HTML validation with https://validator.w3.org

Question

I run the html validator ( https://validator.w3.org ) through the Q2A home page and show many errors.  Even here, the official Q2A page: http://www.question2answer.org/qa/

Scott are you aware of this?  

I also thought to run HTML Validation in the new 1.8 version demo:  http://demo18.question2answer.info/

I entered one question and then run the test.  I saw 3 errors and 1 warning:

1. Warning: The border attribute is obsolete. Consider specifying img { border: 0; } in CSS instead.

   From line 102, column 62; to line 102, column 164

   answers"><img src="./qa-theme/Snow/images/rss.jpg" alt="" width="16" height="16" border="0" class="qa-rss-icon"></a>↩<

2. Error: The itemprop attribute was specified, but the element is not a property of any item.

   From line 119, column 38; to line 119, column 78

   nt-data">0<meta itemprop="upvoteCount" content="0"></span

3. Error: The itemprop attribute was specified, but the element is not a property of any item.

   From line 131, column 35; to line 131, column 56

   -bbc-ggf"><span itemprop="name">Hello

4. Error: The itemprop attribute was specified, but the element is not a property of any item.

   From line 137, column 35; to line 137, column 132

   hen-data"><time itemprop="dateCreated" datetime="2017-02-21T21:01:31+0000" title="2017-02-21T21:01:31+0000">25 sec

Comments

I was able to improve my system with your pointers. Thanks.

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yes, my website too.  I am amazed how many tools (payed tools)  out there fail to validate correctly.

Answer 1

I filed this as a issue, someone will fix. Thanks for reporting.

https://github.com/q2a/question2answer/issues/494

Comments

It is not only on home page.  Seems all pages give errors and warning in validation tool.  For example check this page:
http://question2answer.org/qa/49781/how-to-config-nginx-on-ubuntu-for-q2a

Answer 2

Validation errors aren't usually something to be too concerned with (as long as the HTML isn't a complete mess). Browsers ignore any attributes they don't understand.

The 'itemprop' attributes are for the Schema.org microdata so they're required.

The 'border' attribute still works in all browsers but yes we should probably replace that with CSS if possible. I also saw an error about the 'width' attribute when I tested the Q2A homepage.

I also saw an issue with a <div> inside a <span> which can cause issues in some circumstances so I'll look into changing that.

Comments

The Google guidelines state "Use valid HTML."

I try to have all my websites validate correctly.  I know it is not critical, as long as the browser can display it to the viewer.

Even if it has no impact at all, I just think it is good programming practice.  Whenever I use code from another developer and it does not validate correctly, I become a little  uneasy.