Topic: Exactly what is XHTML (Page 1 of 1)

Hi all,

Ive been making my code conform with XHTML standards, i know its very similar to HTML4.01 Strict minus a few minor details like wether meta tags are closed or not...

What im wonder is WHY... what does it actually do, is it basically just to get in with the new standard of code that will be accepted by new browsers, or is the code specifically so that it can also successfully be viewed on PDA's/ mobile phone etc also?

Im just a little confused as to exactly what we need it for. Maybe its just the next step instead of going to HTML5.0 Strict?

Thanks all.

The poster has demanded we remove all his contributions, less he takes legal action.
We have done so.
Now Tyberius Prime expects him to start complaining that we removed his 'free speech' since this message will replace all of his posts, past and future.
Don't follow his example - seek real life help first.

The poster has demanded we remove all his contributions, less he takes legal action.
We have done so.
Now Tyberius Prime expects him to start complaining that we removed his 'free speech' since this message will replace all of his posts, past and future.
Don't follow his example - seek real life help first.

From the GN, a good basic explanation of XHTML - http://www.gurusnetwork.com/tutorial/xhtml_1/

The poster has demanded we remove all his contributions, less he takes legal action.
We have done so.
Now Tyberius Prime expects him to start complaining that we removed his 'free speech' since this message will replace all of his posts, past and future.
Don't follow his example - seek real life help first.

Thanks InI and DL, that clears most things up, i'll learn XML just to be sure i know how it all works - and it will be a great tool for the future by the looks of it.

I guess the bit im *possibly* still confused about then is the actualy XML. Obviously XHTML can be viewed on your normal desktop browser. Am i correct in saying that XML is used to translate the XHTML document to other platforms such as PDA's? And the reason you can code XML is to customize how it actually translates. Which is why u need to follow the strict code so it knows what its doing.

I might be way off the mark here, but i guess thats my initial guess at it. Hopefully when i get a chance to learn the XML i will understand it better.

XML itself can be used for a huge variety of things that are totally seperate from the web, theoretically. The purpose is to be able to share structured information between formats, including html.

The x part of the xhtml is really a way of making html more xml-like. It tightens up the structural integrity of an HTML document so that it can be more portable, and could essentially be used as XML information.


At least that's my understanding so far.

The poster has demanded we remove all his contributions, less he takes legal action.
We have done so.
Now Tyberius Prime expects him to start complaining that we removed his 'free speech' since this message will replace all of his posts, past and future.
Don't follow his example - seek real life help first.

Ahh thanks InI, that clears things up a bit.

I think i'll still learn xml when i get a chance - sounds like fun!

Just a note with the<br> tags, u can get it to conform to XHTML and HTML4.01Strict if you put a space before the closing tag. So <br /> seems to come up fine.

The only one i cant seem to get to work in both is the meta tags, but oh well

Ya know, I've been writing XHTML compliant code for quite some time now. But it amazes me how many of the "big guns" don't write compliant code on their sites.

CNN.com isn't
MSNBC.com isn't
The latest version of vBulletin isn't

Tell me about it, its amazing also how many so called and seeming "Proffestional" web design companies do the same, and they break very simple rules.

The internet really is just a big mess isnt it

Often you find its the small businesses or solo people that do things properly - imagine how much they paid for those sites you listed as well! I'm guessing its no meager ammount.

The problem with those news sites that you listed is that they most likely rely on a very old CMS, and most CMS have a whole lot of hardcoded html in the server side code. Like slashdot for instance. Changing the design to XHTML and CSS has been done, but changing it in the CMS is a whole different story.



(Edited by WarMage on 05-13-2004 02:03)