Why should a new media journalist understand and use XHTML?
With advanced web design programmes such as Dreamweaver available some may argue that there is no need for a new media journalist to understand and use XHTML. However, just like with any skill, one needs to understand the basics on which these programmes are built in order to really exploit the full potential of web design coding. XHTML, which stands for eXtensible HyperText Markup Language, is an advanced version of HTML, with many advantages over its predecessor. Joe Gillespie says that using XHTML allows you to “tighten-up your markup, [get] rid of ambiguities and sloppy coding” (Gillespie, 2002) thus improving the robustness of your pages across browsers. As Linda Roeder says, “XHTML is really not all that much different from HTML [it] is really just well informed HTML” (Roeder, 2007).
Now that we have established what XHTML is, we can discuss its relevance and advantages. Bud Kraus (2007) is adamant that although there are many high level web site development tools available to create web content today it is still essential that one learns how to “make web pages, ‘by hand’, the old fashioned way using nothing but a text editor” (Kraus 2007). Firstly, through knowing how to edit XHTML code, one is able to “use web page editors, like Dreamweaver, more effectively by using creative options you otherwise can’t achieve” (Kraus 2007).
Secondly, you gain a huge amount of independence by being able to make or edit a page through a basic text editor such as Notepad without relying on web publishing software. Another advantage is that XHTML allows for “streamlined, easy-to-manage, search engine-friendly web design” which creates “optimized easy-to-manage web sites that upload and download faster” (Kraus 2007). Furthermore, knowing XHTML makes learning other markup languages such as RSS much easier as it shares a common syntax.
Therefore, through developing a solid ground work in XHTML, the new media journalist is able to fully utilise the options which programmes like Dreamweaver provide. Moreover, journalists may find themselves in situations where they do not have access to a web design programme, so knowing XHTML allows one to produce a basic web page through using such a simple application as Notepad.
Works Cited
Gillespie, Joe. 2003. Web page design for designers. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on 26 February 2007:
http://www.wpdfd.com/editorial/wpd0903.htm#feature
Kraus, Bud. 2007. Why learn XHTML and CSS? Retrieved from the World Wide Web on 26 February 2007:
http://www.joyofcode.com/reasons_to_learn.html
Roeder, Linda. 2007. Basics of XHTML – why, what and how. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on 26 February 2007:
http://personalweb.about.com/od/basichtml/a/409xhtml.htm
XHTML tutorial
Retrieved from the World Wide Web on 26 February 2007:
http://www.softlookup.com/tutorial/XHTML/index.asp
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1 comment:
You know, you can hyperlink in your text (and leave a full reference at the bottom of your post). Web people usually use a different referencing style [1], which allows you to even hyperlink inside your document, to the reference.
Also, I would not go as far as using specific product names, since there are a zillion wysiwyg editors around, free and commercial.
and, notepad is not the only free to use text/html/xhtml editor around you know, there are plenty of very powerful, free to use applications.
I worry that you have stuck in too many "informative" statements, giving your post a feeling of having been written by someone who may or may not have explored the topic in depth, and digested the concepts.
[1] Just to show you what i mean. Sources like wikipedia use this style
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