| • General Definitions • How HTML Works • |
| General Definitions |
The browser is the software that interprets the web page coding and displays it on your screen. Current commonly used browsers include:
All of these browsers are available for free download. Currently over 55% of users surf the Web with Microsoft Internet Explorer 6; about 27% use Firefox; and the rest use other browsers. You can see current statistics on browser use at Browser Watch. |
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. |
| How HTML Works |
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> |
| HTML is not case-sensitive; nor does it read paragraph
spacing or line tabs.
However, newer web standards suggest that site developers use XHTML, or Extensible Hypertext Markup Language, a more flexible version of HTML written in XML (Extensible Markup Language). XHTML is case-sensitive; it uses lower case tags. Therefore, even if you are writing HTML code, you should use lower case to write your tags. Many developers currently use transitional XHTML which uses the syntax of HTML, but continues to use some deprecated (or outdated) tags that are still pretty universally supported by browsers. New sections of code are placed on separate lines and often indented to enable a web page designer to more easily edit code. Following the example of Elizabeth Castro, author of HTML, XHTML & CSS, 6th ed. (Peachpit Press, 2006), I use the term (X)HTML to refer to code that essentially is the same in both markup languages. |
Many (X)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:
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| Web page developers should at least be conversant with the
basic concepts of (X)HTML.
As you will soon see, even the most sophisticated (X)HTML web page design software will sometimes refuse to cooperate with your wishes. In such cases you will want to look at the (X)HTML code to find the problem. |
| To get familiar with (X)HTML, use it to create a few simple web pages. Only after you feel comfortable with the concept behind (X)HTML, should turn to Mozilla Composer (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:
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| • Overview • Tour Mozilla Composer • |
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Web Design Center |