CompuSkills Blog

What is XHTML? This is the W3 org’s preferred successor to HTML, although often considered to be the most current version of HTML. Where HTML is relatively loose, the standards for XHTML are stricter. It adopts elements from XML, such as the requirement that all tags must be closed. Because they have to be syntactically correct, XHTML documents can be processed automatically using a standard XML library.

At Compuskills we default to using XHTML but serving it as HTML unless our clients specify otherwise.

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Should I use tables or absolute/relative positioning to place elements on the page? The formally correct, modern, answer seems to be to not use tables unless you want to display tabular data.

Tables are messy to code and inflexible.

However, there are some serious practical limitations in using absolute and relative positioning. Positioning elements on a page can be a nightmare. Sometimes there seems no way you can place elements on the page and have them stay where you want. Even worse, you finally succeed and then find that a different browser interprets the positioning instructions in a subtly different way that renders your layout unusable. So, sometimes, you might just crack and use a table…

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Should I use HTML or XHTML? The weight of the W3.org is behind the drive to make web designers write valid XHTML. You want your pages to validate, don’t you? However, browser support is not necessarily available (it’s disabled by default in Internet Explorer.) There are some good if not totally convincing arguments for continuing to write web pages in HTML 4.01. (e.g. See http://hixie.ch/advocacy/xhtml)

Compuskills web design service uses XHTML unless this explicitly contradicts the clients design specifications.

Technorati Tags: Web Design HTML XHTML Internet Compuskills Web Code FAQ Frequently Asked Questions

How do I get curved corners? Curved corners on boxes seem to have become a primary identifier of a Web 2.0 page. They do generally look more attractive than straight corners, but not all designs lend themselves to this style. You can get a useful downloadable script from http://www.curvycorners.net/. Please make sure any decision to use curved corners is in keeping with the overall theme of your site.

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How can I check if my web page uses valid CSS? Go to http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/ Enter the address of the stylesheet you want to check. You will get a free report indicating any errors.

Compuskills web design service uses valid XHTML and CSS in all its projects unless this explicitly contradicts the customer requirements.

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How can I check if my web page uses valid XHTML? Go to http://validator.w3.org/ Enter the address of the page you want to check. You will get a free report indicating any errors.

Compuskills web design service uses valid XHTML and CSS in all its projects unless this explicitly contradicts the customer requirements.

Technorati Tags: Web Design HTML XHTML Internet Compuskills Web Code FAQ Frequently Asked Questions

What are the main differences between HTML and XHTML? There are few significant differences in the early forms of XHTML. The most notable changes are that documents must be well formed (i.e. use correct syntax) and that all page elements must be explicitly closed.

For example:

In old versions of HTML (see the W3 site), you could mark paragraphs with a single < p > tag. In XHTML you need to ensure the opening < p > tag is followed with a closing < /p > tag.

Technorati Tags: Web Design HTML XHTML Internet Compuskills Web Code FAQ Frequently Asked Questions

Answer: HTML refers to HyperText Markup Language. HTML is the language used to create most web pages. Tags are added to the text to identify the structure of the web page – headings, paragraphs – and to embed images and forms. The visitor’s browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, etc) interprets the HTML instructions and displays the text and other content accordingly.

Technorati Tags: Web Design HTML Internet Compuskills Web Code FAQ Frequently Asked Questions

Just so you know, CompuSkills is an IT Service / Web Design agency which maintains a variety of web sites. Obviously we think they are all worth checking out and welcome feedback on them at all times.

We try to ensure sites we create are accessible and usable for as wide a range of people as possible, if you think we are failing to achieve this, then please let us know!

The CompuSkills managed sites currently consist of:

• www.compuskills.co.uk
• service.compuskills.co.uk
• proman.compuskills.co.uk
• www.whydontyou.org.uk/blog/
• www.etrusia.co.uk
• medieval.etrusia.co.uk
• celts.etrusia.co.uk
• saxons.etrusia.co.uk
• normans.etrusia.co.uk
• romans.etrusia.co.uk
• www.sci-tech.co.uk
• linux.sci-tech.co.uk

Hopefully you will have a look at them and let us know what you think. If you are interested in taking advantage of CompuSkill’s services then please get in touch.

Welcome to the CompuSkills web design service blog.

Each week, this blog will address frequently asked questions we receive from our clients and generally interested people. We will also highlight any relevant news or changes in the world of webdesign, accessibility, legislation and technology.

If you have anything you would like to see here, or see answered, please let us know. If there is enough feedback we will increase the frequency of our FAQ updates.