June 2012 Meeting Report

At our June meeting, we concluded our examination of HTML5 with some final thoughts and some suggestions for implementing this new standard. I have posted an outline of the new, simpler syntax for webpages in the Samples section of this site.

We discussed that some of the old syntax requirements are now optional, but in the case particularly of the script designation, continuing to include a type might be advisable. While JavaScript is generally the default language used for web scripting, it is not the only one out there. Some others include JScript from Microsoft and the proposed Dart language from Google (about which not everyone is happy, as indicated in this article from Ars Technica.)

We closed by noting that with the looser syntax rules of HTML5, it is incumbent on editors of websites to establish standards to maintain reliable and consistent code. One such set of rules is laid out in this article.

To finish up the year with a nice review of HTML5, check this webcast from O'Reilly. It runs about an hour and covers many of the topics that we worked on this year.

June 2012 Meeting Announcement -- HTML5 - The Big Wrap-Up

We have spent several meetings looking at HTML5, what it delivers, and what issues it presents. This month we will put it all together to answer questions like what do I use now, and why, and how? We will have those answers, or at least some suggested guidelines, to get us moving forward with this new technology.

If you still have problems with your website after that meeting, be sure to attend the Web Design SIG session Saturday afternoon. The hour will be devoted to real-time problem solving on members' sites. Bring your issues (web-design only, please) to see if we can crowd-source an answer for you.

May 2012 Meeting Report

At our May meeting, we began by listing the issues about using HTML5 that we are going to discuss for the remainder of this season.

We then took a side trip to look at XML and consider if bringing that technology to websites was the goal of the W3C, as suggested by one commentator. We looked at some examples of using XML to handle information that is accessed through a browser:

•  ListGarden - a utility for converting HTML to XML for an RSS feed or for other platforms.
• Google Earth - Google's mapping program in which locations are plotted using KML, an XML-based language. A list of coordinates can be converted to that format using a free utility like csv2kml.
• GetSimple CMS - a content management system that uses an XML database instead of MySQL.

We will put it all together in June to come up with some guidelines about using HTML5.

May 2012 Meeting Announcement -- "X" - What the Web Might Have Been

Last month we briefly discussed XHTML and where the W3C was going with web standards before HTML5 came along. We started down a side track to look at XML and to consider where the web might have headed if development of the XHTML standard had continued.

This month, we will work a little more on XML with some examples of how it is used on the web today. We will then tie everything together to see where XHTML5 stands presently.

All of this will lead us to  the conclusion we are working toward -- what do I use now and why? We will have that answer by the time we break for the summer.

April 2012 Meeting Report

At our April meeting, we finished up from last month comparing how pages validate under different document type declarations. Using both a simple page and one with advanced HTML5 technologies, we saw that while Firefox rendered the pages the same with any doctype, the validation results were completely different.

For more on document types, check the Wikipedia article on the subject.

We then considered the fact that development of  XHTML2 has been discontinued. XHTML has some strict requirements for validation, as outlined at this site, and at a future meeting, we will consider the advantages of that strict markup and whether the looser markup rules of HTML5 might be something to be cautious about.

We finished up by looking at XML to get an idea of where the web might have been going before HTML5. We will have some more to say on that topic in May before we move on to considering best practices for going forward with HTML5.

April 2012 Meeting Announcement -- HTML5 and XML

Last month we played with different variations of document types applied to a sample webpage and then looked at how the differences played out in a browser (none apparent) and a validator (various errors). This month we will finish up with a couple more examples to see why the simple doctype of HTML5 works reliably.

We will then take a side track to look at XML and consider where the web might have been going with XHTML, and maybe where you want to go with XHTML5 -- yes, there is such a thing.

March 2012 Meeting Report

At our March meeting, we started by comparing the document type declaration in a typical HTML4 webpage with the doctype now used in HTML5: <!doctype html >.

To understand why we can use that doctype now, we worked on seeing what the doctype actually does and how it relates to validation and to the appearance of a webpage. We used a sample HTML file, swapped out doctypes, added and deleted errors, and then validated the file using different doctypes. The result was that the browser (Firefox) displayed the page the same way with each version, while the validator showed different errors each time.

Next month,we will have a couple of final points on this topic before moving on.

The validator we used is at the W3C website.

For more on doctypes, see this somewhat dated article at the W3C site.

March 2012 Meeting Announcement -- HTML5 - The Disappearing DOCTYPE

We have been working with HTML5 this season. We have talked about some of the new tags in HTML5, and how to use them, and how to make them work.

Another aspect of HTML5, though, is the simplification of some aspects of website development. In the next couple of meetings, we will look at these changes, and we will start this month with the always exciting subject of the document type.

When we are done, you might never have to think about the topic again.

February 2012 Meeting Report

We resumed meeting in February, after a snowed-out January meeting.

First, we checked a NY Times experimental implementation of HTML5 for creating an interactive crossword puzzle.

After a review of the stylesheet and script that we use to enable reliable use of HTML5, we looked at the source of a couple of sites that use these techniques -- a WordPress site that uses the Twenty Ten theme, and our workshop blog on Google.

We also touched briefly on the script called Modernizr, which is an HTML5 shiv and more. We will get into that subject when we work with CSS3.

We concluded by pointing out that development of XHTML2 was cancelled by the W3C. We will have more to say about that next month.

February 2012 Meeting Announcement -- HTML5 - What Happened to the "X"?

In December, before the snow hit, we looked at browser behavior to see how the new HTML5 structural tags can be made to work in legacy browsers. This month, we will work on more aspects of this new standard and see how it will make the job of a web developer simpler. In the process, we will consider whatever happened to XHTML.