Rodent Regatta

Movable Type users should be aware that version 2.66 is out and available for download.

For the purists out there who see a web site as valuable only if it is accessible, semantic, valid, standards-based, well-formed, etc., writing such a site is apparently quite easy. Much of the time, those who write sites that comply are writing about their site or others that comply.

I want to ”just write.” I don’t want to pause every time I use a contraction and try to remember what the code number for the apostrophe is.

A couple of those purists have told me to use Topstyle Pro as the editor for every entry I post. That way I can have a spell-checker, a validation-checker, etc. Nick Bradbury, Topstyle Pro’s author, links to a list of ”great software” where Topstyle Pro gets mentioned.

I promise to devote some time to learning enough about Topstyle Pro to determine whether or not it is practical to make it the editor used for all entries. Wouldn’t it be great if Topstyle Pro could somehow hide behind the text entry box of Movable Type and give me all of its grand and glorious benefits without my having to know whether or not it is ”right” for me to use italics this way?

My weblog is down to only 826 validation errors!

Within the past week or so, Robert Scoble linked to Tantek Celik’s entry which compiled a list of links that are helpful in improving and optimizing weblogs. There’s a follow-up entry as well.

The goal was to compile resources that could make markup ”smaller, simpler and more semantic.” In the first entry Tantek introduced something called XFN, which stands for XHTML Friends Network.

One of the first things he pointed to in the first entry is the preference for using <h1...h2...etc> tags in lieu of the break and strong and other tags. I’m all for becoming valid, semantic and well-formed. I understand those are things I should desire as much as being in shape. The challenge, as is often the case, is in the ”how.” How to start? How to be certain? How to continue to write without having the markup become the objective rather than the tool?

I guess it’s time to follow those links and see what the prescription calls for.

Shirley Kaiser posted an entry at Brainstorms and Raves on Sunday. She left a great comment for me after I pondered (aloud) the switch from the Berkley DB to MySQL as the underlying database behind this weblog.

Shirley’s a great designer and has provided a wealth of information for those interested in web standards and well-formed markup.

It’s good to see her blogging again.