Step 5 - Test Your Website.
 To test an HTML document you need to add a document
type declaration (DOCTYPE) and character encoding to each Web
page. Next, validate each page using a free an online HTML
validator and spell checker. You should check each of your pages
one at a time. Also, check to ensure that all your links -
internal and external are active. Determine the download time for
each page. View your site using different browsers. As a final
check ask your friends to visit your Website and provide
comments. Correct your errors off-line and FTP the files back to
your site.- Outputs from this step will include: 1) a Document
Type Definition (DOCTYPE) added to each page; 2) character
encoding added to each page; 3) each page of your Website
validated at least once; 4) all pages of your site spell checked
by an online service (if necessary); 5) all links verified by an
online link checker; 6) determine your download times for each
page; 7) test your site using different browsers; 8) evaluation
of comments from other people; 9) a backup copy of all your
files.
How to test your Website
 What should testing include? Testing
your Website should include testing each Web page for: HTML
validation, load time, browser compatibility, bad links and
spelling errors.
Why Is HTML testing important? Testing
each Web page (called validating) will help you identify HTML
coding errors, when it doesn't follow the correct HTML standard.
HTML validation will also ensure your Web page has cross-browser
compatibility. The more valid your HTML coding is, the more
people will be able to view it correctly.
- The World Wide Web
Consortium (W3C) was created in October 1994, and is the
chief standards body for HTML. When a new HTML specification
(which defines how Web pages should be displayed by Web browsers)
is approved by W3C, it is assigned a unique document type
definition (DTD) and is called a DOCTYPE. To ensure your Webpage
complies with HTML standards, you need to validate (test) each
page according to the specific rules that apply to the HTML
standard used to create it.
- What's a DOCTYPE? Since over time W3C has approved various
versions of HTML, each version is described by a unique Document
Type Definition (DTD) or DOCTYPE. For example, right click your
mouse and select view source. The first line of code for this
page appears as shown below:
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC
"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
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In the DOCTYPE (DTD) above, there are seven (7) parts:
The forward slash character ("//") above are
delimiters between keyword fields. (Note: Delimiters are
characters that mark the beginning or end of a unit of
data.)
- !DOCTYPE
Identifies this tag is a Document Type Declaration (DTC) or
DOCTYPE. DOCTYPE is case sensitive, it must be written in upper
case letters. Good HTML validation tools will require the
!DOCTYPE statement present in order to select the proper DTC
(DOCTYPE) and validate against it.
- HTML
The name of the DTD, in this case an HTML document.
- PUBLIC
This page is available publicly.
- W3C
World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).
- DTD HTML 4.01
The W3C DTD (standard) used to create this page. For this page,
HTML 4.01.
- Transitional
Allows readers that don't have the latest browsers to view this
page.
- EN
Language. For this page, English
DOCTYPE (DTD) recommendations. To specify your
HTML standard, copy one of the DOCTYPE statements below and place
it as the first line of code on each Web page you create. The
common DOCTYPE tags used today are:
--HTML 4.01--
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC
"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN">
--HTML 4.0--
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC
"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0//EN">
--HTML 4.0 Frames--
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC
"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Frameset//EN">
Note: When you use one of the DOCTYPEs shown
above, it should be placed on one line. They have been split for
formatting purposes. The term DOCTYPE is case sensitive, it must
be written in upper case!
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Character Encoding. To validate your
Web page, you also must also specify your character encoding.
Character encoding is a method of converting bytes into
characters. For documents in English the code below is
recommended.
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type"
content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
Place this code on one line, between these HTML Tags:
<HEAD>...</HEAD>
HTML validation. An HTML validator is a
grammar-checker that understands the rules of HTML. It reads an
HTML document and compares it to the set of known rules created
for this document type. Any problem identified is an indication
that a rule has been broken. Good HTML validators require a DTD
statement (DOCTYPE). Without a DOCTYPE, some validators will fall
back to a default DOCTYPE, such as HTML 2.0 and may identify
coding errors that are valid.
Validation Service. Next, you need to select a
free on-line validation service to use. Note: W3C recommends
that HTML 4.x document validators continue to support HTML 3.2
and HTML 2.0 documents. My favorites validation services
are:
- The W3C HTML Validation
Service. You can enter the URL of your Web page or upload
HTML files from your computer. W3C will check your HTML documents
for conformance to W3C HTML standards.
