Share This Page| Home | | Programming Resources | | | | Share This Page |
| Want to learn HTML fast? If you mostly watch television, have an attention span measured in microseconds, and think reading is a waste of your valuable time, this page is for you . This page will teach you the basics of HTML as fast as humanly possible — you can even skip ahead to the part you are actually interested in, using the links below. |
|
What is a tag?
In HTML, a tag tells the browser what to do.
When you write an HTML page, you enter tags for many reasons — to change the appearance of text, to show a graphic, or to make a link to another page. The tags you write are not visible on the browser, but their effects are. Tags begin with the symbol "<" and end with ">". Tags usually come in pairs, one that begins an action and one that ends it. This tag: <I> starts printing italicized text. This tag: </I> stops the effect of a previous <I> tag. Note the "/". To italicize a word, you simply put <I> before the word and </I> after it:
When you write an HTML page, you see all the tags and can change them. When you view the page on a browser, you see the result of the tags. |
|
Do I have to memorize a bunch of tags?
No.
Most programs that help you write HTML code already know
most tags, and create them when you press a button. But you
should understand what a tag is, and how it works. That way
you can correct errors in your page more easily.
Here are some common tags:
|
|
What is the simplest HTML page?
Here is the very least HTML code that can be called a page:
You don't need to know the meaning of all these tags. Always type a title between the <TITLE> and </TITLE> tags. This title will appear at the top of the browser display. Your page contents go between the <BODY> and </BODY> tags. You can type this code in any text editor or word processor, and if you save it as plain text with a file suffix of .html (example: mypage.html), you can view it with a browser. After you have created a simple page using a text editor, you should consider getting a better HTML editor. There are lots of them. I even wrote one — it is called Arachnophilia , and it doesn't cost you any money. |
|
What is a Hypertext link?
A hypertext link is a special tag that links one page to
another page or resource. If you click the link, the
browser jumps to the link's destination.
There are two parts to a link:
In this example, the phrase "http://www.microsoft.com" tells the browser what the link's destination is, and the phrase "Go to Microsoft" tells the human what is happening. The link on the right is real — if you press it, you will go to Microsoft's Web site. If you want to make a link to one of your own pages, just use the name of the page without the "http://" prefix:
|
|
How do I put a graphic image on my page?
Use the IMG tag.
Here is an example:
This is a very easy tag to use, but take these precautions:
|
|
How do I put a background graphic on my page?
Add a special field to the BODY tag.
Here is an example:
Notes:
|
|
How do I choose colors?
Choosing colors is one of the more complex parts of HTML.
To select common colors you can just type their names into
a FONT tag. Here are examples:
But if you want to specify an exact color, you have to use special codes (don't despair — the better HTML editors let you use a color selector dialog):
To choose a custom color in Arachnophilia , just put the editing cursor in the color definition and press the right mouse button. |
|
How do I choose colors for my entire page at once?
You add some special fields to the BODY tag.
Example:
|
|
How do I make a link that sends e-mail?
An e-mail tag is not very difficult to design.
The tag launches the visitor's own e-mail program and
fills in the address you specify. Example:
|
|
How do I learn advanced HTML methods?
The easiest way to learn advanced methods (translation:
neat tricks):
A somewhat harder way is to buy a book about HTML programming and read it. |
Arachnophilia.
Main Page
| Home | | Programming Resources | | | | Share This Page |
