The Fuji CSS Validator release

The The W3C CSS Validation Service has received an update.

Nice features include what used to be called "advanced options" being moved to the front page (although they are hidden by default, which I don't think is a good idea - its not a large set of options), which should make it easier for people to spot the profile changer.

I also like the new layout, and the option to override the language given to the reader (which comes from the Accept-Language header by default).

On the downside, the means to access the extra options is less then ideal, and it has switched to CSS 2.1 by default..

The first issue should be easily dealt with and I wouldn't be surprised to see a bug fix out very quickly. (Update: as predicted)

The latter issue is more problematic and has lots of politics surrounding it (it doesn't help that development of CSS 2.1 is taking a very long time indeed).

The decision to make CSS2.1 the default profile was taken after careful consideration of:

• requests from the CSS WG, including explanations from experts that CSS2.1 is closer to what implementations of CSS support than CSS2

I can't help but feel that the working group should finish the spec before asking people to use it.

• requests from real-world web developers, who have been using CSS2.1 on a day-to-day basis for a long time, and found it frustrating that the old css2 would still be the default

I hadn't noticed many such requests on the mailing list, what I had noticed was a lot of users who expected CSS 2.1 to be the default and weren't aware that CSS 2 was being used. I think the giving more prominence to the profile picking menu would have helped with that issue.

• the will to encourage the adoption of CSS2.1, which will enter candidate recommendation phase again very soon)

As before - why encourage people to use something before its finished being written and tested?

Overall though, I like the new validator.