- WDG HTML
Validator. You can enter the URL of your Web page or several
URLs of your site to validate. Alternatively, you can upload HTML
files from your computer. WDG will check your HTML documents for
conformance to W3C HTML standards.
Why so many errors? More than likely
using an HTML validation service will not be a pleasant
experience. You may receive dozens or even scores of error
messages. It can be a troubling and deflating experience. I
recall my first encounter using CSE HTML Validate Lite, the error
message was, "too many errors to continue". Don't panic, give up
or surrender. Usually, all HTML validation errors are easily
solved.
- But, beware ... some HTML editors create invalid HTML code,
which means you will have to manually correct your code.
- For solutions to other common HTML validation problems,
visit this page.
- If you are about to give up because you don't understand the
error messages, try another validation service.
- Learning how to use a good HTML validator can save you time
and end your HTML headaches.
- Go ahead validate this
page.
Broken links. Search your Website for
broken links.
Link Valet is a WWW Link checker. It uses an HTML table to
present the links in a page, and highlights information that is
likely to be of interest to you.
Spell check your site. If you were unable
to spell check your pages earlier, visit this site and spell
check it now. At Spellcheck.net you can enter one
word or the body text to spell check: (Up to 20,000 characters).
Make sure you check all of your pages for
mispelled misspelled words.
Download time. To determine your download
times using modem speeds of 14.4k, 28.8k, 56k, ISDN 128K and T1
Link 1.44 Mbps, try this link Website
optimization. Ideally, try to keep your download time for
your home page size under 20 seconds (sites that take more than
20 seconds to load lose up to 50% of their visitors). For your
other pages, keep them under 12 seconds using a 28.8 modem.
According to Web Site
Optimization the download times for this page are shown
below:
Download Time
For:
http://www.1stsitefree.com/test.htm |
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| Connection Rate |
Download Time |
| 14.4K |
22.66 seconds |
| 28.8K |
11.43 seconds |
| 33.6K |
9.83 seconds |
| 56K |
5.98 seconds |
| ISDN 128K |
1.97 seconds |
| T1 1.44Mbps |
0.35 seconds |
*Note that these download times are based on the full
connection rate for ISDN and T1 connections. Modem connections
(56Kbps or less) are corrected by a packet loss factor of
0.7.
Reduce down-load time. "Fat"
graphics are the leading cause of slow-loading Web pages. What's
the secret to reducing download time for a Web page?
- Reduce the number of graphics on your page.
- Use the right image format.
- Optimize your graphics.
- See this page for additional
information.
Test using different
browsers. Your testing should also include using
different browsers to view your Web pages. Browsershots. This is a free
online platform where you can test your Webdesign using different
browsers. When you submit your Web address, it will be added to
the job queue. A number of distributed computers will
automatically open your Website in their browsers. Then they will
make screenshots of the O/S and browser views you request and
upload them to their central server. Test your Web design in different
browsers - Browsershots. Based on my experience, it will take
30 minutes or less to process your request.
Miscellaneous testing. Test your
Web pages with a text-only browser such as Lynx.
Update your files. Based on your testing
results, make all the required changes and FTP your new page to
your host computer.
The final test. Ask other people to evaluate your
Website:
- Ask your friends, relatives, and colleagues to test your
site. Also, ask them to provide you their recommendations on
improving your Website. They will be more than happy to give you
their opinion.
- Consider their recommendations carefully and make the
required changes, spell check your files again and FTP all
changed pages to your host computer.
- Re-validate and spell check all the files you changed.
- The Web
standards checklist. This is a handy list for absolutely
positively making sure you've dotted your i's and crossed your
t's before you launch your Website.
Make a backup copy. Download all your HTML,
image, Javascript, sound and etc. files to your computer and copy
these files to a diskette. Label this diskette as "Backup for My
Website".
OK, world I'm ready for you! Let's go to the next
step - Promote.
Do You Need Help? Don't be shy, if you
have questions or need help creating your Website, just ask me. I
work cheap -- free. The only dumb question is the one not
asked!
If you find this Website useful, donate as little as a $1.00
through the Amazon Honor
System to help me keep it free. Paying is fast and
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