This Guidebook is the collected wisdom of the W3C Group Chairs and other collaborators.

Document Requirements

The Document Contact MUST verify that the requirements in this section (listed in "document order") have been satisfied before requesting publication. How to Organize a Recommendation Track Transition explains the remainder of the publication process.

See the sample below that has been generated by the parameters you have chosen in the form at the top of this document, summarized here:

• Document type: Ordinary Working Draft
• Working Group Patent Policy: W3C Patent Policy
• Expected to become a Recommendation: yes
• Includes normative material: yes
• Relation to previous Recommendations of same major revision: No previous Recommendation

Highlighted test results appear after each provision. Several resulttypes require attention: Errors, Warnings, and those marked "Please verify." For the latter, some test results include a link to a tool to help verify the requirement has been satisfied.

1. Normative Document Representation

1. normativeVersionTest At least one normative representation MUST be available for requests that use the "This Version" URI. More than one normative representation MAY be delivered in response to such requests. A "This Version" URI MUST NOT be used to identify a non-normative representation.
   Please verify manually; not tested.
2. valideHTMLTestrecursive All normative representations MUST validate as one of the following: HTML 4.x, some version of XHTML that is a W3C Recommendation, or RDFa in XHTML. Team Contacts please see the Communications Team to propose additional exceptions.
   OK The W3C Markup Validation Service was used for the validation of this document.
3. valideBackwardTest To help ensure backwards compatibility, at least one normative representation MUST identify itself as HTML 4.x, XHTML 1.0, or RDFa in XHTML.
   Warning The DOCTYPE found was: XML, which is not one of the required DOCTYPEs. The W3C Markup Validation Service was used for the validation of this document.
4. Visual styles SHOULD NOT vary significantly among normative alternatives.
   Please verify manually; not tested.

2. Document Metadata

1. goodStylesheetTestrecursive Each document MUST include the following absolute URI to identify a style sheet for this maturity level: http://www.w3.org/StyleSheets/TR/W3C-WD

   Include this source code:
   <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="http://www.w3.org/StyleSheets/TR/W3C-WD"/>

   Error. The W3C style sheet should be http://www.w3.org/StyleSheets/TR/W3C-WD. No style sheet found.
2. lastStylesheetTestrecursive Any internal style sheets MUST be cascaded before this link; i.e., the internal style sheets MUST NOT override the W3C tech report styles.
   Is the last style sheet used the W3C one? Error : There seems to be a style sheet link that follows the required W3C style sheet in the cascade order. Found instead .

3. Front Matter

1. divClassHeadTest The front matter MUST appear at the beginning of the body of the document, within <div class="head">. There is one exception to that requirement: the hr element after the copyright MAY appear inside or after the div element. Editors SHOULD NOT include other information in this section.
   Is there a <div class="head"> section? Error No div element with class="head" found.

Logos

1. logoTest The document MUST include a link to the W3C logo identified below. The URI used to identify the logo MUST be absolute.
   
   Include this source code:
   <a href="http://www.w3.org/"><img height="48" width="72" alt="W3C" src="http://www.w3.org/Icons/w3c_home"/></a>
   Error No div element with class="head" found.

Title, Date, Maturity Level

1. titleTest The document's title MUST be in the title element and in an h1 element.
   Error No div element with class="head" found.
2. Technical report version information, i.e., version and edition numbers.
   1. See the (non-normative) Version Management in W3C Technical Reports for more information
   Please verify manually; not tested.
3. dateTitleH2Test The document's status and date MUST be in an h2 element as follows (see also date syntax):

   <h2>W3C Working Draft 14 August 0001</h2>

   Is the dated status h2 title correct? Error: No appropriate document status found within h2.

Document Identifiers

1. docIDFormat Document identifier information MUST be presented in a dl list, where each dt element marks up an identifier role ("This Version", "Latest Version", "Previous Version", etc.) and each dd element includes a link whose link text is the identifier.
   Error: "This version" link not found
2. docIDOrder Document identifier information MUST be present in this order:
   • This version URI.
   • Latest version URI(s). See also the (non-normative) Version Management in W3C Technical Reports for information about "latest version" URI and version management.
   • Previous version URI
   Error No div element with class="head" found.
3. docIDThisVersion The syntax of a "This Version" URI MUST be <http://www.w3.org/TR/0001/WD-shortname-0001MMDD/>.
   Error No div element with class="head" found.
4. docIDLatestVersion The syntax of a "Latest Version" URI MUST be <http://www.w3.org/TR/shortname/>.
   Error No div element with class="head" found.
5. docIDDate The title page date and the date at the end of the "This Version" URI MUST match.
   Error, the date of the document (00010101) and the one of the URI () don't match (or the status subtitle is not in the expected format W3C Status [D]D Month YYYY)

