How Do I Validate RTML Site

[ronin100]

I have 2 sites built on Yahoo! with RTML and HTML scattered here and there. Is there any way to validate this?

I went to http://www.searchengineworld.com > SE Tools > Sim Spider as suggested in another thread but it spidered most of my pages as http://extension.html instead of http://www.domain/extension.html for my sections and items? Clicking on them brought 404 errors? I'm really confused.

One site is kicking butt and the other was untli Florida update and has fallen into the abyss (just paying the fees to keep it open) and I'd like to figure out how to get all those #1 spots I had before Florida update or even some of them. Any advice is welcome. Thanks!

[UDaMan]

What are you declaring in DTD's? If you mix doctypes then validation will always fail. I would recommend that you convert your HTML to XHTML as I believe RTML is XML based.

<edit>Spelling</edit>

[edited by: UDaMan at 12:38 am (utc) on July 28, 2004]

[encyclo]

What kind of "validation" are you trying to do, ronin100? Are you looking for a link validator or an HTML validator?

For the former, you can try the W3C link checker:

[validator.w3.org...]

For the latter, if you are using a Yahoo store template, I believe that there are many elements of the HTMl that you can't alter, and given Yahoo's total disinterest for valid HTML markup, there is little you can hope to achieve. RTML is their proprietary markup language for templates, but as I understand it correctly, only HTML is sent to the browser.

Hopefully someone more acquainted with RTML and running a Yahoo Store will be able to be more precise!

[your_store]

I have 2 sites built on Yahoo! with RTML and HTML scattered here and there.

RTML definitely isn't causing any of your problems with Google. RTML is simply a templating language that outputs standard html, which is all GB ever sees.

As for validating the markup on your live store, it isn't possible w/ any standard validtor. The reason being, the rocket scientists at Y! decided changing markup above the html tag wouldn't be neccessary. As such, it's impossible to add a doctype to any of your pages.

Isn't it fun working w/ a piece of software from 1995 :)

[encyclo]

it's impossible to add a doctype to any of your pages

OK, if that's the only problem, it's not insurmountable. The W3C validator will complain about a missing doctype, but will continue to validate asssuming HTML 4.01 Transitional - so if the doctype's the only error, you're home and dry.

Missing a doctype won't have any effect of search engine placing anyway, so it's more of an annoyance than anything really serious.

[your_store]

will continue to validate asssuming HTML 4.01 Transitional

Thanks for the clarification. I'd never fed it a page with a missing doctype.

[ronin100]

Thanks, I'll try it out that way and perhaps pick out obvious errors.
CZ