Start: Overview

Overview	A web page is a file that is displayed on the computer monitor by software called a browser. The browser is the software that interprets the web page coding and displays it on your screen. Currently there are two leading browsers: Netscape Navigator, v. 4.x Microsoft Internet Explorer, v. 4.x Both browsers are available for free download. Both browsers now come as part of a suite of software that also includes a mail messaging system, a news reader system, online chat software, and a simple web page editor.
	Web page files are written in HTML. HTML stands for HyperText Mark-up Language. HTML is written in ASCII plain text; thus it is platform-independent, i.e., it can be displayed by any browser using any operating system (e.g., Win 95/98/NT or Mac) HTML is basically a series of directions that tell the browser how to interpret the contents of a web page.
	HTML uses a system of tags that work like on/off switches. All material between a set of tags follows the directions given in the opening tag. Because tags are not displayed on the screen, they are enclosed in angle brackets, e.g., <TAG> Usually (but not always) these tags are paired. The closing tag also includes a forward slash. Thus a tag telling the browser to center a word on a page would be typed as: <CENTER>Hello!</CENTER>	HINT: If you are familiar with the ability of some word processing software to display command codes, you are familiar with the concept of HTML tags.
	HTML is not case-sensitive; nor does it read paragraph spacing or line tabs. However, by convention HTML tags are typed in all capital letters. New sections of code are placed on separate lines and often indented. These typographical conventions enable a web page designer to more easily edit code.	NOTE: To facilitate revising, most web page editing sofware assigns different colors to different types of tags, attributes, and values.
	Many HTML tags can also have attributes. An attribute is an additional instruction such as a font size or color or alignment, that is written within the opening tag of a pair of tags. Each attribute has a value, i.e., a specification such as a particular alignment or font size or a particular color.
	Thus, if I want to change the color of my text I would write the following code: <FONT COLOR="RED">Hello!</FONT> In the example above: FONT is the tag; note it is paired with a closing tag. COLOR is the attribute. RED is the value assigned to the attribute.
	Web page developers should at least be conversant with the basic concepts of HTML. As you will soon see, even the most sophisticated HTML web page design software will sometimes refuse to cooperate with your wishes. In such cases you will want to look at the HTML code to find the problem.
	To get familiar with HTML, use it to create a few simple web pages. Only after you feel comfortable with the concept behind HTML, should turn to FrontPage Express (or any other web page editor) to increase your efficiency and more easily produce more sophisticated web page designs.
	To learn how to use HTML: Go to Start: HTML: Tour Notepad to learn how to use Notepad as your HTML text editor. Go to Basics: HTML to learn how to create a simple web page using HTML code.