HTML Basics

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Fundamentally, HTML commands serve as instructions that tell a browser how to display a Web site's content. In other words, HTML commands provide format information that controls the display of your Web site's text and graphics. Keep the purpose of HTML commands in mind. You’ll see later how HTML commands weave their way in and around your Web site's content in an HTML document, but, basically, an HTML document contains two types of information:

·      Content information, including text and pointers to graphics

·      HTML commands, which manipulate how content displays

In this walkthrough, we show you how to enter HTML commands and page contents into a plain-text document to create Web pages. Furthermore, you’ll link the pages you create so that they can work together to create a Web site. To accomplish this feat, you’ll need to use a text editor, such as Notepad or WordPad (if you’re running Windows) or Text Edit (if you’re using a Mac OS X, or SimpleText if you’re using Mac 9x or earlier operating systems).

The upcoming figure shows how fully coded HTML documents appear in TextEdit, WordPad, and Notepad, respectively. When you start this lesson’s project, you’ll start with a blank page.

·      To open Notepad, click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, and then click Notepad.

·      To open WordPad, click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, and then click WordPad.

·      To open TextEdit, double-click the TextEdit icon on your hard disk.

Viewing an HTML document in TextEdit, WordPad, and Notepad