Great XHTML manual?

[michaelsanford]

My office's web team (me ane one other guy) is redoing our web site in XHTML.

What are your reccomendations for good XHTML manuals?

I am seriuosly not a fan of online manuals. Though the MySQL and PHP online manuals are amazing, as far as I've seen, they are the only ones written so well.

Thanks!

[uoba]

Hmmm, try http://www.w3schools.com for a XHTML tutorial. I also followed the XML tutorial which was really good. I've just ordered a XHTML book from Amazon but haven't received it yet so can't vouch for it.

DWMX covers XHTML pretty well, if it's what you are using.

[michaelsanford]

Yeah I am using DWMX actually, but I don't like it. Mostly I use PageSpinner and Pico actually

[uoba]

Ah, a Pico kind of guy... never tried PageSpinner! I love Pico, but I could never do my html in it! (I break out in a rash if I don't UI!)

[mr. k]

I found that just knowing a little html and using this online tutorial along with the w3c's xhtml drafts has got me pretty far... I didn't want to drop $30 on a book, and now I can build sites that are nice with just xhtml and css.
The css is that hardest part, because xhtml is just markup -- no more bull like font tags and that. And because browser support for a lot of css still varies wildly it can be a challenge to make a site validate and display right on different platforms.
But good luck, I found that xhtml isn't that much different from html. And ick, how can people build websites in dreamweaver :# ...

[Dusky]

And ick, how can people build websites in dreamweaver :# ...

I can't see myself trusting WYSIWYG editors. I use BBEdit Lite (free). Are there actually people who use WYSIWYG even though they can code raw HTML? What are the benefits?

I fear the editor would add an unnecessary character too many... enough reason not to trust it. I like to know the exact contents of the HTML source, and the purpose of each piece of code.

[michaelsanford]

I know actually I hate DWMX, it's SO slow on my machine (below). I only use if it I can't figure out how to code a table properly, and then I have to go back in and fix it up with all the font and p stuff it messes up.

Thanks for the replies guys!

[uoba]

Hey, less of the WYSIWYG editor bashing... I can code HTML no problem, but DWMX cuts my time in half, lets me figure out page layouts a lot easier, and, actually works! My clients don't seem to complain either (more importantly, neither do the developers I use!)

I leave the hand-code stuff for PHP and MySQL etc.