The usual: Validation problems (with forms)

[invertedpanda]

http://creativity.the-engine.org/concepts/fastone1/

This website is for Fast One! Productions, a guy who came on here a while back looking for some freebie redesign work ;) Anyway, I basically copied his form stuff over, since there was no reason to re-do it. (and I don't know what the backend of the form needs).

I've never really done much form work - most of my designs don't have user submission, and are just artsy content presentation sites :P

Anyway, it validates as HTML 4.01 transitional, but I don't like to use transitional (I'd rather use strict - more security that it'll validate in later years).

Ignore the look of the content - I haven't finished that up yet (especially so with the left sidebar text).

For those of you who notice that this isn't the usual artistic quality of my sites, well, I can't quite spend a whole lot of time on freebies :) It is better than what he had though, and the main goal is standards compliance.

[Charles]

Well, you've some work to do.

1) You've confused XHTML with your HTML. Those trailling slashes in empty elements have no place in HTML!

2) It is critical to explicitly associate from controls with their labels.

3) In the strict DTD's the FORM element can only directly contain block level elements.

[invertedpanda]

#1: Yeah, I just thought it was a good practice since I'll probably be switching over to XHTML in the next few weeks (not for this site, though)

#2: Not quite sure what you mean. I didn't make the form code, and while it isn't that complex, I've never really worked with form stuff before.

#3: see above.

[Charles]

If you don't understand #2 and #3 don't even think about moving to XHTML. You have to walk before you can run.

Read, mark, learn and inwardly digest http://www.w3.org/TR/html401/ .

[invertedpanda]

I just don't quite understand your wording. I've never been big on the technical terms of web development; I have been doing it since my freshman year of highschool (I'll be graduating college next semester). I realize it is important to understand them in order to communicate at the higher levels of discussion regarding web development, but right now I'm tired - I spend all day doing websites and studying/doing homework for my online classes (accounting, and myth & folk lit). That is my summer. I understand HTML pretty well, however I am lacking in a few areas due to lack of experience. For instance, I can pick up on MySQL fairly easy, as well as most programming languages (self taught x86 assembly), because I do that sort of thing regularly. Forms, I don't - because I don't do it (and haven't ever had to). I have a horrible memory, and never retain things I don't use VERY regularly. Its a curse. I forget my friends' names, my own name occasionally, my own phone number, etc.

It isn't that I don't or haven't understand/stood the concepts, its that I don't use them regularly enough to be able to recall them.

I try and give plain english explanations when I help people with their websites, so I usually expect others to do the same in return :)

Wow. Sorry about the fragmented nature of this reply :)

Anyway, I'm going to go run off and figure this out on my own - I had just posted here to read a plain-english explanation, rather than a technical one. Not really your fault, but I can't help but feel offended at your reply :)

[invertedpanda]

Found the problem. I had to enclose it in paragraph tags within the form tags.