HTML Class - Fall 2002

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Introduction to HTML

What is an HTML File?

  • HTML stands for Hyper Text Markup Language
  • An HTML file is a text file containing small markup tags
  • The markup tags tell the Web browser how to display the page
  • An HTML file must have an htm or html file extension
  • An HTML file can be created using a simple text editor

Hello World!

If you are running Windows, start Notepad (or another text editor such as TextPad or Edit Pro). If you are on a Mac, start SimpleText. Type in the following text:

<html>
<head>
<title>Title of page</title>
</head>
<body> HELLO WORLD!
</body>
</html>

Save the file as "helloworld.htm". 

Start your Internet browser. Select "Open" (or "Open Page") in the File menu of your browser. A dialog box will appear. Select "Browse" (or "Choose File") and locate the HTML file you just created - "helloworld.htm" - select it and click "Open". Now you should see an address in the dialog box, for example "C:\MyDocuments\helloworld.htm". Click OK, and the browser will display the page.

Example Explained

The first tag in your HTML document is <html>. This tag tells your browser that this is the start of an HTML document. The last tag in your document is </html>. This tag tells your browser that this is the end of the HTML document.

The text between the <head> tag and the </head> tag is header information. Header information is not displayed in the browser window.

The text between the <title> tags is the title of your document. The title is displayed in your browser's caption.

The text between the <body> tags is the text that will be displayed in your browser.

The text between the <b> and </b> tags will be displayed in a bold font.

HTM or HTML Extension?

When you save an HTML file, you can use either the .htm or the .html extension. I always use .htm in our examples. It may help with outdated programs and software only allowed three letter extensions. DOS, for example, doesn't like 4-digit extenstions. Adobe Photoshop has trouble with them as well.

Note on HTML Editors:

You can easily edit HTML files using a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editor like FrontPage, Claris Home Page, or Adobe PageMill instead of writing your markup tags in a plain text file.

But if you want to be a skillful Web developer, it's strongly recommended that you use a plain text editor to at least LEARN HTML.





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