Lesson 3: Elements and tags

You are now ready to learn the essence of HTML: elements.

Elements give structure to a HTML document and tells the browser how you want your website to be presented. Generally elements consists of a start tag, some content, and an end tag.

"Tags"?

Tags are labels you use to mark up the begining and end of an element.

All tags have the same format: they begin with a less-than sign "<" and end with a greater-than sign ">".

Generally speaking, there are two kinds of tags - opening tags: and closing tags: . The only difference between an opening tag and a closing tag is the forward slash "/". You label content by putting it between an opening tag and a closing tag.

HTML is all about elements. To learn HTML is to learn and use different tags.

Can you show me some examples?

Okay, the element em emphasis text. All text between the opening tag  and the closing tag is emphasised in the browser. ("em" is short for "emphasis".)

Example 1:

<em>Emphasised text.</em>

Will look like this in the browser:

Emphasised text.

The elements h1, h2, h3, h4, h5 and h6 is used to make headings (h stands for "heading"), where h1 is the first level and normally the largest text, h2 is the second level and normally slightly smaller text, and h6 is the sixth and last in the hierarchy of headings and normally the smallest text.

Example 2:

<h1>This is a heading</h1>

<h2>This is a subheading</h2>

What is HTML?

What is HTML?

HTML is a Markup Language, which is the basic language of your browser. HTML is a language, which makes it possible to present information (e.g. scientific research) on the Internet. What you see when you view a page on the Internet is your browser's interpretation of HTML. To see the HTML code of a page on the Internet, simply click "View" in the top menu of your browser and choose "Source".

To make a long story short, HTML was invented in 1990 by a scientist called Tim Berners-Lee. The purpose was to make it easier for scientists at different universities to gain access to each other's research documents. The project became a bigger success than Tim Berners-Lee had ever imagined. By inventing HTML he laid the foundation for the web as we know it today.

HTML is an abbreviation of "HyperText Mark-up Language" - which is already more than you need to know at this stage. However, for the sake of good order, let us explain in greater detail.

• Hyper is the opposite of linear. In the good old days - when a mouse was something the cat chased - computer programs ran linearly: when the program had executed one action it went to the next line and after that, the next line and so on. But HTML is different - you can go wherever you want and whenever you want. For example, it is not necessary to visit MSN.com before you visit HTML.net.
• Text is self-explanatory.
• Mark-up is what you do with the text. You are marking up the text the same way you do in a text editing program with headings, bullets and bold text and so on.
• Language is what HTML is. It uses many English words.

In this tutorial you will learn so-called XHTML (Extensible HyperText Mark-up Language) which, in short, is a new and more well-structured way of writing HTML.

Now you know what HTML (and XHTML) stands for let's get started with what it is all about: making websites. 

HTML: Introduction

Introduction

Most of the time people think that it is very difficult to make a website. That is not the case! Everyone can learn how to make a website. And if you read on, you will have made one easily. 

Some people believe, just as mistakenly, that expensive and advanced software is needed to make websites. It is true that there are lots of different programs that claim they can create a website for you. Some come closer than others. But if you want it done right, you must do it yourself. Fortunately, it is simple and free and you already have all the software you need. You can use Macromedia Dreamweaver or something like that. Or you can use any text editor like “Notepad” or “Notepad++”. If you are not using Windows, you can use a similar simple text editor. For example, Pico (Linux) or TextEdit (Mac).

This tutorial will help you to learn the basic concepts of HTML and CSS. This tutorial cannot show you everything. So some engagement and a will to experiment are required. But don't worry, learning how to make websites is a lot of fun and gives a tremendous amount of satisfaction when you get it right.

Okay, enough talk. Let's get started!

Next Lesson >

Basic Concepts of html

Basic Concepts:
We are here to learn html. Actually we are here to learn how to create a website! People thinks html learning is very difficult. But it is not so hard. It is nothing but a language.