This panel is part of the Settings Dialogue. It allows you to precisely control the versions of HTML analysed.
Over the years, there have been many many versions of HTML defined. The first was HTML tags back in 1993, right up to the contemporary Living Standard, defined by What WG, updated by browser authors.
By default, SSC verifies websites against a recent version of the Living Standard, but you can choose to verify against older versions of HTML etc..
Note that many older HTML files define which version of the standard they follow. In such cases, SSC will ignore the default given here, and validate the file against the appropriate HTML version.
The Mathematics Markup Language is an extension to HTML supported, in various versions, by many browsers. Here, you can specify which version of MathML is found in any MathML content on the website. By default, SSC prefers a version corresponding to the version of HTML being processed.
Note that MathML 4 has not yet been formally released. If you select MathML 4, SSC validates it against a recent draft of MathML 4.
SVG defines vector graphics, an extension to HTML supported, in various versions, by most browsers. Here, you can specify which version of SVG is found in any SVG content on the website. By default, SSC prefers a version corresponding to the version of HTML being processed.
Note that SVG 2.1 has not been formally defined or released. If you select SVG 2.1, SSC validates it against a recent draft of SVG.
Except for the very earliest version of HTML, all HTML files must start with a <!DOCTYPE …> declaration. Of course, mistakes occur, and sometimes a <!DOCTYPE …> declaration is missing.
Now, technically, only HTML Tags and HTML 1 did not require a <!DOCTYPE …>, thus logically any HTML page missing a <!DOCTYPE …> must be HTML Tags or HTML 1. In practical terms, though, this is a bit silly, given neither version escaped CERN, where HTML was originally defined.
Thus this small set of radio buttons allows you to specify how SSC should treat HTML pages that do not have a <!DOCTYPE …>.
All HTML pages should define the default natural language found on that page. However, it is not uncommon for authors to forget to specify it. Here, you can allow for such ommissions.
If SSC does not know a page’s default language, it cannot spell check the page.
A pages <TITLE>, as specified using the <TITLE> element, appears in a browser’s tab. It is unusual for a tab to have sufficient space to display a long title. Here, you can tell SSC to issue a warning if a page <TITLE> is longer than the given number of characters.
The Living Standard, which defines HTML, inherits some structures from earlier versions of HTML. The Living Standard states that they’re perfectly legal, because they’re inherited from earlier versions of HTML, but they’re also inefficient. Select this checkbox to have SSC warn of such inefficiencies.
wxWidgets is a framework to help programmers develop programs that can be built under many operating systems. It is used by SSC, mostly because it supports a wide range of operating systems, including OpenBSD.
It includes a very small and very limited browser, for use on help pages and the like. Select this checkbox to have SSC warn when HTML is used that can’t be processed by the wxWidgets browser.
Over the years, both Internet Explorer and Apple’s Safari browsers have … reinterptered … (sic) HTML in various ways. Select this checkbox to have SSC ignore such oddities, rather than warn should they be encountered.
These four checkboxes refer to extensions to HTML 2, defined when my cat’s great grandmother was a gleam in a tomcat’s eyes (apologies for the cliché). Select them to have SSC accept the corresponding extensions when processing HTML 2.