Forum Moderators: mack
My questions are:
Will my site be approved by the ODP and search engines when it contains Geocities content that doesn't meet HTML 4.01 standards?
If I change the hit counter and guestbook from Geocities to another free service, will the site meet the validation tests?
Should I move my site to another free one? (I could set up and move it to my isp space.)
Your comments are greatly appreciated. :)
[edited by: Marcia at 8:15 pm (utc) on Oct. 4, 2002]
[edit reason] changed to generic host name [/edit]
I do not think not validating is a problem in itself with DMOZ or other directories or search engines. Hardly any of those pass validation themselfes.
As long as the site works well, is usable, doesn't carry broken links you should be fine with directories.
Anyhow, if you are serious with your site I certainly would recommend to move to a - lowcost - host. Not sure how prices are at this time in US, but in Europe you get solid hosting starting at $/Euro 5 - 10 per month.
That's about as much as you spend on a meal...
The ODP does NOT reject sites that have non-valid HTML - there is no rule for this at all.
However, having valid, well-formed, HTML will guarantee that anyone, using any browser, on any operating system will be able to view your site - including the reviewing editor!
In the internal forum and on chat we have requests every day from people who say "http://xxxx.com/ crashes my browser, or just loads to a blank screen, please can sometime take a look for me, and review it/delete it depending on what you find".
There are loads of other editors who are either not savvy enough to ask for help, or are overworked with mass-submission, so will tend to leave such sites in Unreviewed forever. If a category is being actively tended by a local editor, a higher-up editor tends to leave them to get on with it - just taking an occasional peak to see that the Titles and Descriptions written look good, and are accurate, as well as making sure that there isn't a backlog of Unreviewed growing, and the editor isn't promoting their own sites. As such, a site with bad HTML (browser-crash type bad, I mean here) could get overlooked for months or maybe years. In some areas of the directory (e.g. Web Design), some editors are intolerant of such sites and would hit delete immediately on sites that don't render or crash out.
It helps us if web sites render properly. It helps us if submissions have good Titles and Descriptions. It helps us if the site is submitted to the correct category. Only the last two of those are actually in the Rules. Submissions that help us, are often listed quicker because editors under strain often opt for the two easiest jobs when looking at a category bulging with new submissions.... delete obvious spam, and list any sites that have already done the editors work for them.
Oh, and the stuff that doesn't validate on a Geocities page is all added by Geocities AFTER the </HTML> tag. This extra code appears to run their pop-up advert system, and begins with /object></layer></div></span></style></noscript></table></script></applet>.
I can see why they do this: simple errors in the code written by the user won't stop their adverts running; but I can see that this is trouble just waiting to happen.
:) I am glad to know that the ODP and other directories do not reject sites for non-valid html. One of the ODP editors has been extremely helpful and has taught me quite a lot, and I sincerely appreciate the time and patience that has been shown to me. However, it does concern me that my site doesn't pass validation due to the Geocities added content.
I want potential employers to be impressed with my design ability. I have received "done but with errors" when I've loaded the site using IE 6 and the option to "debug" has come up. These errors do NOT occur when I view my site from my hard drive. I have double checked all of my scripts, both internal and external. This leads me to conclude the errors are coming from the Geocities content. It certainly won't impress a potential employer to have "done with errors" on my pages.
I've already figured out the answer to my question regarding the hit counter and guestbook, because my pages without hit counter and guestbook won't pass validation due to the Geocities content, though they pass validation when uploaded from my hard drive.
My remaining questions are: Is there a free host that will pass validation? Should I try moving my site to my ISP space? Any other suggestions?
[edited by: Marcia at 8:16 pm (utc) on Oct. 4, 2002]
[edit reason] changed to generic hostname [/edit]
(note, I don't offer this kind of hosting myself but I know many who are both hosts and hosted and are happy)
Shelleycat, I do like your suggestion of "hostee". If things don't work out in my employment search, I may start out on my own and this would be a good alternative to start out with. Thanks! :)
I get space for 11, and there is absolutely no advertising, no extra code or banners, nothing on the pages except what I put on - so whether it validates is strictly up to how I code it. And I get POP3 and SMTP mail through my ISP so I can use separate accounts.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with doing a resume or small business site on ISP space, nothing unprofessional about it. A domain is better by far, and there are some *very* cheap hosts that are just fine, but in some cases it isn't possible and anything banner free is better than other people's blinking ad banners running.
