Fortunately, HTML is a very simple language. The tags are easy to learn and even easier to remember. There are books devoted entirely to learning HTML, online tutorials to help you learn the code. There are even "cheat sheets" that you can print out and use as a reference while you work.

You can design web sites without knowing HTML. Perhaps you can even design a decent site. There is software out there allows you to design a website without ever touching the HTML. This software is great for speed but it's no substitute for practical knowledge.

This tutorial is not meant to make anyone a HTML hero, only to give you a basic foundation to build on. If you want to learn more, see the resources section for links to other tutorials on the web.

HTML is a great tool: it organizes and adds structure to documents that are otherwise slack-boned invertebrates. However, even HTML has its limitations. Above all, HTML is a code that allows users to view text. Everything else that has been added (graphic capabilities, fonts, formatting) falls into the "bells and whistles" category. HTML is not going to baby-sit your kids or slice and dice potatoes. It's also not going to have the same capabilities as other web-based languages like JavaScript and perl. Those languages can be used with HTML, but HTML is 90 percent function and 10 percent form.

Starting out

There are a few things that go in every HTML document. The and tags are required so browsers know what type of document they're reading. Another tag to pay attention to is the < title > tag. So what do these three bad boys do? Watch and learn.

A basic HTML document.

< html >
< title >My first page< /title > < body >
My name is Rosemarie Snodling and I like wombats. This is my first webpage. < br >

< /body >
< /html >

< html >goes at the beginning and ending of the document. The < /html > at the very end of the document tells the browser that the document is done.

< /html >, < /title > is merely a closing tag.

< body> is where the real meat of your document goes. This is where your text and graphics go.

Fonts and formatting

We love fonts. We download them, we use them to pretty up our letters and papers. We can also use them to pretty up web sites, or at least make our text more legible. The font tags in HTML are simple: tell the browser you've got a font coming its way, give it a few display choices and the size you want displayed.

This is the same HTML document as before, but now it's got some font commands as well.

< title >My first page< /title >
< br > < font face= "Arial, Helvetica, sans serif" size=4 >< b >My name is Rosemarie Snodling and I like wombats. This is my first webpage. < /b >< /font >< br >

The most common font face groups used in web design are "Times New Roman, serif" and "Arial, Helvetica, sans serif." The fonts are grouped together because the browser reads those font groups and then searches for those fonts on the user's computer. There are no fonts actually stored within a browser, only within the computer.

The < b > tag is an order to boldface any text between it and its closing tag. Other text formatting tags are for italicize and for underline. Use formatting tags sparingly: they're the Tabasco sauce of presentation. Too many formatting tags will make a page look like Times Square: gaudy and ugly.

Links

Links are what make the World Wide Web so attractive. The idea that information is available at the click of a mouse is so seductive; it keeps the users coming. Links make that transfer of information possible.

There are a few different types of links. The ones you will use the most are links to other web sites and email links. Here are some examples of each.

Linking to a different website
< a href = "www.snozzle.html" > Snozzle: a website on widgets and so much more < /a >

< A HREF = "slocketland.html" > Slocketland: an interactive troubleshooting universe< /a >

Linking to an email address
< A HREF = "mailto:[email protected]" > Comments? Email Discordia Jones! < /a >

the The < a> tag and its closer tell the browser that the tag is referring to an address. The "mailto:" direction tells the browser that it is actually an email address.

Next month: Tables