w3c validation

[lieven23]

I try to validate my site and I get this message in w3c validation:

Sorry, I am unable to validate this document because on line 146 it contained one or more bytes that I cannot interpret as utf-8 (in other words, the bytes found are not valid values in the specified Character Encoding). Please check both the content of the file and the character encoding indication.

The error was: utf8 "\xE7" does not map to Unicode

see : www.afro-masks.com

[dbltoe]

use firefox with the html validator add-on and you will be able to see more information. Those are the languages errors I mentioned in your other post.

[lieven23]

now ,the firefox validator says:

Sorry, I am unable to validate this document because on line 171 it contained one or more bytes that I cannot interpret as utf-8 (in other words, the bytes found are not valid values in the specified Character Encoding). Please check both the content of the file and the character encoding indication.

The error was: utf8 "\xE7" does not map to Unicode

line 171 of my index page's html says:

<div id="languagesContent" class="sideBoxContent centeredContent"><a href="http://www.afro-masks.com/index.php?main_page=index&amp;language=nl"><img src="includes/languages/dutch/images/icon.gif" alt="Nederlands" title=" Nederlands " width="24" height="16" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="http://www.afro-masks.com/index.php?main_page=index&amp;language=fr"><img src="includes/languages/french/images/icon.gif" alt="fran��ais" title=" fran�ais " width="24" height="16" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="http://www.afro-masks.com/index.php?main_page=index&amp;language=en"><img src="includes/languages/english/images/icon.gif" alt="English" title=" English " width="24" height="16" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<br /></div></div>

you can see that there's a letter missing in franais(français)
because that character is not supported
in place it places a small rectangle form with "FFD" in it.

How can I replace it?

If that's is the problem??...

[Anonimus]

Sorry for the delay of the answer, but until now had not come into this forum.
You're right lieven23, the problem is the character 'ç' UTF-8 does not interpret.
The solution is simple, edit the file changing the character 'ç' for any other.
I think it is better to have a spelling mistake but the w3c validator validate the code, isn't ?
Greetings from Catalonia.

[Athens Collectibles]

I think it is better to have a spelling mistake but the w3c validator validate the code, isn't ?

Unless I'm totally ignorant, why is it so important that the w3c validator validates the code? Mine doesn't validate for things like "border-radius", "cursor:hand" etc but what's the big deal about it?

[Website Rob]

Many use the W3C Validator as the W3C makes the Validation Standards. Also, it is easy for a Client to use their URL and get information on whether the coder -- they may have paid good money to -- knew what they were doing.

Validation is important for lots of reasons:

- as a coder it shows you know what you are doing
- as a coder it makes it easier to find mistakes
- as a client they know they got good results, if they paid someon for coding

If we use your site as a Validation example, it's a good thing you don't care about Validation but I hope you didn't pay someone for coding.

athenscollectibles .com shows 237 Errors which for a Professional Coder would be acceptable; and should be unacceptable to their Clients as well.


For example.

<div class="wdk_sidecolumn-type-basic" style="width:140px; overflow-x: hidden;">
<p><div align="center"> << you cannot have a 'div' within a 'p' tag
<center> << this tag was dropped about 8 yrs. ago and should not be used

Mind you, if a person does their own coding then they can go by their own Standards. For Professional Coders charging people money for work done, it is a whole 'nother ballgame.