Learn Basic HTML

HTML stands for "Hyper Text Markup Language"

HTML is the bricks and mortar of the WWW. Without HTML the World Wide Web could not have become as important as it is today.

HTML is a document formatting language common the all computers on the WWW. html permits cross platform communication between Macs, Apples, SUNs, PCs and others to view a document in a similar way.

Every webpage that you visit uses HTML in some way, you can view the HTML code behind a website in Internet Explorer by selecting: View>Source

Next we are going to look at Chapter 2 - Your first code

HTML has two sections, the "Head" section and the "Body" section.

The head section is where the information about the web page is put for the browser. This has nothing to do with the heading that you want to see on your web page.
Things that can be stored in the head section include Keywords for search engines or the title of your webpage

The body section is where the web page is coded. This is where you put the information for your web page.

We are now going to create our very own webpage, for now we are going to create a simple page telling people your name.
Please follow these instructions:

Create a new folder so you have somewhere to save your website, call this folder anything you wish, this is where all pages and images for your website will be saved.

Open notepad and type the following code, you may change the code in yellow to suit your needs:

Type the following code into NotePad

<html>
<head>

<title> My Own Home Page </title>
</head>

<body>
<H1> I am Your-Name and this is my web Page! </H1>
</body>

</html>

Thats it! You have just coded your first webpage. Now save the notepad file by selecting "Save as" (make sure you save the file in the folder you have just created)

In the filename box type "index.php" and from the "Save as type" box select "All Files"
Then click "Save"

You are now ready to view your first webpage, navigate to the folder where you saved the file, double click on it and you will see your first webpage.

Now we have created your first page, lets go to chapter 3 and look at colours!

When you create a web page you will want to use different background and text colour's and to add images. This makes the site more attractive to visitors and generally makes the website look better. Take care not to make the text and background colour the same!

In this excercise we will change the background colour of your website you created in Chapter 2, to blue.
To do this you would add the following HTML code into the body of your text file. (To open your first website as a text file and not HTML, open the HTML file and select "View>Source"):

<body bgcolor = "#0000FF">

Notice how instead of saying <body bgcolor = blue> We have used some strange looking code.
Dont worry this is called "Hexadecimal colour" and can be used for inserting complex colours into your website.
Click HERE for a full list of colours and their Hexadecimal values .

If you are finding all of these different colour codes confusing dont worry!
As well as using the Hexadecimal method, you can also use good old fasioned English! Meaning that placing the following code into your HTML file would have the exact same effect:

<body bgcolor = "blue">

When inserted into your code, the code should look like this:

Test your file by saving it, remember to save it as "index.php" and make sure you slect "All Files" from the save as type box.

Now that we have our background colour sorted out, we can now alter the text colour.
We go about doing this in the same way. This is the code we need to insert into our webpage:

<font color="Red"> Text that you want to make red goes here </font>

Notice that you must put </font> after the text has ended. If you didnt insert the </font> then your entire document would have the text as red. This isnt to important for now but if you ever have more than one text colour on a page this may become a problem.

Here is how your code should now look:

IMPORTANT TIP: A common error when coding with colours and HTML in general are simple spelling mistakes.
Remember that when typing "color" it is the american spelling, make sure you dont use the english spelling "colour" or your HTML wont work.

Now lets move onto Chapter 4 and look at adding images

Adding an image is a simple way to make your website more attractive.
For this excercie find any image you like, and put it into the same folder as the webpage. Rename your image to "myimage"

We are now going to insert the image underneath our text.
Once again open up your HTML file in notepad so you can see the code.
This is what the code is going to look like:

<img src="myimage.gif"></a>

Notice that my image file is called "myimage.gif", your file may be "myimage.jpg" or "myimage.bmp" depending on how you saved your picture. To find out what type of picture it is right click on the picture and select "Properties".

Once inserted your code will look like this:

Save your file and run it to view the results.

IMPORTANT TIPS: Most websites will store their images in a seperate folder called "images".
To show a picture from the images folder the code would look like this:

<img src="/images/myimage.gif"></a>

You could try this now by creating a folder called images in the folder where your HTML file is saved.

