Skeleton DOCTYPE Tag Web Pages For Markup Validation

Some HTML will display correctly on some web pages and not on others.

When making things such as widgets or other code intended to be pasted into web pages at other websites, it is prudent to validate the code. It should validate with all DOCTYPE tags.

Read about the different HTML DOCTYPE tags.

These skeleton pages do not include frameset pages. See the above link for more information about DOCTYPE tags for framesets.

This markup validation service may be used to validate web pages.

Below, you'll find skeleton web pages with these DOCTYPE declarations —

The HTML 5.
The HTML 4:
1. HTML transitional
2. HTML strict
The XHTML 1:
1. XHTML transitional
2. XHTML strict

To validate code intended for use on web pages at other people's websites, paste the code into a skeleton below, save it on your own website, and have it validated.

If it validates, you're good to go. If not, change the code until it does validate.

DOCTYPE HTML 5

Use this skeleton to validate your code on a web page with HTML 5 DOCTYPE declaration.

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" >
<title>HTML 5</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>HTML 5</h1>

</body>
</html>

DOCTYPE HTML 4.01 Transitional

Use this skeleton to validate your code on a web page with DOCTYPE HTML transitional.

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd">
<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" >
<title>HTML Transitional</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>HTML Transitional</h1>

</body>
</html>

DOCTYPE HTML 4.01 Strict

Use this skeleton to validate your code on a web page with DOCTYPE HTML strict.

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/strict.dtd">
<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" >
<title>HTML Strict</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>HTML Strict</h1>

</body>
</html>

DOCTYPE XHTML 1.0 Transitional

Use this skeleton to validate your code on a web page with DOCTYPE XHTML transitional.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">
<head>
<title>XHTML Transitional</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>XHTML Transitional</h1>

</body>
</html>

DOCTYPE XHTML 1.0 Strict

Use this skeleton to validate your code on a web page with DOCTYPE XHTML strict.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head>
<title>XHTML Strict</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>XHTML Strict</h1>

</body>
</html>

Will Bontrager

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