This month I am going to change things up a bit. Rather than review
a program or service that will help you solely with search engine marketing,
I am going to review the CSE
HTML Validator Professional by AI Internet Solutions. I'll be taking
a look at Version 5.03, its features and some comparisons with HomeSite
by Macromedia.
You may be wondering why I am reviewing an HTML tool, rather than a
search engine marketing tool, and how it can help you with search engine
marketing efforts. Well, the best design, link reciprocity, and search
engine marketing efforts can all go for naught if the underlying HTML
code stops spiders dead in their tracks due to coding mistakes. Errors
in HTML code can be as much of a spider trap as dynamic pages. Additionally,
a poorly coded page can render erratically in browsers driving away
visitors before they read your message.
Robin Nobles suggested this program for the review, and I was sent
the download link directly by Albert Wiersch, the author of the software.
Since I had the download link and did not look at the online product
description, I was pleasantly surprised after I installed CSE HTML Validator
and opened it up. I was expecting an excellent HTML validation program,
but what surprised me was the full-fledged HTML editor that rivals Macromedia's
HomeSite.
HTML Editor
Upon opening the Validator, you are presented with two smaller windows
to the left, the resource window, and one large window to the right,
the editor. These windows can be resized, and the resource window can
be hidden to allow a larger editing window. You also see two small panels:
the Tag Inserter and the CSS Inserter.
The resource window allows you to select directories (top left window)
and individual files (bottom left window). The resource window makes
it extremely easy to change directories and open files. It also allows
you to see the directory structure you have set up.
When you open a file, the source code appears in the editing window.
There are a couple of useful options in the editing window once you
have opened a file: split screen and an internal web browser. The split
screen can be either side by side (horizontal) or one on top of the
other (vertical). This allows you to view two different spots in the
code of a page at the same time. This can be useful during editing,
switching between windowpanes to edit or copy source code. The internal
web browser is useful as it allows you to see the visual representation
of your source code. This helps you with page layout without having
to open an external browser. It can also be configured horizontally
or vertically.
The Tag Inserter panels allow you to quickly insert beginning and ending
HTML tags. While not as intuitive as HomeSite's attribute insertion
popup assistance and automatic insertion of end tags, the Tag Inserter
is nonetheless a useful and helpful tool, saving you the trouble of
typing in tags manually, thereby saving you time.
The CSS Inserter allows you to quickly insert stylesheet attributes.
You definitely need to know how to construct styles to effectively use
the tool, but, like the Tag Inserter, it may save you time from having
to type each stylesheet attribute.
Validator
As expected, this is where CSE HTML Validator really excels. Basically,
the validator inspects your source code and informs you of any problems
it finds. CSE HTML Validator Professional 5.03 supports validation for
HTML 4.1 standards and below, as well as XHTML, Netscape Extension tags,
Microsoft Internet Explorer tags, Cold Fusion CFML, SMIL, RealText,
WebTV, WML, frame, table tags, and more. It also checks for high ASCII
characters such as ampersands and quotation marks. Once you validate
your page, a new windowpane opens at the bottom of your window. This
pane, with several different tabs, shows you all of the problems the
validator found in your source code. There are three types of messages:
errors, designated in red; warnings, designated in yellow; and comments,
designated in green. Errors are items that must be corrected in order
to conform to HTML standards. Warnings are items that should be corrected,
while comments alert you to items that could help improve your page,
such as download times (though these do not take into account graphic
sizes), Internet Content Rating Association tags, and misspelled words.
The various tabs available in the validator pane are Messages, Grouped
Messages, Styles, Links, Structure, and Scratch. The Messages tab shows
errors, warnings and comments in the order that they occur in your source
code. Grouped Messages shows errors, warnings and comments grouped by
categories, such as Accessibility, General Compatibility and Good Style.
The Links Tab validates internal and external links, ensuring that you
have no broken links on your page, which is much easier than checking
links manually. The Structure tab shows you each tag used on the page,
counting the number of times each is used, opened, closed and the percentage
of correct closure. The Scratch tab has two scratch pads that you may
use to edit, copy and paste text, code snippets or anything you need
to make your job easier.
One feature available in CSE HTML Validator Professional that is extremely
helpful is the ability to validate styles, either from the head, inline
or even external stylesheets. CSE HTML Validator can also validate stylesheets
using TopStyle 2.0 or greater if it is installed on your computer.
