Haunted Shell validates as both XHTML and CSS compliant. There were a few minor issues with tag placement and a misplaced quote I had to fix up. Easiest validation I’ve ever done. Part of the reason validation was so easy was because the template (Changing man by Stuff And Nonsense) I built my theme from was so elegant and very compliant.

The main issue however was caused by the thickbox.css file used by the NextGen Gallery plugin. That I fixed by using a more compliant thickbox.css file from TheStable.info.That fixed my validation problems but unfortunately does look quite as good. I tried using the NextGen Smooth Gallery plugin which makes allows me to use NextGen Gallery’s excellent managament features and Smooth Gallery’s drool-inducing presentation. Bad idea, even more CSS errors.

Turns out all I needed to do was download the SlimBox plugin, enable it then go into the NextGen gallery settings and change the thumbnail effect to lightbox. That’s all. I get standards complaince and drool-inducing effects.

Edit: However, it seems like posts in which I include galleries won’t validate a XHTML compliant. That should not affect the home page itself since none of the galleries appear there. Have to take a further look into this.

Update: Turns out the problem wasn’t caused by the NextGen Gallery plugin(at least not directly). Seems like the NGG plugin may create validation problems for you if they are explicitly placed within tags(Thanks, Mule!). So I think I now have my layout and design problems licked. Now to focus on writing.