problems with validating &

evilhomer

I have just finished the bulk of the work on this site but when i try to validate the html the & in one of my hrefs keeps throwing up 4 errors.

i replace the & with & but whenever i upload the page it becomes & in the source again?!?

Validated page

any suggestions?

JustHalf

What do you mean by "when you upload"?

Are you using FTP (or similar) or are you using a web form?

evilhomer

using ftp

JustHalf

Are you sure you're uploading the right file?

evilhomer

i'm 100% positive.
I have viewed the source then uploaded it and viewed source straight away when it's on site. and it's always, always an & again!?!

JustHalf

Have you tried making other changes to the source, and checking that these have gone through?

evilhomer

made about 20 changes to the source today the only one that does not work is that one.
i use a php include to add the top and bottom menu to the pages.

could that make any difference? i don't see how but you never know!

JustHalf

I'm afraid I don't know that much about PHP. It's certainly possible; all I know is that the PHP interpreter has given a team I worked on nothing but grief.

seamus

That's a weird one alright. Try using PHP to output the ampersand.

That is, have

$amp = "&";

Then everywhere the ampersand appears, stick in

<?php echo $amp ?>

e.g.

...//www.sdcc.ie/index.aspx?pageid=1134<?php echo $amp ?>deptid=14"><img src="/img/parkscrest.png

It's a bit long-winded, but it might let your page validate.

Fionn

How important is it? To be fully W3C compliant

I tested the few sites I have done and they had some faults identified in them, I believe these to be very minor and wouldn’t effect the vast majority of browsers anyway. Seems to be in a few java applets that are on one of the sites.

I do realise that standards are important to enable the cross browser functionality etc. but if the page is doing what is intended and not breaking any browser or being non-functional would it not be better to just leave well enough alone?

Having said that the validator is a great tool and certainly is helpful in making a more functional and compliant site.

Cork Skate

Are you ftp'ing in binary mode ??

Baz_

I don't think its the php just tried a little test there, but if you try the way seamus said and then get back to us and let us know how you go t on...

oh and if that doesnt work, any chance of a look at the source file?

RobertFoster

what editor are you using?

evilhomer

found out what the problem was!
Dreamweaver MX kept changing the & into an & whenever i saved the file!!
Not sure why it does that or if i can turn it off, but that was what was causing it!

Thanks for all your help