HTML mistakes in comments now automatically fixed

by David Alpert • June 20, 2009 9:50 am

Occasionally, someone posts a comment with some HTML, like an <i> tag to start italics, and then forgets to close it with a </i>. That used to make every subsequent comment also italicized until someone posted a comment ending the italics.

Photo by Jesper Rønn-Jensen.

I've added code to automatically clean up HTML in comments. This will automatically detect, and fix, unclosed tags and other HTML errors. It should otherwise leave your comment unchanged, though it's possible it might make other changes. If you experience anything weird, post a comment or email info@ggwash.org.

9 comments

Tags: meta

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David Alpert is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Greater Greater Washington and Greater Greater Education. He worked as a Product Manager for Google for six years and has lived in the Boston, San Francisco, and New York metro areas in addition to Washington, DC. He loves the area which is, in many ways, greater than those others, and wants to see it become even greater.

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Thanks! How did you do it?

by Michael Perkins on Jun 20, 2009 1:08 pm • link • report

I used the program/software library HTML Tidy, which automatically rewrites a Web page into a more correct version. When you submit a comment, it now runs that comment through HTML Tidy before saving it.

by David Alpert on Jun 20, 2009 1:55 pm • link • report

woo! of course, i'm going to have to test that out.

by aj on Jun 20, 2009 4:12 pm • link • report

testing testing one two three four five

by Squalish on Jun 20, 2009 5:29 pm • link • report

I'm glad you did this. I broke the GGW the other day just this way.

by Trulee Pist on Jun 20, 2009 7:34 pm • link • report

Eep! make sure you double check to make sure your site is not vulnerable to SQL injections too! very important!

by tec on Jun 20, 2009 8:31 pm • link • report

The success of the Shuttle-Bug, a transit service created by a neighborhood volunteer group, will be celebrated this Thursday, June 25th, 6pm at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 400 I Street SW.

The Shuttle-Bug is a free, primarily developer-funded neighbor-to-neighbor shuttle bus transportation service connecting communities North of I Street, SW with the Waterfront Mall Metrorail station and daily necessities from Safeway (the only grocery in SW) CVS, and Bank of America. From the Mall, the Shuttle-Bug transports people to bus stops near their homes, to the library, Southeastern U. and Monday night Blues and Friday night Jazz at Westminster Presbyterian Church.

Shuttle-Bug riders used to walk along 4th Street SW and through the lobby of the old EPA building to Metrorail and shopping. Since shortly before the EPA building was razed, this path has been blocked by construction. Consequently, residents had to take alternative pathways - which have proven to be less than safe. The Shuttle-Bug is the result of a focused two-year grass-roots community organizing effort led by a community-based volunteer organization: the SouthWest Action Team (SWAT).

The Shuttle-Bug is a remediation measure for this construction project, with strong support from the District and 70% funded by the developers.

City Administrator Neil Albert, Ward 6 Councilmember Tommy Wells, Dr. Clarence Brown, Exec. Director, DC Office on Aging, and the private sector funders: Waterfront Associates LLC & The View will be joining Shuttle-Bug riders in this celebration.

by Steve Yaffe on Jun 21, 2009 10:27 am • link • report

Can you add a spell checker? I'm an embarressingly(sp?) bad speller.

by Bianchi on Jun 22, 2009 2:42 pm • link • report

I'll look into it. In the meantime, I suggest using Firefox, which automatically spell checks text you type into any text box.

by David Alpert on Jun 22, 2009 2:49 pm • link • report