Offline Screenshots

So you've seen the new screenshot feature of Total Validator and want to test your pages with another browser before you publish.

No problem, the screen shot feature of Total Validator will work with uploaded files and cut and paste pages so you can test your pages before you publish

posted by Total Validator @ 6:24 AM   0 comments   

Improving your web pages

Well you may think that Total Validator is comprehensive but somehow just doesn't meet all your needs. Maybe you're finding it difficult to read the reports that are produced?

Well let them know about it using the Feedback Form. Remember, if you don't ask you won't get it.

posted by Total Validator @ 2:27 PM   0 comments   

1.9.3 Released

Fixes two main bugs: 1) Broken links weren't always being checked. 2) Auto-detecting DTD sometimes didn't fall back to 4.01, and never fell back to 4.01 with frame sets.

posted by Total Validator @ 3:20 PM   0 comments   

Support for additional browsers

The screenshot feature in Total Validator is a great idea isn't it? But maybe it doesn't cover a browser that you can't get hold of, one that's used by a large number of your site's visitors.

Well why don't you ask for the browser to be supported using the Feedback Form. It will only take a few seconds to complete, and you never know it may be supported quicker than you may think.

posted by Total Validator @ 6:30 AM   0 comments   

Using development tools

Many web page development tools these days are very good and provide numerous facilities to ensure that you create web pages that will work when deployed.

However they do not guarantee that pages themselves conform to the various standards, and many do not cover enough standards. They are also patchy when it comes to cross browser validation. So you may think that your pages have been validated - but they've probably not been. Best to be safe than sorry and test with Total Validator.

posted by Total Validator @ 4:47 AM   0 comments   

Validate and be listed

Most browsers can interpret HTML code that has errors and still show a nice looking page. But search engine spiders require validate HTML in order to properly search your site. A spider may skip the part that uses incorrect syntax, or it may skip the entire page or website altogether. There is no way to predict what the search engine spider will do when it encounters an invalid page.

If search engines cannot read your website and follow the links, your site will not get indexed. So it is not enough to validate your web pages by looking at them in your browser. The HTML itself needs to be correct and so it is vitally important that you validate your HTML. That's why Total Validator is an important resource in order to get your site listed in search engines.

posted by Total Validator @ 2:43 PM   0 comments   

Content Management Systems

Web sites with dynamically generated pages (e.g. by a Content Management
System) are the most difficult to test before being deployed and so most
prone to errors when they go live.

That's why Total Validator is the essential tool to test your pages with as soon as they've been deployed.

posted by Total Validator @ 4:49 AM   0 comments   

Using Lynx

Okay so you've read the W3C WAI specifications and used Total Validator to check all your pages. But maybe once all the GUI elements of your page have been stripped out the content may not make much sense. So what will your pages really look like to someone using a screen reader?

Well I find that the best way to check is to use a text based browser, and the text based browser of choice is Lynx. This has been going as long as the Web. But getting hold of Lynx and installing it is not as easy as you may think. It may be easier to use the screenshot feature in Total Validator and select Lynx from the menu to see what your pages look like.

posted by Total Validator @ 10:35 AM   0 comments   

Spell checking your web pages

Thier's nothning wrse thun triing to raed a badly spelt wbe page (sic).

You've probably spent a lot of time (and maybe money) making your website look and work as well as you can. So don't let silly little spelling mistakes let it down. Ensure you use Total Validator to spell check your web pages.

It's simple to use, just enter the URL of your site and select the number of pages to check and the language to check them with. Don't worry if the spell checker doesn't recognise words from your specialised area as you can always provide an additional dictionary of words. This just a simple list with one word per line that you upload when you run the Validator.

posted by Total Validator @ 6:05 PM   0 comments   

1.9.0 Released

New screenshot (snapshot) feature added. This allows you to take screenshots of your web page in one of a number of browsers for added compatibility testing.

posted by Total Validator @ 3:16 PM   0 comments   

New screenshot (snapshot) feature introduced, which allows you to take screen shots of your web page in one of a number of browsers for cross-browser validation.

posted by Total Validator @ 3:12 PM   0 comments   

Publishing for different browsers

There are so many browsers out there running at different versions on different platforms. So how can you be sure that your pages look okay?

Well the new screen shot feature of Total Validator allows you to see what your web page will look like when viewed with a different browser. Give it a go, it's free after all.

Give it your web page: Either a URL, or upload a file, or cut and paste your page. It will then load this page in the browser of your choice, take a screenshot and send the image back to you.

This one-stop validator also checks that your web page uses valid HTML, and you can even check for spelling mistakes before publishing.

posted by Total Validator @ 5:37 PM   0 comments   

ISP Problems Resolved

Problems with intermittent connection failures caused by my ISP now appear to be resolved. Apologies to anyone who had problems between 2nd and 5th June

posted by Total Validator @ 3:10 PM   0 comments