Should I setup DW8 doc to HTML or XHTML?

[bupkus]

Hi, all.

I just reinstalled Dreamweaver 8 after years of inactivity (I never did learn how to use it) and I'm setting up my first basic "starter page."
I'm given 6 different DTD's with XHTML 1.0 Transitional as the initial default. Looking around, it's now 2009 so I don't know which to use now in an IE8/FF3 world.
Options:
1) none
2) HTML 4.01 Transitional
3) HTML 4.01 Strict
4) XHTML 1.0 Transitional
5) XHTML 1.0 Strict
6) XHTML 1.1

This is of course just a list of options developed back when DW8 was finished. So what is happening today?

Thanks in advance.

 

[MrChad]

My personal vote is HTML 4.01 Strict. It's important to note that the option you select will affect how browsers render your page. For instance, selecting a Strict DOCTYPE will force IE into "Standards Mode", while no DOCTYPE or a Transitional DOCTYPE will force IE into "Quirks Mode". You will probably get more consistent rendering results using a strict DOCTYPE and validating your HTML.

I'm not really a fan of XHTML in general.

 

[Crusty]

In practice it really doesn't matter that much whether you pick an XHTML or HTML standard, but in theory if you are writing XHTML you have to use a web server that can host the content as XML files and not HTML files.

 

[bupkus]

I should have picked up that book on xml when I was at the library.

 

[Crusty]

Originally posted by: bupkus
I should have picked up that book on xml when I was at the library.

Honestly, there isn't a reason to use an XHTML standard unless you have specific requirements to. Stick with a strict HTML like MrChad suggested.

 

[bupkus]

Ok Thanks