back - index - glossary - practice - theory - next
HTML stands for HyperText Markup Language. Knowing what that means is a pretty important part of doing it effectively.
HyperText is a type of computer data file. It's hyper because is does more than just display words like the text in a book or even a word processor. It contains embedded chunks of directions to other types of computer data and where to get that data and (sometimes) what to do with it. It's essentially a script that computer reads and performs to the best of its capabilities.
A few things to remember about HTML:
Not a programming language. In fact, markup "languages" have been around since before computers. It's more of a "suggesting" language. Markup is the collection of little marks and tags that the author of a document puts in his text to suggest a particular format or display to the publisher of the document. In the case of HTML, you are the author and the browser (Netscape Navigator, MSIE, Lynx, Mosaic or that latest greatest internet panacea browser that hasn't been invented yet) is the publisher. Remember FuzzyRule Number One?
Word Processors like Microsoft Word, WordPerfect or AmiPro have their OWN proprietary (non-standard) markup languages that will not be understood by even the best browsers resulting in a garbled mess. Saving your work as Text Only or ASCII will remove this markup. For the best results during this lesson, use a text-only editor like Windows Notepad or the Macintosh TeachText. HTML editors are simply text editors with built-in menu commands for tags. It's not terrible idea to type the tags in yourself when you are first starting.
The tags in an HTML files are all nestled within a pair of characters I like to call "Less Than" and "Greater Than" - they are the roommates of the "comma "and "period" on your keyboard, respectively. Tags come in two varieties, containers and non-containers. Containers all have a corresponding end tag, signified by a slash. Here's an example of a non-container as it might appear in an HTML file:
Here is the text which<DRELGUS>will be viewed.
The word "DRELGUS" inside the < and the > will not be displayed, instead submits some type of formatting suggestion to the browser. It happens once and then it's over until the next <DRELGUS>.
A container tag would look something like this:
Now here's some <SNARK>more</SNARK> text...
Which would mean that only the word "more" would benefit from the quality of "SNARK," whatever that means. The slash indicates that the snarking is over with. Since SNARK and DRELGUS are not really HTML tags (I hope), the browser will just ignore them. I just made them up. But that's what tags look like. If you use a tag that a browser doesn't understand, it will ignore them if they are tucked between the Less Than and the Greater Than.
Within the tags are elements and optional attributes which modify the element. In the previous example, SNARK and DRELGUS were the elements, since they had no accompanying modifier within The Messieurs Than. ( < & > ) but many elements in HTML do or can. For example, you could have a tag that looks like this:
And still <drelgus width="100%"> more example text!
Now, why anyone would want a one-hundred percent wide drelgus is beyond me, but if drelgus was really an HTML element and had an attribute that allowed it to be such, I guarantee you that some webmaster would use it. But there isn't, so we're safe for now. Elements can have more than one attribute, and the order in which they are tucked within the tag doesn't usually matter. The element should come first.
If the browser doesn't understand the element, it will ignore the attributes, as well. If it understands the element but doesn't understand any or all of the attributes within the tag, it will ignore them. Most elements have a default setting, but not all of them.
Notice that the use of upper case or lower case letters in your tags is immaterial. Doesn't matter. Spelling, however, matters a lot. If you thought your seventh grade English teacher was tough about spelling, wait until you mangle a few HTML tags and watch what a web browser does! In HTML, a <snark> is the same as a <SNARK> or even a <sNaRk>, but a <SNARK> is never a <NSARK>!
Most HTML elements can be separated into two kinds, block-level elements and text-level elements.
It's pretty much as simple as that.
There's one important element which (thoretically) makes all the others work. The following tags tell the browser that the text file it has just ingested is an HTML file and it should be digested accordingly:
Next: HTML: Dissecting The Beast...
back - index - glossary - practice - theory - next
FuzzyLu's Internet Playpen ©1996, 1997 FuzzyLu MultiMedia.