Rodent Regatta

Just so everyone understands that my gripes about tools for writing valid weblog entries are tempered by a respect for how little of this stuff I understand, I’ll point to the CSS Depot courtesy of ETC. ”Translating” any of these CSS templates into a Movable Type template set is not something I know how to do. One must know precisely where to insert Movable Type’s many tags in order to make the CSS templates serve as the backdrop for MT’s templates.

I don’t know how to make that leap.

...how on Earth is a layman supposed to get it right. I understand roughly ten percent of what I’m reading about the problems with the CSS validator and the ”box model hack.” If I reread all that I’ve read thus far, I might understand fifteen percent in four or five hours.

No matter how badly I’d like to pursue web standards and validation and such, when the most talented of the talented are having problems with it, how can a layman possibly get it right?

Remember, a lot of us just write weblogs. We’re not web designers or developers. All we want to do is use tools that help us be ”good citizens” with our markup, CSS, RSS and layout issues.

On the heels of mentioning MT-Textile 2.0 this morning, Andy Budd has made some tweaks to his own weblog and covers a few of the plugins that he’s implemented.

His entry makes it sound ”so easy,” yet I’m sure there are some gotchas awaiting those of us who are not as fluent with Movable Type, markup and validation matters. Still, the way he has his tweaks working together makes it tempting to take the risk and try to implement similar tools.

Long-time readers here know that my site doesn’t validate. In the best of all worlds, I’d figure out how to make it a truly valid CSS and XHTML Transitional design and keep it that way.

I have the impression that merely typing – as I am now – into Movable Type’s text entry box introduces some invalid tags. I’m not positive about this.

The dilemma stems from a need to learn one of two tools. Do I learn install and learn the new MT-Textile 2.0 in my pursuit of a weblog that validates? Or, should I learn TopStyle Pro and create all my entries there then cut and paste them here?

Again, the goal is to turn this site into a validating, standards-compliant web site. Yes, but how? Are either of these tools the ”key” to turning this site from one with over 800 validation errors to a validating weblog?

The redemption through standards weblog is pointing to Joe Gillespie’s CSS Tutorial this morning. It looks like a great way to get started with CSS.