Unclear Error Message - Case of block level elements nested into a <p> tag

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I was not aware that the HTML paragraph element (<p> tag) cannot
contain other block level elements.
Browsers are forgiving, and all looked right, so I never noticed the 
problem.
When I tried to validate my page that contained block level elements inside
paragraph elements, the validator correctly rejected the page as wrong.
FYI, I had a list (<ol>) and a horizontal ruler (<hr>) nested into my 
<p> tag.

However, the validator's error message was not clarifying.
It basically shows the text on your FAQ 3.f, which deals with the 
SHORTTAG feature,
and has nothing to do with the problem at hand.
When the HTML error is similar to mine, the error message could
simply state that block level elements cannot be nested inside paragraphs,
and maybe show a couple of counter examples of what is wrong.
such as my wrong code:
<p> ... <ol> ...</ol> ... <hr> ... </p>

It took me quite a while to sort out why the validator was rejecting my 
code!
Eventually I found the answer on your HTML 4.01 specs page.

Anyway, many thanks for this great tool (the validator), and for helping 
me to learn
more about markup languages.

Gus Correa

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Gustavo J. Ponce Correa - Email: gus@ldeo.columbia.edu
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory - Columbia University
P.O. Box 1000 [61 Route 9W] - Palisades, NY, 10964-8000 - USA
Oceanography Bldg., Rm. 103-D, ph. (845) 365-8911, fax (845) 365-8736
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Received on Friday, 12 May 2006 20:33:15 UTC