H.T.T.P: Introduction to HTML

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- What is HTML? Simply put, HTML is a programming language for building webpages. Short for HyperText Markup Language, HTML uses commands, called tags, which are interpreted by a special piece of software called a browser. The tags are stored in a text file, similar to a letter to a friend of a recipe for cookies. When you navigate to a webpage, or 'access' it, the computer on which the page is stored sends the text file to your web browser. Your browser then translates the tags into a webpage, placing text and images where the builder wished them to go. Because webpages are stored in as text, you will need no special tools to start building your own. All you will need is a text editor, a web browser to check your work and the knowledge contained within these pages.

- Compared to many other programming languages, the commands in HTML are relatively simple to learn and remember. The commands, earlier referred to a tags, consist mostly of two parts. The first part is made up of the name of the command, normally a sort of mneumonic word, and any options the tag may have; all are contained within angle brackets (< and >). The second part of the tag consists of the name again, preceeded by a forward slash (/), and also enclosed in angle brackets (< and >). In all but a few cases that which you want the tag to affect is placed between the two parts. For example, if you wanted to italicize some text, you would put whatever text that you wanted to italicize between the two parts of the italics tag like this: <i> some text here </i>, which would result in this: some text here. There are, however, some tags which do not need the second part and there are still others for which the second part is optional and not required. As you read on, you will learn which tags are the special ones.

- As mentioned eariler, all you will need to start building your own page is a text editor and a browser, in addition to the required knowledge. There is an abundance of text editors on every platform which you may use to build your webpage. In Windows and Windows 95, you can use Notepad or Wordpad. In MacOS you can use SimpleText. Even in Unix and its many flavors you can use Vi, Pico, or Emacs. Of course, if you have it, you can use a special word processing program like MS Word or Wordperfect, but it is not neccessary to go out and buy one for this task. There are also programs on the market that can help you in building your webpage. Most are simple text editors with buttons and menus to allow you to insert tags into your document and save you the trouble of having to type them in. There are other programs, called WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editors, which allow you to simply type in text and add pictures and format it the way you want a web browser to see your page, all without having to deal with all the tags. While you can get many of the 'enhanced' HTML text editors on the Internet for free, all but a few of the WYSIWYG editors cost money. In H.T.T.P. Resources, you will find places where you can obtain free and shareware editors. If you do decide to use a text editor, you will want to have a web browser to check your work. You can view your pag by saving your work, starting your web browser, and using the File/Open command to navigate to your file. If it is possible for you to keep more than one program open at a time, keep both the text editor and the browser open and switch between the two; saving your work in the text editor and 'refreshing' the page in the browser.