HTML introduction primer
This is a free service provided by the web team at shop4memory.com. Please support us by checking out the rest of our website. Go to our main page HERE.
You are welcome to forward this article to anyone who may be interested in it - please use the "tell a friend" link on the left. Thank you.
What is HTML?
This guide is means as a guide to understanding how the Internet and HTML works. It does not discuss the use of individual HTML tags - these will be discussed at a later stage.
HTML is short for HyperText Markup Language and it is one of the many standards defined by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).
The HTML standard defines a certain way of presenting information and text using tags. It is important to understand that a HTML file does not contain anything else than and combination of tags and plain text. This makes HTML files extremely light, and as a result easy and very fast to transmit across the Internet.
When HTML files are displayed by a user - whether in a mail system or through a browser - the application (mail/browser) 'translates' the HTML tags and displays the result. Which means that when you see different colours, fonts, tables, lines, images, etc. on your screen, these were not actually included in the HTML file, but are a result of the 'translation'.
So, the application displaying the HTML file must have support for the appropriate HTML standard. This can sometimes cause problems when using HTML in emails, as some older email systems do not support HTML at all, while other systems support only early versions of HTML. If a system does not support HTML, it will simply display the source code ('raw' HTML). A system that supports an older version of HTML will interpret some tags correctly, while other tags will either be ignored or simply displayed as they are.
To see what the HTML source for this page looks like, right-click on your mouse and choose 'View Source'.
What do I need to get started?
The beauty of HTML is that no fancy tools are needed to get going. As all HTML files only contain plain text and tags (tags are also written in plain), they can be created in any simple text editor. Notepad is probably the most widely used tool to create HTML pages, but there are a wide selection of HTML editors available today. These editors contain shortcuts to the most widely used tags, and helps update and manage existing pages (and complete sites).
I can recommend the one I use at the moment: CoffeeCup. This is a commercial product, but free evaluations can be downloaded from their website. Free HTML editors are also available. These contain less functionality, but are definately useful for starting off. I have previously worked with HTMLitor.
Apart from an application to to create your HTML files, you will also need somewhere to view the file. Most editors have a built-in browser, where the document can be viewed. Alternatively, you can use whichever browser you have installed. When you are creating an HTML file, it is always a good idea to preview it regularly. It is always easier to correct errors as they occur than wait until the whole document is finished.
Although the HTML standard is clearly defined by W3C, there is (unfortunately) often a difference in how the various browsers display HTML files. However, as MSIE 5.x has a market share of around 80% (source: The Counter Sept 01), it is vitally important that you check that your file is displayed correctly in this version. Netscape account for less than 15% of the market, but is is still a good idea to check compatibility with this browser also.
What is next?
You will have to start learning some of the most used HTML tags. This will be covered in the next edition. Luckily, it does not take many basic commands to get started on designing HTML pages, and once you have learned the basics you will not forget them again.
Next we will look at the commands needed to design HTML emails.
NEXT PAGE -->
| 