In each of the Messages, Grouped Messages and Styles tabs, there is
an additional pane that allows you to view the entire description of
the problem and any recommendations and notes associated with the particular
problem. Also, in each of these tabs, plus the Links tab, you can click
on the problem in the validator pane, and the cursor in the editor pane
will jump to the place in the source code where the problem exists for
editing.
The real power of the validator is the ability to validate several
pages at once, using the Batch Wizard. Using the Batch Wizard you can
validate the currently viewed page; all open pages; or create and save
a list of pages to validate. Once the Batch Wizard validates the pages
you have specified, you can view the report in your web browser. This
tool quickly validates multiple pages and saves time, as you don't have
to open each individual page in order to validate it. It also allows
you to enable and disable validation options according to your needs.
Additional Tools
CSE HTML Validator also comes with a template tool that allows you to
use templates to build your pages and saves you time by allowing you
to make the same changes to several pages quickly. For example, you
might have copyright information on every page that requires changes
each year. With the template tool you can quickly update your template
with the new copyright information, and it will apply those changes
to every page that has the copyright information on it. While the template
tool is not really anything new, as many WYSIWYG editors use some form
of templates, it's nice to see it built into an straight HTML editor.
Additionally, there are many configuration options for both the validator
and editor so that you can customize the program to best fit your needs.
HomeSite Comparison
I fully intended to download the latest trial version of HomeSite for
comparison, but I was unable to get it to install. So I used HomeSite
4.5, which I have been using as my primary editor for quite a while.
It appears that HomeSite and CSE HTML Validator enjoy a symbiotic relationship.
HomeSite incorporates much of CSE HTML Validator internally and also
allows HomeSite users to use the installed version of CSE HTML Validator
if installed on their computer. On the other hand, much of CSE HTML
Validator's interface is very similar to that of HomeSite. Neither program
incorporates all of the features of the other, but it appears that there
may have been some cross-development between HomeSite and CSE HTML Validator.
For this reason, HomeSite users will feel comfprtable with the CSE HTML
Validator's editor, while the reverse is true for CSE HTML Validator
users.
Conclusion
CSE HTML Validator will help you clean up your source code so that it
does not become a spider trap full of improper coding and unclosed tags,
especially if you use a WYSIWYG editor, such as DreamWeaver, and never
look at the underlying code. While WYSIWYG editors do not normally make
serious coding errors, they do not identify other problems such as accessibility
issues, and they do allow you to use HTML tags that are deprecated (meaning
that they may soon become obsolete).
If you are looking for a powerful HTML editor, CSE HTML Validator may
not fill the bill. However, CSE HTML Validator has a more than adequate
HTML editor, and you won't find all of its powerful validation tools
in HomeSite. CSE HTML Validator is affordable at $129, and if you need
more than one license, the price can be equal to or even lower than
that of HomeSite. If you don't already have an HTML editor and validator,
I suggest that you take a look at CSE HTML Validator before making your
purchase. If you do, you may want to take a look anyway, since CSE
HTML Validator is the premiere HTML validation software available.
Thank you to Albert Wiersch for supplying me with a fully functional
and licensed program for this review.
Addendum
After completing this article for the Academy of Web Specialist's monthly
online newsletter, Mr. Wiersch informed me that he is now offering a
scaled down version of CSE HTML Validator Professional called CSE HTML
Validator Standard at the low cost of $69. While I have not had the
opportunity to look at this new product, since it is based on the Prefessional
edition, I have no doubt that the Standard edition is just as outstanding
as the Professional edition. I suspect that the Standard edition will
be perfect for the small site owner who wants to make sure that his
or her site conforms with HTML standards but cannot justify the cost
of the Professional edition.
***About Bill Gentry:
Bill Gentry has been a professional Web designer since 1999 and a Search
Engine Optimization and Online Marketing specialist with Look Sharp
Designs since February 2000. Earning a Bachelor's of Science in Geology
and a Master's of Business Administration in addition to his employment
as an Aircraft Armament Systems Specialist for 10 years contributed
to his attention to detail.
Review may not be reprinted without permission of Look Sharp Designs.
To request permission for reprinting rights, please contact Look Sharp Designs.
