How do you know what sites are credible when coding?

When you are first learning to code and you are checking different resources how do you determine what sites are giving you good solid code. Is there a standard that you can check the sites by?

W3 Schools is a pretty good resource if you're looking for tips & tutorials for various languages/formats: http://www.w3schools.com

Maybe that's what you're looking for?

Just look at site's codes and when you have the coding done post it up for comments on here or SitePoint and you'll get a lot of good feedback. I've done it before and it's helped a lot.

Just run the Script in a Browser if its standalone, or on a Server if it utilizes other scripts/services. You can check for errors, etc. that way.

Originally Posted by Xavier_3D Just run the Script in a Browser if its standalone, or on a Server if it utilizes other scripts/services. You can check for errors, etc. that way.

That completely negates the point. He wants to have good semantic code not just code that 'works'. If you code and post up as said above, people will give you some helpful feedback. Or ask questions about say best way of creating a navigation (or whatever you are unsure of) and we can give you some helpful snippets.

I used HTMLGoodies.com alot when first learning. Like someone said, W3C schools is great.

Look for sites that say W3C Validated and then view their source and use that to learn. XHTML validation can get tough for big sites and it shows some skill to get it done.

You can just visit www.w3.org (World Wide Web Consortium) and click the HTML Validator and the CSS Validator and type the URL you want to check then click check. It will tell you if it's valid HTML or CSS, whichever you are checking.

Originally Posted by Anthillz Look for sites that say W3C Validated and then view their source and use that to learn. XHTML validation can get tough for big sites and it shows some skill to get it done.

No offence, but please don't listen to this. Anyone can code a site and run it through the validator and have it valid. All that means is you've closed all the tags (and some more such as what can be inside what elements) but does not mean the site is WELL coded or semantic.

Originally Posted by Immersion No offence, but please don't listen to this. Anyone can code a site and run it through the validator and have it valid. All that means is you've closed all the tags (and some more such as what can be inside what elements) but does not mean the site is WELL coded or semantic.

Edit:

No offence, but please don't listen to this. Anyone can code a site and run it through the validator and have it valid. All that means is you've closed all the tags (and some more such as what can be inside what elements) but does not mean the site is WELL coded or semantic.

Can't argue that. I can code a site with SO many wrong ways of doing things, and still get it through the validator. On the flipside, I can also have a perfect XHTML Strict job, add target="_blank", and it's not valid. Does that mean the really bad job is better than the good one, just because it's valid? Of course not

@OP. Answer: You don't know. Go to a big PSD->HTML company site and look at their source. It's at least going to be alright. So copy things from their site + portfolio, see how they do things etc