Saturday 24 July 2004

seven deadly markup sins

Want to avoid the most common mistakes made in XHTML and HTML?

InformIT is still publishing my Integrated Web Design series. You can catch this month’s offering, Seven Deadly Markup Sins in both its regular interface (can you say ‘ads’? Knew you could . . .) and also in a print version, which I find generally easier to read onscreen except for the teeny code style.

If you missed other articles in the series and have some time to catch up on your reading, these are my personal favorites:

• Strategies for Long-Term CSS Hack Management. Using CSS in a contemporary browser? You’ll probably need to use a variety of CSS hacks to accomplish the best possible cross-browser compatibility. This article helps you determine if you need hacks, how to manage them effectively if so, and which hacks you can employ to solve a range of common compatibility problems.
• CSS: Beyond the Retrofit. Do you think Web browsers are the reason for all your CSS woes? Or that CSS is filled with so many limitations it can’t be used well for all aspects of design, including layout? Think again. Today’s contemporary browser support and the availability of smart workarounds make the promise of CSS more real than ever. This article shows you how CSS was meant to be used and demonstrates how to begin using it fully today to make your life (and your designs) more efficient, flexible, and even more beautiful than ever.
• Social Networking — The Relationship between Humans and Computers is Coming of Age. The interaction between community, computers, and society is now being referred to as “social networking,” and it’s making a lot of heads turn. But what is social networking, really, and what does it mean to web technologists? In this compelling article, you’ll learn what social networking is, which languages are emerging to support it, and what it might mean for the next generation of web design and development.

At the very least, go forth and stop sinning with that there markup!

Filed under:   standards, web design and development
Posted by:   Molly | 13:18 | Comments (8)

8 Responses to “seven deadly markup sins”

1. TheDarkCyde » 7 Deadly Markup Sins says:

   Monday 26 July 2004 at 02:39

   [...] ted a great article on her site yesterday that I just got around to reading. Check it out here. Molly is so great. She really knows her shit! Bow down. Comments » [...]
2. Matt Burris says:

   Saturday 24 July 2004 at 18:51

   Great article Molly, although I’m a wordly man and rarely make those sins now. I do, quite often, make the worst markup sin that you didn’t include: typos! If I type href- instead of href= one more time, I’m going to scream! :O
3. mr. helpful says:

   Saturday 24 July 2004 at 19:10

   is it ok if i keep on sinning in other ways?

   heh heh heh
4. Jo-Pete Nelson says:

   Sunday 25 July 2004 at 01:03

   I read it to get a chuckle at silly mistakes that people make, but I forwarded it to myself as a reminder to fix some mistakes. I didn’t realize that some of the things like ‘language’ had been deprecated. FatherMother, forgive me.
5. molly says:

   Sunday 25 July 2004 at 15:55

   Matt: Thanks! Did you say wordly or wordy? :: ducks :: Good point about typos, but that’s not really a markup sin but a human foible. I mean, how many native English speakers can actually speak and write the language? I’m a professional writer and speaker and I still struggle with it. In the case of typos, practice and awareness simply don’t make perfect, alas.

   Mr. Helpful, if you didn’t keep sinning in other ways I’d be concerned

   Jo-Pete: HA! That’s great. Good use of the ol’ strike element there, my friend. You’re not alone on the use of the language attribute – it’s commonly overlooked. This is exactly why I wrote the article, so glad I could be of help.