Themes don’t validate. Exploding computer.

  • I’ve downloaded and activated about a dozen different themes (wp 1.5.2), half of which don’t validate xhtml. The errors I see are not related to anything I have added or changed. These themes look great when activated in both FF and IE6. Should I try to correct the errors that make them not validate or are they safe for most visitors to my site? Will someone’s computer explode because of invalid xhtml?

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  • “Will someone’s computer explode because of invalid xhtml?”

    Now that’s something I’d like to see!

    Feel free to change whatever you like in a theme (it’s one of their *features*). You may also want to contact the theme designer. Those who have any interest in making their work validate should appreciate the feedback.

    Great thread title !!

    Validation is primarily a tool for developers, so we can boast about being able to write valid code and blame the browser if things screw up. It has next to no impact on users, unless they are the kind of geeks who like to run sites through the validator in order to pick holes in them ?? Trust me, if invalid xhtml did bad things to computers the internet would no longer exist.

    true notthatugly, but at the same time, if someone has a problem with their theme the first finger pointed is validation and it’s a, er, valid point as it lets the user note if there are any missing divs and so on. though when someone tells you your site hasn’t validated because of something minor, like one li missing, it’s a bit off for me. still, when someone validates has a problem and find they 400+ validation errors and oh god the sidebar keeps going lopsided, has to be a cause for concern.

    it IS a geek thing, it is a bit of snobbery as well (ha ha, your site doesn’t validate you suck don’t you know anyting etc), , but it also has a degree of best practice in it. at the same time i know plenty of popular sites, with mass traffic, a dogs dinner of a design and wouldn’t validate this century let alone this year, and yet they still look bloody fine whatever you view it on.

    Actually, I’ll run sites through validators all the time…if the site displays the “valid xhtml” link. I’ll usually do that just to 1) be a geek, and 2) see how many sites displaying the “valid” link really *aren’t* valid.

    Other than that, validators are usually reserved for me checking to make sure I didn’t leave anything out on my sites, or to help troubleshoot other people’s site problems (i.e. “my sidebar is missing” or “I can’t see my footer”, etc).

    If those themes aren’t valid, but they still work, you shouldn’t have to worry too much about it…unless it bothers you that much…

    if someone has a problem with their theme the first finger pointed is validation

    well, the OP said the themes looked great in both FF and IE, so it’s not as if we’re using the validator as a troubleshooter here. Once you’re in the business of having to fix a theme, you’re approaching things from the perspective of a developer rather than a user, so of course validation is useful in those circumstances. If nothing is wrong… not so much. I’m all for writing valid code, but I’m not for being so fundamentalist about it that we end up frightening people into thinking their computer will explode if they forget the closing slash in a <br/>.

    “I’m not for being so fundamentalist about it that we end up frightening people into thinking their computer will explode if they forget the closing slash in a <br/>.”

    But think how funky the Internet would be then!

    You people crack me up.

Viewing 8 replies - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)
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