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W3Fools - A W3Schools Intervention

w3fools.com

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Re: W3Fools - A W3Schools Intervention

#21

Post by jdub »

steverenz wrote: post #9
ambirex wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps the using the term "fools" could be seen as an attack. They do bring up some interesting grievances.

Their points are valid of course...but it seems laughably naive to treat this as some kind of cause that developers should rally around. And their response to "why don't you build a better version' made me laugh - it sort of encapsulates internet culture in general. I'd like to see more links to better sites for rank beginners than this "call to arms" stuff.

The best links to web documentation for all (rank beginners to experts) are included on the w3fools page.

Re: W3Fools - A W3Schools Intervention

#22

Post by bentruyman »

justinph wrote: post #20

I agree with the sentiment here, but not the way in which this goes about it. W3schools' name is a little scammy, but the info they house is useful. The issues w3fools cite are pretty esoteric and/or very nit-picky. For instance: | www.w3schools.com/tags/tag_q.asp. | Browser Support. The tag is supported in all major browsers, | except Internet Explorer. This is blatantly false; tags work just fine in IE8. Uh, yeah,…

I think the volume of incorrect information is relevant here. Even though you may consider your example to be "nit-picky", the sheer amount of poor examples and incorrect interpretations shouldn't go ignored.

Not to mention attempts have been made to contact those behind W3Schools, and nothing has been done.

Re: W3Fools - A W3Schools Intervention

#23

Post by Roridge »

Would it be wrong to point out that the missing parts of the source for w3fools.com ? Or observing that placement of things like the google analytics code at the bottom, instead of the head?

Or would that make me pedantic?

Re: W3Fools - A W3Schools Intervention

#24

Post by jacquesm »

Don't bitch, fix it. Build your own w3schools and make a go of it, obviously these are huge oversights that need to be addressed by competent technical professionals that are as dedicated as these guys are.

Really, as long as you define yourself by attacking such a mediocre institution as w3schools you still have a ways to go.

Google didn't get where they are by pointing at altavista and their crappy search results, they got where they are by doing better.

No 'rallying' required, all it takes is spit and determination. Of course that's a lot harder than bitching.

Re: W3Fools - A W3Schools Intervention

#25

Post by alextgordon »

W3Schools is great because it covers everything, in an approachable manner. For the one occasion a year I use XPath, W3Schools has a nice refresher and function reference.

Sure, the information may be imprecise or just plain wrong, but we have to remember that this is for absolute beginners. Merely having errors does not make w3schools worthless, and a lack of errors does not make alternatives better.

The material on W3Schools is split into bite-sized chunks, along with numerous examples, references, quizzes, try it yourself areas... None of the alternatives suggested are this well organized.

Just think what kind of HTML tutorial could have been created with the time and effort it took to build w3fools.com.

Re: W3Fools - A W3Schools Intervention

#26

Post by danheberden »

alex_c wrote: post #14

While everyone else was busy bitching about ExpertsExchange, a few people got together, built a much better alternative, and now dominate Google search results. As far as I can tell, these guys are dismissing that option because it's too much work.

Yeah, I spend my time on an open-source library used by thousands of people and supported said library, helping users with problems and contributing to documentation. So dumb to link to already available, good resources instead of building a better alternative. I wish I wasn't so lazy!

Re: W3Fools - A W3Schools Intervention

#27

Post by bentruyman »

jacquesm wrote: post #24

Don't bitch, fix it. Build your own w3schools and make a go of it, obviously these are huge oversights that need to be addressed by competent technical professionals that are as dedicated as these guys are. Really, as long as you define yourself by attacking such a mediocre institution as w3schools you still have a ways to go. Google didn't get where they are by pointing at altavista and their crappy search results,…

Maybe you missed this: http://w3fools.com/#build-one-yourselves

Re: W3Fools - A W3Schools Intervention

#28

Post by [deleted] »

paulirish wrote: post #19
unreal37 wrote: post #10

First let me say, I am a web developer and use W3Schools as a reference. The web would be a worse place without it. They deserve their high Google ranking. So to attack something that is on the whole good, which may be 99% accurate but not 100% accurate, seems mean-spirited. Someone put a lot of time into this, and it's a shame they didn't do something productive instead of destructive.

> it's a shame they didn't do something productive instead of destructive. The people behind this project are also developers and contributors to projects like jQuery, Dojo, Prototype, Chrome Developer Tools, jQuery UI, svgweb, HTML5 Boilerplate...

[deleted]

Re: W3Fools - A W3Schools Intervention

#29

Post by jacquesm »

bentruyman wrote: post #27
jacquesm wrote: post #24

Don't bitch, fix it. Build your own w3schools and make a go of it, obviously these are huge oversights that need to be addressed by competent technical professionals that are as dedicated as these guys are. Really, as long as you define yourself by attacking such a mediocre institution as w3schools you still have a ways to go. Google didn't get where they are by pointing at altavista and their crappy search results,…

Maybe you missed this: http://w3fools.com/#build-one-yourselves

I don't see any building, I just see a strange kind of entitlement mixed with a taste of blackmail.

Really, they're just bitching about the google rankings when you really think about it, because 'they know closures' or something to that effect.

w3schools is ranked highly because lots of people linked to it and it seems to have helped them in some way or other. If you feel that that ranking is not correct then maybe start your own search engine as well while you're at it?

Re: W3Fools - A W3Schools Intervention

#30

Post by danheberden »

rmason wrote: post #4

I think w3schools would benefit greatly from an open dialog with the community or perhaps an advisory board. But launching a frontal assault isn't the way to solve the problem. I note with irony that the w3fools site displays as a blank page in IE-8 ;<(

If you read the content of the site, w3schools was attempted contact multiple times. They also browsed the github repo and started making changes to their site to save face.

You're absolutely right, if they made it something community driven and contributed to, it'd rock! That's why MDC is linked to, it's a wiki!

p.s. ie8 working cool for me :)

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