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HTML Basics

HTML ~ Hypertext Markup Language

Hypertext Markup Language

HTML is the primary language that all Web Browsers can read.  So we create web pages using HTML Tags.  Just like any other Language, there are rules of syntax and usage.  If we want a browser to render our pages a certain way, then we use certain HTML Tags (along with our css).

Hypertext refers to the hyperlinking of documents.  In the very early days of the internet, the only thing web documents (pages) contained was text.  So.... hyper - text. 

Markup refers to the HTML Tags and Elements that are written as part of the code of a web page.  If you click on Code View in Expression Web, you will see the Markup (code).

Language refers to the way we communicate with one another.  In this scenario, we are communicating instructions to the web browser.  Again, as a Language, there are rules and syntax that we must follow in order to communicate effectively.

 

Html Tags

The way we communicate to web browsers is by using HTML Tags.  HTML Tags are used to tell the web browser how to structure our content and our web pages. 

I emphasize the word Structure.

 HTML is the Structure (or Content) of a web page, whereas CSS is the Presentation.

 

Separation of Content (Structure) from Presentation

We will talk more about the Separation of Structure (Content) from Presentation when we discuss CSS.  For now, keep in mind one General Rule of Thumb:  we no longer use HTML Tags that are Presentational in Nature.  Presentational Tags have become obsolete as CSS has taken the place of these tags.

And it is this fact that provides the separation of content from presentation.  We will review some of the benefits of doing this later.

HTML Tags

HTML Tags are used to Structure our Web Pages.  For instance, we use the <div> tag to create the various sections of a Layout.  We use the <p> paragraph tag to structure our content....etc.

*Since CSS takes care of the positioning and presentation portion of Designing Web Pages, we are left with having to learn only a handful of HTML Tags.

For Starters

Here is a brief list of the HTML Tags you should learn.  Just start off by learning the definition and purpose of each of the following tags:

Common HTML Tags Purpose
<div> Division
<p> Paragraph Tag`
<h1> thru <h6> Heading Tags
<ul> Unordered List (bulleted list)
<ol> Ordered List (numbered list)
<li> List Item
<br> or <br /> Line Break
<hr>  or <hr /> Horizontal Rule (line)
<img> Image
<a> Anchor

These are the most important Tags to learn.  If you learn these, you are well on your way to successfully making web pages.