Using validator.w3.org

In addition, what file am I supposed to look at in relation to the validator? I looked at index.php but there is almost nothing in it, cetainly nothing related to the errors.

A search revealed:
https://www.ads-software.com/support/topic/78950?replies=12

Thanks but that page does not address my question. ADMINNICENAME was simply an example.

Doing my own search for validation there are many pages but I’ve found none that address this question. This is not to say such pages aren’t there, but I’m not finding them.

So I’ll post a few of the errors I’m getting here so, hopefully, my question will be more clear.

Error Line 166 column 161: element “ADMINNICENAME” undefined.

Error Line 166 column 178: end tag for “ADMINNICENAME” omitted, but OMITTAG NO was specified.
(These first two occur multiple times)

Warning Line 179 column 97: character “&” is the first character of a delimiter but occurred as data.

My questions are these:
1. What file in my blog are these errors refering to?
2. What do I do about it?
3. Are these errors likely to cause the side bar to appear at the bottom on most themes?

Again, thanks for any help.

Did you fix your problem? I see the sidebar properly in IE and FF.
Out of curiosity – who is the “author” of the posts according to WP? Looking at the source it looks like ADMINNICENAME – which won’t work.

goodwyne: The thread linked to above explains the ADMINNICENAME problem, if you had bothered to read it. Go to Users -> Your Profile and put in a real nickname.

As for the rest of your errors, you have to understand that the validator can’t see into the internals of your site, only the public face of it.

What you see as your “webpage” is actually a conglomerate of dozens of php scripts working together. Every page you pull up on your site will run through about 40-60 PHP files in order to produce that page. Now, most of it comes from the theme/template you’re using, but some of it comes from your posts, and some may come from plugins.

So for each and every error you get what you need to do is:
-Figure out what part of the webpage that is. Is it a plugin? Is it a widget? Is it in your posts? Is it part of your theme?
-Find that error and fix it, wherever it may be.
-Revalidate. While 200 errors seems intimidating, errors on the page tend to cascade. One bad thing causes others. If you fix something, then revalidate, usually at least 8 or 9 of the “errors” it lists will disappear. Sometimes more. Sometimes lots more. I fixed a single typo once and watched 35 validation problems disappear.

And that’s how you do it. One at a time.

Otto,

Thanks for the reply. I understand better now. I do not, however, understand why you rudely accuse me of not reading. I did read the page, every word of it. It didn’t appear to me to address my question. You’ve now cleared that up and I’m in better shape. I see the connection that eluded me before. I’d see it just as well without the condesension.

I’ve tried very hard to be clear as well as polite and gracious. Why say stuff like, “if you had bothered to read it?”

Otto, I really do appreciate your help. But I seriously wish you and some others would learn to be a little more gracious. I certainly don’t know what more I could have done.

Consider this thread resolved. I’ll mark it so as soon as this is posted.