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Thread: HTML Browser errors-height and id tags

  1. #1
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    HTML Browser errors-height and id tags

    Hi folks,
    I have 2 browser errors - one for the height attribute in the CSS bit, and the other is the filename (in quotes) on the id tag.

    Apparently this may be the reason why Internet Explorer is not displaying my site properly.
    My site is located at http://www.aberastro.netau.net if you have time to look at the source code.
    I would be very grateful for any suggestions.
    Cheerz,
    Jon

  2. #2
    Senior Member
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    Not sure how you determined the 2 errors. Validating your page with WC3 shows 15 errors:
    http://validator.w3.org/
    The main problem is that you are using the old, non valid <object> <embed> method. A better option is to DOCTYPE your page as HTML 4.01 (not XHTML) and place the Flash on page without the <embed> tag, something like this:
    Code:
    <object data="path_to_file/file.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="width_of_movie" height="height_of_movie">                    
            <param name="movie" value="path_to_file/file.swf">
    	<param name="SomeOtherParam" value="ParamValue">
    </object>
    An even better method of placing Flash on the page is to use swfobject. It's valid code plus can help enhance your site SEO. As it stand now, content in your site is mostly invisible to Google.... I know they are working to improve indexing of Flash... but it's still sort of a work in progress. You can get excellent SEO right now with swfobject.
    http://code.google.com/p/swfobject/
    Also noticed that your site is left aligned. Would look a little nicer if it was centered. See attached photo.
    Love the way the shadow moves over the moon!! Didn't notice it at first but I really like that!
    Best wishes,
    Video Man
    Attached Images Attached Images

  3. #3
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    Another can o worms!

    Well, Looks like I need a new computer! Adobe Air (which it seems is required in order to install the swf object) only works with Intel dual processor macs - I have a power pc g4 - am I doomed!?

    Cheerz
    j

  4. #4
    Senior Member
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    swfobject is just a simple javascript Flash detecter. It does not require any fancy new computer or even Adobe Air to "install".
    All you need is the the .js file, place it in one of your web site folders and then link to it the exact same way you do to external CSS sheets, something like this in the <head>:
    Code:
    <script type="text/javascript" src="style_sheets/swfobject.js"></script>
    It does not get "installed" on any ones computer, it's just one of many files that a viewer will access when they visit your site... it's not any type of a special file.... just javascript.
    Best wishes,
    Video Man

  5. #5
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    Phew! Ok - I'll work on that and no doubt get back yo you in the near future.

    Cheers ( the pints are accumulating! )

  6. #6
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    Hi, been trying to address the XHTML Vs HTML doctype issue you mentioned and I cant work out how to change it. I have looked online and followed instructions but the option to change it in the modify>page properties>title encoding page doesn't give me the option.
    I'm using Dreamweaver MX2004 v7 - is that the prob?
    I get the feeling I'm a bit out of my depth!
    Best Regards
    Jon

  7. #7
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    Just wanted to say that if you want that <object> code to validate, use an HTML DOCTYPE. Code view in Dreamweaver, paste this as the very first line of code on your HTML page:
    Code:
    <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/strict.dtd">
    paste right over the top of this:
    Code:
    <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
    <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
    Then your page will be parsed under the HTML 4.01 Strict rules, not XHTML rules.
    Best wishes,
    Video Man

  8. #8
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    That worked a treat! Displays properly in IE with fewer errors now as well..
    Keen to see wether google picks up on the alt content now
    Have I input it correctly?
    Cheerz
    J

  9. #9
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    You can test the visibility of the alt content by disabling the Flash plugin in your browser. From the Main menu choose "Tools" then "Manage Add-ons" or just "Add ons" depending on the type of browser you are using. Find the Adobe Shockwave Flash object and disable it temporarily.
    Then visit and text your page. Can you see the alt text?? Well right now there is black text against a black background... so I don't know what's being displayed... but you can play with it. Easy to turn the Flash plugin on/off for testing...
    To measure how long it takes Google to index your site, create a new word that cannot be found anywhere on the Internet, something like "IamastronomicafromCalamazoo". Include that in your alt content. Since that word has never been indexed anywhere on the entire Internet (test it first to varify), check back every so often. Once Google crawls your site, that word will, for the first time in history, be indexed and it will be listed in top position first page of results when you Google for that word.
    I've regularly use text words like that on new sites and have seen some indexed within a few hours of posting. My guess is that Google will have that test word (IamastronomicafromCalamazoo) from this post indexed before the end of the day... check back see how long it takes...
    Best wishes,
    Video Man

  10. #10
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    That's brilliant! Finally cracked it!
    I did what you said and edited until the alt content was visible - added a weird word and now waiting for google to do its thing..It's been quite a journey with a hell of a steep learning curve.
    I honestly couldn't have done it without your help so thanks a million
    I can use all of what I've learned from you as a kind of template for more websites now so thanks again and be in touch soon probably!
    j

  11. #11
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    Hello again!
    Well, my alt content text is showing when I disable the plugins in IE, but google is not picking up on my made up word (iamastronomictoadwarper) or any other come to that..still invisible. Its been 6 hours or so...also just submitted a new site map - the old one was not in the correct format. Looking at google webmaster tools shows no info for my site either (keywords, queries, links, crawl errors)..just when I thought I'd cracked it eh!?

  12. #12
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    Well the method of using a unique word works:
    http://www.google.com/#hl=en&expIds=...5fecf0a4aaa4e9
    Google just hasn't gotten to your site yet. If you have a good stats program for your site, something like "Webalizer" you'll see which and when any robot visits your site. Having that new site map may help.
    Also advised to create a robots.txt file for your site.
    http://www.robotstxt.org/
    It's one of the most commonly crawled pages on a web site. If the robots find your site but no robots.txt, some say that they may not crawl your site.. thinking its just a dead link. At the very least, it can't hurt.
    Best wishes,
    Video Man

  13. #13
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    Howdy Partner,

    my weird word still isn't getting picked up by google - except on this thread!
    The word is iamastronomictoadwarper - I have submitted a sitemap and a robot txt file and registered it with google..any ideas?

    Cheerz,
    J

  14. #14
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    Well, it will just take some time.
    If you have submitted your sitemap to Google, then you should already have a link to the Webmaster Tools, so you can see when your sitemap gets picked up and indexed as well as any errors in the sitemap. If you are not using Webmaster Tools, visit here:
    http://www.google.com/webmasters/#ut...tm_campaign=en
    Also, because you are using Flash for your site, most of your content is invisible to Google. You might want to think about improving SEO by adding more "Alt Content" or by breaking your pages into separate .swf and putting each .swf on a separate html page with unique Alt Content that more closely reflects the exact content of that page..
    So for example, you are currently using alt content that may have 50 unique words.. that's not a very big net when you concider all the words that are indexed on Google. But imagine that you added more alt content, with, let's say 1000 unique words. That's a whole heck of a lot bigger net that you cast out over the potential Google viewers.
    SEO is a BIG topic with lots of approaches... this is just the tip of the iceberg.
    Best wishes,
    Video Man

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