Big Moose

Hi EKC … I’m all about community, too, and people helping each other. Please check your email.

Cheers!

Holy tomatoes!!!

I removed that post-wrap and the closing tag and then revalidated my website. Instead of 29 errors and 33 warnings, I now have 17 errors and only 3 warnings.

That’s so true how it all cascades. That was a great way of describing how this works.

Now the first error that shows up has to do with p versus p1. I’ll tackle that and see what happens. The line break in my navigation links (shows up in Safari and non-Firefox browsers) still hasn’t been fixed, but I’ll address that once I comb through everything else.

Thanks!!

Nuts, I didn’t notice my source code at the bottom of the validation screen. Thanks for pointing that out.

That shot is showing everything — all my php files rolled together into what outputs as my website. But when I look at my header.php file, where the doctype code is located, I don’t see the post-wrap at the top. It does show up as the first line in my home.php file, like this:

<div class="post-wrap">
<?php get_header(); ?>
<?php if ( ( is_home() || is_front_page() ) && get_option('minimal_featured') == 'on') include(TEMPLATEPATH . '/includes/featured.php');?>
<?php if (get_option('minimal_services') == 'on') { ?>
	<?php if (get_option('minimal_featured') == 'false') { ?>
		<div id="services_bg">
	<?php }; ?>
			<div id="services" class="clearfix">

Okay, hold the horses. Does “get the header” call my header.php file? Hmmm, if that’s the case, then that’s how the bugger is showing up on line one. Awesome!!

I’m going to place that snippet of code below the header call and see what happens. I love this detective work, as frustrating as it can be.

My post-wrap div appears to be inside the body and not within the head section. I’m using Firebug to help me locate this.

I did find <div class=”post-wrap”> in the first line position in my home.php file, but that file sits below the head, and so I’m not really understanding this validation error.

You are very kind and helpful. It’s refreshing getting actual help in a support forum.

Thank you.

I know it’s a little hard to understand, but it’s actually “counts.”

Anyway, what matters is what you’re accomplishing with this great website, so never mind the grammar. I agree with relocating the Google ads. In their place I would move the boxes of post excerpts up to that location. You want important content front and center.

Designing websites is a never ending process, though. Ugh. I’m right there with you!!

Best wishes with your awesome organization …

Oh, just read the rest of your comment. Good point about paragraphs. I thought I could add an additional p like this: p1. This fixed a problem I was having. But apparently p and h1, etc. are actual html terms and can’t be modified. I’m so glad to know that. Thank you!!

Wow, you’re awesome. Some actual feedback I can work with. I’m super grateful and will go tackle that right now. Thank you so much!! My goal is to really understand each error on my validation and do my best to correct everything so that my website 100% validates. I’ve got a big learning curve, though, and definitely need help with this.

Very much appreciated, Rev. Voodoo, for giving me something to work with. I never knew that about the head section!!

I would relocate your search bar. It’s very distracting at that size and would be better in your sidebar. This would then draw more attention to your tab links. About those links, I would consider adding a background color or removing the black outline which is kind of hard on my eyes against the white.

And a question … your URL and banner says “Every kid count.” Grammatically it should be “Every kid counts,” and I’m kind of wrestling with that as I read through your site. I’m sure EveryKidCounts.org was already taken, which is why you’ve left off the “s,” but it would be a good idea to somehow address this on your website. You could turn it into word play to justify the incorrect grammar, such as: “Don’t I count?” … “Yes, you count.” … “Every kid?” … “Yes, every single kid.” That’s a little awkward for an example, but if you had some kind of quote or dialogue at the top to justify why there isn’t an “s,” it will make a difference.

Carla

I’m now using a child theme and removed the section of code you listed above. But the black navigation bar still shows up. There seems to be another step that needs to be done. Any suggestions? I’m not finding anything on Youtube. Thanks.

But it’s not there. Where exactly do I find it in the post? You’re talking about the frame where I write my post and that has all those features like bold, italics, etc. I’ve looked at everything and don’t see this. Could the theme I’m using have somehow removed this?

Gosh dang … I looked everywhere for that dumb thing. Thanks a ton, you cute little springy creature!

I’m at the point where I’m much preferring to make changes directly into the existing templates and stylesheet. There’s just way too much to wade through in attempting to understand how to override the parent. Let me know if there’s a good reason why this won’t work, or why I shouldn’t do this … I’m wanting to add some kind of note that lets me know what I’ve modified, like this:

/* XXX */

font-color: #ooo;

/* XXX */

Until I have a good handle on PHP, which is totally new to me, it seems best if I do things this way, and backup everything. The only way this would be a problem, from what I can tell, is if WordPress were to automatically update the version or theme currently being used. But all updates are controlled by the administrator, right? So once I’m comfortable enough with this stuff, I can create a child theme, but for now I can do things directly into the parent files???

Thoughts?

Jduthoit, thanks for taking the time to answer my question. Sites don’t always have to be visible in order to address questions. I’m greateful that esmi pointed out the need for a child theme, but I’m in agreement that my question still warranted a proper response. I’ll post here again once I’ve followed your great instructions and let you know how things turned out. Thanks!

Okay, I’m using the Twenty-ten template and don’t see that line of code in the archive.php template. Where can I make this change?