Website Optimization Measures, Part VII

Post from October 6, 2009 (↻ December 5, 2021), filed under Web Development.

This and many other posts are also available as a pretty, well-behaved ebook: On Web Development. And speaking of which, here’s a short treatise just about managing the quality of websites: The Little Book of Website Quality Control (updated).

Long time no see.

• Getting used to the unquoted attribute value syntax. In HTML you oftentimes don’t need to quote attribute values (the markup would still be valid). Omitting optional tags and making use of RFC 2396/3986 at the same time, the code of coderesponsibly.org and example.ms turned into beauty. Even if that’s in the eye of the beholder.

• Dropping q elements. Everyone knows that styling q elements is still not working consistently (just think :lang()). Next, the HTML 5 spec is clear: “The use of q elements to mark up quotations is entirely optional.” Hence, gone they are, the qs.

• Removing Google Friend Connect. I’m still a fan of Google Friend Connect, but the 70 KB script and, though I couldn’t consistently reproduce them anymore when writing this post, some “Back” button problems made me remove GFC from my sites.

• Abandoning custom feed styling. A CSS connoisseur, I love styling more than just HTML documents. So I do style RSS feeds, Atom feeds, other XML documents. A good exercise, the outcome nice to look at, but considering the cost of problem as well as the obligation to maintain what I did, I found that at least styling feeds is not worth it. Hence, vanished, those specific feed style sheets.

• Focusing on work/life balance. Quod erat demonstrandum.

This being just four and a half tips, next time we’ll welcome again the usual sixty-five.

This is a part of an open article series. Check out some of the other posts!

About Me

I’m Jens, and I’m an engineering lead—currently manager for Developer Experience at LivePerson—and author. I’ve worked as a technical lead for Google, I’m close to W3C and WHATWG, and I write and review books for O’Reilly. I love trying things, sometimes including philosophy, art, and adventure. Here on meiert.com I share some of my views and experiences.

If you have a question or suggestion about what I write, please leave a comment (if available) or a message. Thank you!

Comments (Closed)

1. On October 6, 2009, 9:22 CEST, Rimantas said:

   I think you should drop three last lines in coderesponsibly.org source.

2. On October 6, 2009, 15:55 CEST, Jens Oliver Meiert said:

   Rimantas, you mean the entire Google Analytics script? Because of the script size I reckon?

3. On October 6, 2009, 17:40 CEST, Duluoz said:

   Just a quick error…

   “Then the the HTML 5 spec is quite clear: ”

   Note the double the.

   :) Great article!

4. On October 6, 2009, 17:41 CEST, Duluoz said:

   Sorry Jens! - I meant to send the error to your contact - not comment.

5. On October 6, 2009, 21:52 CEST, Jens Oliver Meiert said:

   Thanks David! (I noticed when proof-reading but couldn’t correct it any earlier.)

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