WebLint.pl Error Messages

Note that when fixing the weblint errors, it is usually best to start with the errors generated at the start of your page and fix all that make sense and then rerun weblint because one typo can cause several cascading errors.

file.html(16): unknown element <BADTAG>: You are using an unrecognized tag. Check to make sure it is a legal tag. Then try turning on extensions, e.g. netscape. If you are sure it is legal, send a note to clarke@clarkecomputer.com. Please include why you believe it is legal(point to a spec), and the location of your document that uses it.
file.html(16): unknown element <!>: You are trying to use <!...> for comments, use (add dashes after the <! and before the >). You will get this error if you are using the old templates, change to the new templates.
file.html(20): target for anchor "..." not found.: You specified a link in an <A HREF="..."> that is not found. You should fix the reference to be a valid link.
file.html(20): bad style - heading <H5> follows <H3>: You did something that is frowned on. This isn't an error, but it is best if you clean it up. In the case above, you are confusing the concept of headers and the size and/or boldness of your text. By definition, you can't get to a level 5 header from a level 3 header without a level 4 header. Usually what the page designer is trying to do is to have a slightly larger or bold(strong) text where they are using the level 5 header. Use STRONG or B instead of H5. Maybe even a FONT size="+1".
file.html(20): bad style - bad form to use `here' as an anchor!: You did something that is frowned on. This isn't an error, but it is best if you clean it up. In the example given, use a better description of the document instead of 'here'.
file.html(20): tag <HTML> should only appear once. I saw one on line 18!: You have a tag, e.g. HTML, that should only appear once in your document in two locations(lines 18 and 20, in this case).
file.html(20): value for attribute COLOR (#408080) of element FONT should be quoted (i.e. COLOR="#408080"): Just put quotes around your attribute's value. Only certain characters are allowed in an unquoted value and, normally, you should quote most values. A lot of WSIWYG editors don't quote properly. This can confuse a browser.
file.html(20): cannot appear in the HEAD element.: You put a tag that does not belong in the HEAD element within the HEAD element, place it down in the BODY section instead.
file.html(20): metacharacter '>' should be represented as '>': You put in a metacharacter that could be considered part of markup in the regular text. OR, you incorrectly used the metacharacter. Either fix your usage if that is the problem, or change it so that it can't confuse any browsers.
file.html(20): markup embedded in a comment can confuse some browsers.: You put in a metacharacter that could be considered part of markup in a comment. OR, you incorrectly used the metacharacter. Either fix your usage if that is the problem, or change it so that it can't confuse any browsers. This also happens when you use JavaScript with some form of markup within the script. You can output the ASCII codes for < and > in the JavaScript. Or, just don't worry about it if this is the case. It isn't usually a problem on any browser that runs JavaScript and your page probably doesn't work correctly on one that doesn't.
file.html(20): warning - empty container element .: You have a container tag that does not have anything in it. The most common are empty A's and empty P's. The empty P's indicate that you have redundant P tags in your document and you should just remove some. The empty A's are normally in a &A NAME="..."></A> case. You should have this contain some element of your text so that the browser is sure of what should be at the top of the page when you click on a link. Empty A's that are HREF's are real bad because then you have a link with nothing to click on to follow that link.
file.html(20): <A> cannot be nested -- </A> not yet seen for <A> on line 37.: You have an tag, e.g. A, that cannot be nested within itself. That is, it requires a closing tag, e.g. /A, before another opening tag, but the closing tag was not found in your document before the new opening tag. You will probably see a bunch of these errors generated from just one typo.
file.html(20): unmatched </B> (no matching <B> seen).: You have a closing tag, e.g. /B, but the opening tag is not found in your document. This can happen when you overlap instead of nest container tags.
file.html(20): no closing </HTML> seen for <HTML> on line 22.: You have an tag, e.g. HTML, that requires a closing tag, i.e. /HTML, but the closing tag is not found in your document. This can happen when you overlap instead of nest container tags.
file.html(20): IMG does not have ALT text defined.: You have an image that does not have an ALT. The ALT is text that is displayed if a browser does not support images. If this image does not convey necessary information, you can put in an empty ALT. i.e. ALT=""

If you have received weblint error messages you would like explained, please send email to clarke@clarkecomputer.com. Please include the location of a document that produces the error message.

This service is provided by Clarke Computer Company and was created by Charles Clarke.

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