Re: Beta: Fatal Error: No DOCTYPE specified!

> * Kim Brooks Wei wrote:
> >This page validated when I uploaded it to the w3.org server, but when
> >I entered the URI for validation of the same page, I got this error
> >message: "Sorry, I am unable to validate this document because its
> >returned content-type was text/plain, which is not currently
> >supported by this service."
>
> The Validator does not support validation for text/plain documents.
> If your document is written in a language the validator does support,
> you need to give it the correct media type. Without further information
> we are unable to help you; maybe you should talk to your service
> provider or system administrator how to setup a correct media type.
>
...

 > Terje commented to me in passing that my host can provide a fix to my
> own parsing issue (pages that are html are identified as text) and
> didn't believe that the tech people at my hosting company were
> unaware of how to fix this issue for me or were unable to explain to
> me what was causing this to happen. Terje felt it was more likely
> that they just didn't feel like trying to explain to me the technical
> complexities of why I was getting this error.

For a straightforward, non-programmer's tutorial on creating and modifying
local .htaccess files that doesn't envolve customization by your ISP support
staff, try this:

http://www.client-success.com/html/htaccess.php

To decide what doctype declaration is best suited to your document, try
www.glish.com as a useful learning resource.

In many troubleshooting cases, the burden is on the user to provide the
"buzz words" in order to get the correct information out of a technical
support situation.  htaccess and MIME (media) type familiarity should help
in this situation.

Good Luck!

M Chamlee

Received on Friday, 1 November 2002 03:53:08 UTC