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Learning Web Design: Chapter 4. Creating a Simple Page: HTML Overview. HTML. Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) Uses tags to tell the browser the start and end of a certain kind of formatting Most tags use this method: <> - the start tag </> - the end tag
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Learning Web Design: Chapter 4 Creating a Simple Page: HTML Overview
HTML • Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) • Uses tags to tell the browser the start and end of a certain kind of formatting • Most tags use this method: • <> - the start tag • </> - the end tag • HTML uses common sense names for tags • <p> paragraph, <body> body, <title> title
A Brief History of HTML • The base set of tags is referred to as HTML 2.0 • Standard set by the W3C • Set of tags all browsers must support • In 1996, HTML 3.2 specification created by group of vendors and W3C • Includes tables, applets, text flow around images • Backward compatible with HTML 2.0 • In 1997, HTML 4.0 incorporated: • DHTML, Cascading Style Sheets and Frames
Preparing for the Future • New Web technologies do not handle the older versions of HTML • The new HTML Standard is HTML5, • This standard is known as HTML 5 • Similar to XHTML 1.0 • Additional rules needed to make code compliant
HTML Describes the Page Structure • Documents have common elements: • Lists • Paragraphs • Titles • Headings • Tables • HTML also defines character styles like bold and italicize • Each element has a name and is contained in a tag
HTML Does not Describe Page Layout • HTML doesn’t set how a page will look when viewed • Some browsers might use different default styles than others • As a Web designer, pages you create could look drastically different from system to system and browser to browser
HTML Documents • HTML code is stored as an ASCII text file • Any text editor can be used to create these files: Notepad, TextEdit, EditPad etc. • You could use a web authoring tool to write your HTML code, but they often self-generate code • Focusing on the basics with a simple text editor will help you “really” learn to code
Naming Conventions • For windows-based browsers, you should save the file with the extension of .htm or .html • Never use spaces or special characters like # or @ in your filenames • Filenames may be case-sensitive depending on the server • Keep filenames short • You can set your own conventions
Sample Page <!DOCTYPE html> <head> <title>My First Webpage!</title> <meta charset=“utf-8”> </head> <body> <p>WOW! <br> This is pretty cool! </p> </body> </html>
What it Means <html> beginning HTML encoding. <head> beginning the header section. <title>My First Webpage!</title> title of page <meta charset=“utf-8”>information about page </head> ending the header <body> beginning the body of the document. <p>WOW! starting of a paragraph <br> line break This is pretty cool! </p> ending of a paragraph </body> ending of the body section </html>ending of HTML encoding.
Nesting of HTML Tags • In the previous code example, notice how the <title> </title> tags fall in between the <head> </head> tags • Also see how the <body> </body> encloses all the text you see on the screen • Make sure you always use proper nesting of tags
Choosing a Good Title • The title may be required, but it is also useful • The title is displayed in user bookmarks and favorites • Descriptive titles improve accessibility • Search engines rely heavily on titles • Keep the title length in check so it will fit in the title area
Attributes • Attributes modify the properties of a tag • For example: <img> is used to display an image. The altattribute is used to provide alternate text for the image. • <imgalt=“Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly”> • Part of using tags properly is understanding how to set the attributes associated with each tag • If an attribute is not set explicitly, it will have a default value
HTML Comments • Comments add documentation to a web page • Text between the <!-- and --> will not be displayed in the browser • Comments can be used in any part of the web page • Readers may view comments if they “View Source”
Block and Inline Elements • Block-level HTML elements start on a new line and some space is added before and after the element • Browsers treat block-level elements as if they were little rectangle boxes stacked on the page • Inline HTML elements do not start a new line, but stay in the flow of the paragraph
Self-Terminating Tags • Some tags start and end in a single tag • <meta> meta data, documentation • <hr> horizontal rule • <br>linebreak • These tags are empty tags because they have no separate ending tag
Validating Your Documents • Professional web developers catch errors in the markup by validating their documents. Here are some things validators check for: • An indication of character encoding • Inclusion of rules and attributes • Mismatched tags • Non-standard elements • Nesting errors
Using Cascading Style Sheets • CSS allows you to control the“look and feel” of your web pages • There are three levels of CSS: • Inline – styles are wrapped around tags • Embedded – styles are group at beginning of file • External – styles are placed in a separate file and linked to the web page • More on CSS later
Summary • HTML allows us to specify the structure, not the formatting of a Web page • We will be writing our pages using the HTML5 standard • The governing body of Web standards is the World Wide Web Consortium, W3C • HTML code can be written in any plain text editor • WYSIWYG editors are easy to use but their code may be proprietary and may not validate