Editor/Author Information

1. editorSectionTestThe editors'/authors' names MUST be listed. Affiliations and email addresses are OPTIONAL; email addresses are NOT RECOMMENDED. If an editor/author is acknowledged in an earlier version of this document and the individual's affiliation has since changed, list the individual using the notation "<name>, <affiliation> (until DD Month YYYY)". If the list of authors is very long (e.g., the entire Working Group), identify the authors in the acknowledgments section, linked from the head of the document. Distinguish any contributors from authors in the acknowledgments section.
   Is there an Editor or Author section in the head of the document? Error (no <dt> elements begining by 'Author' or 'Editor' found)

Links to non-normative document representations

1. Authors MAY provide links to alternative (non-normative) representations or packages for the document. For instance:

   <p>This document is also available in these non-normative formats: <a href="WD-shortname-20020101.html">single HTML file</a>, <a href="WD-shortname-20020101.tgz">gzipped tar file of HTML</a>.</p>

   Please verify manually; not tested.

Copyright Information

1. copyrightTest The copyright MUST use the following markup (fill in with the appropriate year, years, or year range). The abbr element MAY be used in place of acronym.

   Copyright © 0001 W3C^® (MIT, ERCIM, Keio), All Rights Reserved. W3C liability, trademark and document use rules apply.

   Include this source code:
   <p class="copyright"><a href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Legal/ipr-notice#Copyright">Copyright</a> © 0001 <a href="http://www.w3.org/"><acronym title="World Wide Web Consortium">W3C</acronym></a>^® (<a href="http://www.csail.mit.edu/"><acronym title="Massachusetts Institute of Technology">MIT</acronym></a>, <a href="http://www.ercim.eu/"><acronym title="European Research Consortium for Informatics and Mathematics">ERCIM</acronym></a>, <a href="http://www.keio.ac.jp/">Keio</a>), All Rights Reserved. W3C <a href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Legal/ipr-notice#Legal_Disclaimer">liability</a>, <a href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Legal/ipr-notice#W3C_Trademarks">trademark</a> and <a href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Legal/copyright-documents">document use</a> rules apply.</p>
   Error. No copyright paragraph located.
2. hrAfterCopyrightTest A horizontal rule (hr) MUST follow the copyright.
   Is there a <hr/> after the copyright? Error. No proper hr element found.

4. Document Abstract

1. abstractTest There MUST be an abstract, labeled with an h2 element with content "Abstract" that follows the hr element.
   If there is an abstract, is it marked up by <h2> and is it at the right location (just after the hr)? Error. Did not find an Abstract in an h2 element.

5. Document Status Section

1. sotdTest There MUST be a status section that follows the abstract, labeled with an h2 element with content "Status of This Document". The Team maintains the status section of a document.
   Is there a status of the document and is it correctly marked up? Error : SOTD not found (note that some tests relying on the SOTD won't be done because of this)
2. boilerplateTRDocTest It MUST begin with the following boilerplate text:

   This section describes the status of this document at the time of its publication. Other documents may supersede this document. A list of current W3C publications and the latest revision of this technical report can be found in the W3C technical reports index at http://www.w3.org/TR/.

   Include this source code:
   <p><em>This section describes the status of this document at the time of its publication. Other documents may supersede this document. A list of current W3C publications and the latest revision of this technical report can be found in the <a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/">W3C technical reports index</a> at http://www.w3.org/TR/.</em></p>
   Error. Required boilerplate text not found in status section.
3. datesFormatTest All dates MUST have the form DD Month YYYY. A leading zero in the day is OPTIONAL.
   Please verify manually; not tested.
4. WGLinkTest It MUST include the name of the W3C group that produced the document. The name MUST be a link to a public page for the group.
   Please verify manually; not tested.
5. mailingListNameTest It MUST include the name of a mailing list for comments that has a public archive.
   Error No status section found.
6. mailingListLinkTest It MUST include a link to the public archive of that mailing list.
   Error No status section found.
7. customParagraphTest It MUST include at least one customized paragraph. This section SHOULD include the title page date (i.e., the one next to the maturity level at the top of the document). These paragraphs SHOULD explain the publication context, including rationale and relationships to other work. See examples and more discussion in the Manual of Style.
   Please verify manually; not tested.
8. changesListTest It SHOULD include a link to changes since the previous draft (e.g., a list of changes or a diff document or both; see the online HTML diff tool).
   Please verify manually; not tested.
9. stabilityTest It MUST set expectations about the (in)stability of the document. The RECOMMENDED text is:

   Publication as a Working Draft does not imply endorsement by the W3C Membership. This is a draft document and may be updated, replaced or obsoleted by other documents at any time. It is inappropriate to cite this document as other than work in progress.

