September 16, 201411 yr Hi All I have always coded in XHTML strict (at least for the last few years anyway). The time has come that a client of mine wants me to totally revamp his website. I originally built the site 5 years ago using XHTML, PHP and a bit of Javascript). My question is, now that I am about to embark on a major revamp, do I code in good old XHTML Strict, or is it time to dip in to HTML5? I have googled the pros and cons and seem some pros to which I think "yes, lets do it" but then I see some cons where I think "oh no, I don't like the sound of that". But to be fair, a lot of the cons seemed to be to do with browser compatibilty, and a lot of the people airing concerns was back in 2008, 2009, 2010 etc. So here we are in 2014, i'm about to code a site for a medium sized business. The spec. is a classy looking website, 1,000 + products in a database, SQL database, shopping basket, back end control panel where they can manage aspects of their own site. So...XHTML.....or HTML5
September 16, 201411 yr Definitely do it (html5), also don't forget one of the most important upgrades you could do for your client in today's market.. Make it responsive.
September 16, 201411 yr Yes, while the spec is not official yet, it is now considered indusrty standard to use HTML5
September 16, 201411 yr Yes, while the spec is not official yet, it is now considered indusrty standard to use HTML5 If we had to wait for specs to be made official we'd be waiting a long time
September 16, 201411 yr Author OK then, sounds like a "YES" vote then What do you reckon the best way to start for me is? I have printed off a guide of all the tags & attributes availaable in HTML5 so should I just open with the the new <!DOCTYPE html> and crack on from there, maybe questioning each tag after that to see if there is a better alternative to the old XHTML?
September 16, 201411 yr The HTML5 boilerplate really helped me in the early years, I'm not sure if it's still current though.I still use HTML5 doctor every now and then to look an element up. If you're unsure on how something should be used, that's probably the best resource out there.Lastly. I bought the book 'HTML5 For Web Designers' when it first came out, it's well worth a read and is available online for free. It covers a lot of the basics, best practices, and gives you an overview of things that have changed.
September 16, 201411 yr Also make use of caniuse.com which will give details of browser and device support for HTML5 features. Also useful for details of support for CSS, JSAPI and SVG. Overall though support for the majority of HTML5 elements is pretty good in most modern browsers. IE8 is about the only major concern and many HTML5 features can be used in that via JavaScript solutions.
September 17, 201411 yr I you worry about compatibility just set display properties for the HTML5 block elements in your stylesheet. Then they will render correct in older browsers too. Something like this: header, footer, section, aside { display: block; }
September 17, 201411 yr If we had to wait for specs to be made official we'd be waiting a long time Indeed we would, I suspect this is why it's already been considered inustry standard for a considerable time now
September 20, 201411 yr With HTML5 as with CSS3 it's not so much "Can I use this at all?" but more "Can I use this particular part of the spec?" As you are replacing an existing site you have all the information you need in the logs to find out what browsers you need to support, you can then use that information to decide what HTML5 features you can use and how much you need to polyfill them. HTML5 is backwards compatible by default so unless you start using specific HTML5 elements or features you shouldn't encounter any issues. The main thing has already been noted in the thread. Some older browsers, including IE8, will not allow you to apply CSS to elements they don't understand so you need to either set them to display block or use the html5shim to do that for you. This HTML5Doctor post - from 2010 - covers a lot of the basics: http://html5doctor.com/how-to-use-html5-in-your-client-work-right-now/ Other HTML5 stuff, for example form fields, will just fallback nicely in old or non-supporting browsers. For example if you use the new HTML5 form field for email in a supporting browser you'll be prompted if you don't enter a valid looking email address, in a non-supporting browser you would get the standard text input field. Hope that helps.
September 20, 201411 yr Hey it's the Rachel Andrew lady from 24ways.org i've read quiet a few of your posts on there - welcome! incidentally what about screen reader support for html5 elements (say compared with desktop browser support) ?
September 20, 201411 yr Hey it's the Rachel Andrew lady from 24ways.org i've read quiet a few of your posts on there - welcome! incidentally what about screen reader support for html5 elements (say compared with desktop browser support) ? Hello Rachel @@davep - as far as screenreader support it's pretty much the same but the new HTML5 element add extra semantic meanings - http://webaim.org/blog/future-web-accessibility-html5-semantic-tags/ is a good read. I'm not sure how up to date various screenreading software is but I'd have assumed most of the popular ones have been updated to recognise the new elements. Edited September 20, 201411 yr by BlueDreamer
September 24, 201411 yr I am focusing on HTML5 and jQuery Mobile apps at the moment and think that is unlikely to change. Firstly, I couldn't care less what Apple thinks... That is over, onwards, Secondly, don't think in terms of replacing iOS or android, more what will become the framework of choice from here on for building applications. I find HTML5 comes with less clutter and a growing global support. the chrome store is filling up with HTML5 developed apps. Consider the ease of deployment when accessing and delivering apps. Unlike native apps, HTML 5 developed apps require very little to work on a number of devices. You just create one version for all platforms - a time saver and money saver. HTML5 is super customisable, improved functions for video and audio tags, I can go on but to be honest, that should be enough.
October 3, 201411 yr I want to add that I am testing out a few front end tools and as one can create HTML5 compliant sites namely: Kendo UI jResponse jQuery Mobile Building an HTML5 site in jResponse was quick enough. So far, I can create apps quick in jQuery Mob and jResponse. I think this trial of Kendo is limited. I want to test out Google's Web Designer as well as it has good scripting support.
October 10, 201411 yr You should choose HTML 5 . and the most important thing no one has mention yet. website should be responsive and user friendly and search engine friendly as well. A search engine friendly website will come up in very short time and you will need to do a lots of SEO on it.
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