HTML continuation:

What is HTML?

H-T-M-L are initials that stand for HyperText Markup Language (computer people love initials and acronyms -- you'll be talking acronyms ASAP). Let me break it down for you: Hyper is the opposite of linear. It used to be that computer programs had to move in a linear fashion. This before this, this before this, and so on. HTML does not hold to that pattern and allows the person viewing the World Wide Web page to go anywhere, any time they want. Text is what you will use. Real, honest to goodness English letters. Mark up is what you will do. You will write in plain English and then mark up what you wrote. More to come on that in the next Primer. Language because they needed something that started with "L" to finish HTML and Hypertext Markup Louie didn't flow correctly. Because it's a language, really -- but the language is plain English.

What can I use HTML for?

If you want to make websites, there is no way around HTML. Even if you're using a program to create websites, such as Dreamweaver, a basic knowledge of HTML can make life a lot simpler and your website a lot better. The good news is that HTML is easy to learn and use. In just two lessons from now you will have learned how to make your first website.

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".)