   Include this source code:
   <p>Publication as a Working Draft does not imply endorsement by the W3C Membership. This is a draft document and may be updated, replaced or obsoleted by other documents at any time. It is inappropriate to cite this document as other than work in progress.</p>
   Error. Required boilerplate text not found. Instead found:
10. patPolReqTest It MUST include this text related to patent policy requirements (with suitable links inserted; see guidelines for linking to disclosure pages):

    This document was produced by a group operating under the 5 February 2004 W3C Patent Policy. W3C maintains a public list of any patent disclosures made in connection with the deliverables of the group; that page also includes instructions for disclosing a patent. An individual who has actual knowledge of a patent which the individual believes contains Essential Claim(s) must disclose the information in accordance with section 6 of the W3C Patent Policy.

    Include this source code:
    <p> This document was produced by a group operating under the <a href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Patent-Policy-20040205/">5 February 2004 W3C Patent Policy</a>. W3C maintains a <a rel="disclosure" href="@@URI to IPP status or other page@@">public list of any patent disclosures</a> made in connection with the deliverables of the group; that page also includes instructions for disclosing a patent. An individual who has actual knowledge of a patent which the individual believes contains <a href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Patent-Policy-20040205/#def-essential">Essential Claim(s)</a> must disclose the information in accordance with <a href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Patent-Policy-20040205/#sec-Disclosure">section 6 of the W3C Patent Policy</a>. </p>

    Note: Contact the Communications Team for suitable adaptations in the case where a document has been published jointly by more than one group. In the adaptation, be sure that the text for informative-only specs or specs not going to Rec is the same as the standard text.

    Please verify manually; not tested.
11. knownDisclosureNumberTest It MUST NOT indicate the number of known disclosures at the time of publication.
    Please verify manually; not tested.

6. Table of Contents

1. tocTest There SHOULD be a table of contents after the status section, labeled with an h2 element with content "Table of Contents".
   Warning (did not find an h2 with text "Table of Contents").

7. Document Body

1. headingWithoutIDTestrecursive Every marked-up section and subsection of the document MUST have a target anchor. A section is identified by a heading element (h1-h6). The anchor may be specified using an id (or name if an a element is used) attribute on any of the following: the heading element itself, the parent div element of the heading element (where the heading element is the first child of the div), a descendant of the heading element, or an a immediately preceding the heading element.
   OK
2. brokenLinkTest The document MUST NOT have any broken internal links or broken links to other resources at w3.org. The document SHOULD NOT have any other broken links.
   Please verify using Link Checker
3. cssValideTestrecursive The document MUST NOT have any style sheet errors.
   OK The W3C CSS Validation Service was used for the validation of this document.
4. namespacesTestrecursive All proposed XML namespaces created by the publication of the document MUST follow URIs for W3C Namespaces.
   OK The Namespaces Checker was used for this test.
5. wcagTest The document(s) MUST conform to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0, Level AA. Note: You may wish to consult the customizable quick reference to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0.
   Please verify using Accessibility Evaluation and Repair Services

8. Compound Documents

1. compoundFilesLocationTest If the document is compound (i.e., if it consists of more than one file), all the files MUST be under a directory /TR/0001/WD-shortname-0001MMDD/
   Please verify manually; not tested.
2. compoundOverviewTestThe main page SHOULD be called Overview.html.
   Warning, document not found.
3. compoundTestAll other files MUST be reachable by links from the document.
   Warning No links found to additional components of a multipart document.

Sample: Your Document Head Should Look Like This

Given the parameters you have chosen, the head of your document should resemble the instance shown below. Note however that you will still need to provide a custom paragraph in the status section, and you may also have to adjust some of the recommended language according to your publication context. The sample shown does not illustrate all of the requirements of pubrules: it does not illustrate every possible publication context or requirements beyond those of the document head and status section.

The following appear in the head element but are not shown here:

• title element includes document title.
• Link to style sheet in head: <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="http://www.w3.org/StyleSheets/TR/W3C-WD" />