Validating Your HTML and CSS Code

Before you or your users encounter a problem with your Web design, you should validate your Web design for possible errors. Many web site problems could have been prevented if the Web design have been validated in the first place. The sad part of it is that many people are not doing this on a regular basis. Many webmasters tend to ignore to validate their Web design using their web design tools or online tools available. For your advantage and benefit, validate your HTML, CSS, and other Web file types with the HTML validators available. You may check the Internet for HTML validator, CSS validator, XHTML validator, RSS and Atom validator and P3P validator. Below are some validators that you can use:

1. W3C is very popular and many websites even place their validation logo within their website. Just go to http://validator.w3.org/ and enter the URL of the website you would like to validate.
2. WDG HTML Validator is similar to W3C's validator but it also supports batch mode. Go to http://htmlhelp.com/tools/validator/ and enter the URL of your website or try other options.
3. NetMechanic is a commercial product which validates your website for HTML and CSS formatting and for server-side errors. They have rearranged their website so just go to http://www.netmechanic.com/ and look for the free trial link.
4. MOMSpider is a perl program that validates links within and out of your website. It must be installed in a webserver that supports Perl. Go to http://www.ics.uci.edu/pub/websoft/MOMspider/ for more information.

As your website grows, it is important to periodically validate your website for markup and server-side errors. After finishing your first validation, add a reminder on your calendar to check again every 3 to 6 months, depending on how much information changes on your website.