HTML validation This amazing firefox extension by Marc Gueury shows you, at the bottom of each page how many errors and warnings there are in that page. It does this without sending the html of to w3c or another validator, but uses tTidy the embedded validator of Firefox originally made by the w3c.

As this extension shows you with just a glimpse wether your page is valid Html or not. (You forgot the doctype declaration again? Now there’s a big red cross in the bottom of your screen saying your code is wrong!) It’s much easier to keep your code clean and clear while working on it. Also, you’ll see it the instant you create the error, so correcting it is also easier.

However, this only validates the HTML as it is in your source code. But, with todays rich content, how often isn’t your source changed on the fly after the page is done loading? That’s where the DOM inspector comes in. Do note however, that you will need to have installed firefox as a developer (it ask that in the installation process). Press ctrl+shift+I to see the DOM Inspector. The great thing about this one is that it actually shows the source as it is at that moment in memory.

And if that wasn’t enough, the DOM inspector can also give you a list of the CSS. If it’s CSS you’re after however I would suggest using ‘view formatted source’ or ‘aarvark’ as an extension as they both do a great job.

Whatever you use, there is no reason you should write faulty HTML. By making sure you put a doctype declaration at the top of your document the browser will know how to interpret your HTML making differences between browsers less as well.

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This entry was posted on Monday, December 19th, 2005 at 11:57 by Sonja Duijvesteijn and is filed under Html. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.