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HTML Basics - How To Start Building A Web Page

 
Web pages are made up of a programming language called HTML
(hypertext mark-up language). This happened because there
were so many different operating systems and web browsers
that a uniform language had to be developed, so that all
systems could read the language and produce a web page that
would look similar to them all.
 
So let's start with the basics of building one of these
pages. If you are using a PC you can start in a text editor
such as WordPad (not Word) or for the Mac SimpleText.
 
At the top of your text page type <HTML> This will tell the
browser that it is looking at a HTML document notice and
that it is contained between two brackets <> All HTML is
contained between these types of brackets when you are
typing a page. Next type <TITLE> (it doesn't need to be in
capitals - this just makes it easier to see). After the
title 'Tag' type title again only this time add a forward
slash </TITLE> this tells the browser that the tag is closed.
 
Next comes your 'body' tags, open tag <BODY> and closed tag
</BODY> Inside these are where you are going to type the
text of your web page. Then to finish the basic layout add a
closing HTML tag </HTML> to tell the browser the page is
finished.
 
So your text page should now look something like the
following:
 
<HTML>
<TITLE></TITLE>
<BODY>
 
</BODY>
</HTML>
 
Now start to fill in some of the blanks:
 
<HTML>
<TITLE>My Web Page</TITLE>
<BODY>
This is my first web page.
If this works it is a miracle!
</BODY>
</HTML>
 
Now comes the magic. Save your document, but choose
'save as'. Save it in plain text format something like
'webpage' but after webpage add .html (that is DOT html
don't forget the dot). This is telling your system to save
it as an HTML document.
 
Then go to your hard drive and find your document 'webpage'
which should now look like an HTML document. If it looks
like a text file then you need to save it again making sure
you add the .html extension.
 
Open your new html document (double click) and your Internet
browser will spring into action. Lo and behold you should
see your first web page, notice the title at the top of the
page is the title you chose and your text is in the 'body'
of the document. Yes this is a miracle!
 
Now comes an even bigger miracle. Staying on your web page
go to the tool bar and choose 'View' then 'Source' you will
then be presented with your text file once again. From here
you will be able to alter your title and the body text as
much as you like, after doing so you must always choose
'Save' in your text editor.
 
Once you have saved your changes you will need to
reload/refresh your browser window to view the changes. Do
this from the web page as you would normally refresh a page
and you will see your alterations take effect.
 
OK so that is the basics of a web page a little plain
perhaps but a good start. The rest? Well that is for another
article.
 
 
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