Overview

Nowadays creating your own website is not uncommon as it used to be a few years ago. CSE HTML Validator is an application that will check your website pages’ code for syntax errors, broken links and many other problems that guests encounter and you aren’t even aware of. It will, indirectly, help you increase the traffic to your site, because an error free website will build a loyal visitor base. The Lite version of the program includes the most basic tools that you need to fix and enhance the structure of your website. An online solution is also available at .

Installation

The setup process is straightforward and fast with no extra add-ons bundled. Windows XP, Vista and 7 fully support it.

Interface

Most space in the main window is taken up by an area to write and check your code, like in a text editor. There are many buttons on the top and left side for quick access (really helpful since the drop down lists in the menu bar have tons of options), but you can change them or remove them, as it has a very customizable interface. Finally, a log window that keeps record of all the actions and shows you the errors it finds and their explanations is located at the bottom.

Pros

Even with hundreds of lines to check, it can finish any process fast without crashing, a big advantage since you could easily lose all your unsaved work if the program crashed during a syntax check while you are using the internal editor and forgot to save. It also handles system resources very well since it uses so few that sometimes you might even forget it is running.

What is quite impressive is that the program is capable of integrating with other text editors. The internal editor has many features, such as line numbering, syntax highlighting that supports many programming languages (e.g. C/C++, Delphi, Java, Perl, SQL), multiple tabs support to have more than one documents open, and many others, but despite that fact, you can use your preferred text editor to open and view your files while working with HTML Validator, at the same time. This way you can do your job easier and faster.

Cons

No matter how much we tried to find some bugs to report, we couldn’t.

Besides the limited options in the Lite edition, you could say that the drop down lists in the menu bar have many items similar to each other and instead of being categorized in selection boxes, they are all in the same long list, making it harder to find the option you’re looking for. Other than that there aren’t really any disadvantages.

Alternatives

The online is an option or, if you prefer an extension to your browser, you could try (which supports CSE HTML Validator as syntax checker) and . For desktop use, CSE HTML Validator remains the best choice.

Conclusion

CSE HTML Validator is the right program for beginner and advanced users alike when it comes to syntax checking. It can help you fix the issues that appear even if you don’t have special programming skills, and provide you with all the necessary tools to maintain it. We recommend you try the Lite version and upgrade to to benefit from the full features it offers.