Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

What does VSE Web Site Turbo do to optimize my HTML documents?

VSE Web Site Turbo knows about 100 (!) optimization possibilities to make your HTML documents smaller and faster. The optimizations fall in different categories:

• Removing unecessary characters. All those spaces, tabs and returns makes your HTML document more readable for authoring but it just increases the time the web browser needs to download and parse through your document.
• Removing optional tags. The HTML specification defines some optional tags. VSE Web Site Turbo only removes those optional tags when the web browsers follow the specification. The optional tags are: </COLGROUP>, </DD>, </DT>, </LI> and </OPTION>.
• Removing redundant tags introduced by authoring tools. Example: Claris Home Page likes to add the <X-SAS-WINDOW> tag to your documents, which is only used by the application itself. Web browsers do not use it.
• Removing redundant tag attributes. Example: The <IMG> tag attribute “HSPACE=0” is simply not needed.
• Unquoting tag attributes. Example: The HTML specification says that <TABLE WIDTH=“100”> can be shortened to <TABLE WIDTH=100>
• Shortening tags. Example: The tag <STRIKE> can be expressed as <S>, which is smaller.
• Shortening tag attributes. Example: The tag <OPTION selected=“selected”> can be shortened to <OPTION selected>.
• Removing comments from HTML and JavaScript texts.
• Qualifying URL's.

How much smaller are my documents in average?

For web pages authored by hand, VSE Web Site Turbo saves 8-15 % on average. For web pages created with authoring tools, VSE Web Site Turbo saves 30-50 % on average.

However, it really depends on the content of the individual HTML document. Complex HTML documents with lots of tables and images can be optimized much better than pure text.

Does VSE Web Site Turbo remove meta information or HTML comments?

Short answer: Yes, but only if you want. You can fine-tune VSE Web Site Turbo's behavior in the Preferences window.

Does VSE Web Site Turbo work with proprietary tags?

Some authoring tools and web server plugins add proprietary tags to HTML documents, which are not listed in the HTML specification. When VSE Web Site Turbo encounters an unknown syntax, it does not take any action on that element.

Why did VSE Web Site Turbo change the appearance of my web pages?

This may have several reasons:

• You have selected optimization methods that might change the appearance of your web pages in the Preferences window. Solution: Uncheck these option.
• You have selected the Remove HTML comments checkbox in the Preferences window, so that VSE Web Site Turbo has removed the HTML comments. Unfortunately, you use an automated page-generating tool that relies on these comments. Solution: Uncheck this option.
• Nearly impossible: You use a web browser that strictly follows the HTML 4.0 specification. VSE Web Site Turbo knows some ways to make your web pages as small as possible, which are supported by the widely spread web browsers Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer. Solution: Only select optimization options that are compliant with the HTML 4.0 specification in the Preferences window.
• Finally, VSE Web Site Turbo might have removed an HTML tag or some characters, which should not have been removed. Please use our bug report form. We will fix this problem for you as soon as possible.