HTML

HTML is the "stuff" that makes the internet. HTML stands for "Hyper Text Markup Language". Sounds like something out of Star Wars, huh? But if you break it down, it really does make sense:

Hyper Ultra, extreme, the outer limit, maximum, top peak, drastic, beyond reason or logic, radical, revolutionary.
Text Words, main body, written matter.
Markup When a store raises their prices, they're said to "mark up" the prices. HTML raises the bar, it set a new standard for Silicon Valley.
Language - Referring to a computer language.

From this definition, we're talking about a computer language that has revolutionized the internet by taking text, and drastically changing it. A web page is in fact an HTML page. If we didn't have HTML, we'd probably be having to send compressed (gasp) Microsoft Word documents back and forth through e-mail. (However, this would be hard as well, since there would be no computer language to embed the files into.) HTML is also a file type that distinguishes text which is written in a web page from normal text.

So, as you can see, HTML is a very vital part of the Internet. You no longer need to know the ins and outs of it to create a web site; however, it is useful to understand its workings - so you can build your web site with HTML in mind, look at other people's sources codes to find hidden information and scripts, and be more familiar with how the Internet works as a whole.

NOTE: Some web sites have a different file extension - .htm. It's the same thing, except the number of characters in the file name determines which one the HTML editor uses.

The Basic Format
HTML breaks text into hundreds of HTML Tags. Tags tell the computer where certain elements/objects in a page are located, whether an image, table, horizontal line, link or list. There are rules of how tags must be written.

The above is an example of a code.
See how the tag is defined by the two brackets on either side. The ending tag is distinguishable by the "/" mark. There may be several tags in a single code.

The text in pink is one complete code, which is made up of tags, and distinguished from the rest of the page by the beginning and end codes. It's like starting your sentence with a capital letter, adding commas, and ending with a period. The green shows where another code in an HTML Document might start.
NOTE: HTML Tags are not case sensitive.

HTML Documents & How They Work

How To Insert HTML/JavaScript in your site

When you're writing a letter, if you right it correctly, you will have your date at the top right hand corner. You should also have the address of the person you're sending it to, which is followed by a salutation, body, and farewell. The end of the letter is marked by your signature. In the same way, you have to write your HTML documents, with a certain layout in mind. HTML Editors do this for you - here's what's going on inside:

This Is What The Title Would Read

Hello World! This is a paragraph...right.
Or at least the computer thinks it is.
However, you'd probably get a failing grade for
writing a paragraph like this in English class.

Here's yet another paragraph to bore you to tears.

Here's this basic HTML Format explained. Our notes are in red.

This begins your page. It tells the computer that you're using HTML text.

This begins the top part of the page.
 This is the beginning tag for the TITLE. The title actually isn't even seen on your page, however it is seen right above the tool bar. (this one says HTML). If you don't set a TITLE, then the computer will use the default - the file name of your page. BTW, this also shows up in your bookmark list, so it's kind of important for people to be able to find you again. This Is What The Title Would Read This is what will actually read on the bar. 
This is telling the computer to close the title. Notice that we're still within the head brackets.

There, now the top part of the web page is finished.

This is the beginning of the body.

This is the beginning of a paragraph.
Hello World! This is a paragraph...right.
Or at least the computer thinks it is.
However you'd probably get a failing grade for
writing a paragraph like this in English class.
This is what would actually be written.

This is the end of the paragraph, notice we're still within the body part of the HTML document.

This is the beginning of a paragraph.
Here's yet another paragraph to bore you to tears.
This is the end of the paragraph, notice we're still within the body part of the HTML document.

This is the end of the paragraph, notice we're still within the body part of the HTML document.

This ends the body.

This ends the whole HTML code.

That's pretty easy, isn't it?

Now, some HTML codes don't work exactly like this. For instance, sometimes the actual heading that you see at the top of the page might be in the body part of the HTML code. However, the above is how it was originally meant to work, and is also pretty standard. It's a starting place - if we showed all the different ways that people have changed the basic HTML format, it would take hours.

HTML also sets important attributes such as background color, text color, text size, text alignment etc, etc. These are important things to look out for when snooping through other people's source codes (which I have shown in orange below), so we have provided a list showing each of these attributes, for your convenience.

This tell the computer which side of the computer screen the text starts on. Aligning to the left is default, so you do not see the left side of alignment in the source code.

This is a center alignment.The HMTL code would read:

Also, in some HTML editors they do it a bit differently, so it would read something like this:

The text in the center would go here, then end with:

This is a right Alignment.

The HTML Tag would read:

Or:

The text goes here, then ends with:

Go to part II of III.

<español> <french> <hebrew> <german> <russian> <italian> <portuguese> <arabic> <japaneese> <chinese> <korean>

Copyright Thinkquest Team C0110523: Jordan, Maegan, and Chris. Please contact us if you wish to use any part of this website Visit Thinkquest at thinkquest.org

Click Here to Sign our Guestbook!