an element of risk. This year, my youngest starts full-time school; expectations rise for all of us.
This is my final year to establish my freelancing career to a self-sustaining level before all other income sources are withdrawn. This, I suppose, is my primary concern. For two years I’ve tinkered through good intentions. Each month I would vow to make headway towards regular and steady income opportunities but I look back and find myself no closer to my goals then when I set them.
I’m inspired by the success of my friends and colleagues but challenged by personal insecurities and emotional retardation. I try not to allow myself to divert responsibility but every hurdle challenges my faith in myself.
