[TIP] Debugging Your Code
 

We've all been there, you're working at 2AM and your page is just not working! What can you do? Well, hopefully some of the the other tips I've posted have helped, but there are some other things that you can do.

1. Learn HTML
A lot of people like using vBulletin because they don't have to know HTML. However, since you're reading this on vBulletintempates.com, that means that you're now beginning to "look under the hood" and that means that you're going to be playing around with HTML.

For the down and dirty, you can check out John Michael Pierobon's on-line tutorial "An Introduction to HTML" [link].

If you're really serious about learning HTML, then I highly recommend Layra Lemay's "Teach Yourself Web Publishing with HTML and XHTML in 21 Days" [link] Although the 864 pages may seem daunting, it's one of the best books on HTML that I've ever read.

But you need a fix right now and you don't have time to read a book do you? Well, all hope is not lost. :)


2. Use A Validator
Believe it or not, there is a group that is responsible for the specification on HTML (among other things). The name of this group is the W3C [link]. So, why are they important? Well, they have a free Validator service!

If you point your browser to http://validator.w3.org/ you can validate your code in any number of ways. If you're working on a specific template, then you may want to upload your file and have it validated that way. Regardless of HOW you do it, I've found using a Validator very helpful when I'm bleary eyed and can't find what's causing my code to bomb.

NOTE: vB uses a lot of code that does not comply with the HTML4.1 specification, so you will probably see a lot of weird errors that probably don't relate to your error. If you're new to HTML this can be very daunting. So, if you're not that familiar with HTML, then this may not be much help to you.