HTML, it's as easy as 1-2-3!
HTML is the foundation of all website pages. It creates the stationary image that appears on a user's browser. Our HTML section will guide through the steps of setting it up and organizing it to look the way you want it to appear.
Tips on How to Start
- First you will always want to write out a diagram that describes your website's needs. Write out all the pages of content you will have and mark which pages will have a link to another page.
- To create a new webpage file, simply create a new document using a basic, plain text editor. Rich text editors such as WordPad or Microsoft Word are not recommended because they tend to leave additional characters that cannot be read properly in an HTML page. Notepad and Notepad++ are excellent basic text programs for this.
- When saving the file, ensure that the extension is changed to .html and not .txt. Remember that all filenames are case sensitive
- Always have an index.html page. This page is read by default and automatically loaded by the browser when accessing a directory. If there is no index file, it will display a list of files in that directory.
- Don't be afraid to use directories to organize groups of files in a similar category. You can include the directory name in the URL address.
- Viewing HTML files can also be done on your computer which makes them easier and faster to edit. Just double-click the file on your system and it will open up a new browser page and display the contents as they should appear.
Verify Your Work!
W3C Validators offers an excellent set of Validators including one for HTML. It checks your syntax and ensures that your
code has been properly done and will be able to display in most browsers without errors.