What is HTML?
HTML stands for Hyper Text Markup Language (computer people love initials and acronyms -- you'll be talking acronyms ASAP). Let me break it down for you:
Hyper is the opposite of linear. It used to be that computer programs had to move in a linear fashion. This before this, this before this, and so on. HTML does not hold to that pattern and allows the person viewing the World Wide Web page to go anywhere, any time they want.
Text is what you will use. Real, honest to goodness English letters.
Markup is what you will do. You will write in plain English and then mark up what you wrote. More to come on that in the next Primer.
Language because they needed something that started with "L" to finish HTML and Hypertext Markup Louie didn't flow correctly. Because it's a language, really -- but the language is plain English.
What can it do ?
HTML can do all what you are seeing now and many more things that your are going to see
HTML Tags
- HTML tags are used to mark-up HTML elements
- HTML tags are surrounded by the two characters < and >
- The surrounding characters are called angle brackets
- HTML tags normally come in pairs like <b> and </b>
- The first tag in a pair is the start tag, the
second tag is the end tag
- The text between the start and end tags is the element content
- HTML tags are not case sensitive, <b> means the same as <B>
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: After I have edited an HTML file, I cannot view the result in my browser. Why?
A: Make sure that you have saved the file with a proper name and extension like "c:\mypage.htm". Also make sure that you use the same name when you open the file in your browser.
Q: I have tried to edit an HTML file but the changes don't show in the browser. Why?
A: The browser caches your pages so it doesn't have to read the same page twice. When you have changed a page, the browser doesn't know that. Use the browser's refresh/reload button to force the browser to read the edited page.
Q: What browser should I use?
A: You can do all the training with all of the common browsers, like Internet Explorer, Mozilla, Netscape, or Opera. However, some of the examples in our advanced classes require the latest versions of the browsers.
Q: Does my computer have to run Windows? What about a Mac?
A: You can do all your training on a non-Windows computer like a Mac. However, some of the examples in our advanced classes require a newer version of Windows, like Windows 98 or Windows 2000.
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