Next We are going to look at creating a link in chapter 5!

Without links webpages are pretty pointless. "Links" as the name suggests, are used to link one page to another.
Links are very easy to create in HTML so lets get started.

1. First of all we need something to link to. If you feel that you need more practice in HTML then you can create a new page from scratch.
If not just copy the page you have already created and give it a different name, eg. "Page1.php"
Remember that you still need to be saving everything into the same folder.

2. The HTML code for a link looks like this:

<a href="name of your page here">Text that you want the user to see here</a>

If you are linking to another website on the WWW then your link would look like this:

<a href="http://www.elpassobooks.co.uk">Visit El Passo Books</a>

When the above line of code is run, this is what the user would see:
Visit El Passo Books

For now though we are going to link your "index.php" file to your "Page1.php" file.
This is the code that needs to be placed in your "index.php" file

<a href="Page1.php">Click Here to go to my next page</a>

Have a look at the full code below to see where you should insert it:

<a href="Page1.php">Click Here for my next page</a>

</font>
</body>

TIP: Notice I have changed the background colour to yellow, this is because the default colour for a link in internet explorer is blue, obviously with a blue background the link is invisible

When you click on the link you should be taken to "Page1.php", now for some practice at linking, why not try and put a link in "Page1.php" back to "index.php"

When you are satisfied with that, lets go to chapter 6 - Using Pictures as links.

1. You already have an image used in your first page so lets now make that a link. We are going to make it link to "Page1.php"

2. The HTML code for an image link looks like this:

<a href="Page1.php"><img src=" images/yourpichere.jpg "></a>

If you are linking to another website on the WWW then your link would look like this:

<a href="http://www.elpassobooks.co.uk"><img src=" images/yourpichere.jpg "></a>

For now though we are going to link your "index.php" file to your "Page1.php" file.
This is the code that needs to be placed in your "index.php" file

<a href="Page1.php"><img src=" images/yourpichere.jpg "></a>

Remember to change the red text to the location of your pictue.
If your picture is in its own "Images" folder as discussed in a previous chapter then the obove code would be used.
If it is in the same folder as your "index.php" file then the following code would be used:

<a href="Page1.php"><img src=" yourpichere.jpg "></a>

Here is what your code should now look like:

<a href="Page1.php"><img src="images/myimage.gif"></a>

<a href="Page1.php">Click Here for my next page</a>

</font>
</body>

Thats probably the easiest chapter in the book and shouldnt have taken you too long.
Next up is Chapter 7 - Formatting!

One of the most frustrating parts of HTML for beginners is simple formatting. Such as starting a new sentence on a new line, or aligning text to the left, right or middle.
Im am now going to show you the basics of fomatting.

1. Try and copy the following paragraph into your html document, then run it and see what result you get:

"This is a standard paragraph of text. Nothing to see here just typing some words for an HTML formatting example.

HTML formatting can be difficult for novice users, so hopefully you will find this chapter as painless as possible.

This is a cheap plug in a paragraph of text for my website www.elpassobooks.co.uk . If you find this guide helpful then you can have a look at my website for more great web guides written by me!

End of my meaningless paragraph of text!"

Notice how although we left spaces between each sentence in our original paragraph, when we tried to view them in HTML there are no spaces, everything is just one massive paragraph.

2. To fix it we must use the following HTML tags:

<p> - This is used for when you would like to start a new paragraph
<br> - A page break, this is used for starting a new line

Dont worry if this is all confusing, here is the paragraph again with the HTML tags, paste it into your document and then run it to see the results.

<p> "This is a standard paragraph of text. <br> Nothing to see here just typing some words for an HTML formatting example. <p>

HTML formatting can be difficult for novice users, so hopefully you will find this chapter as painless as possible. <p>

This is a cheap plug in a paragraph of text for my website www.elpassobooks.co.uk . If you find this guide helpful then you can have a look at my website for more great web guides written by me! <p>

End of my meaningless paragraph of text!"

If you want to experiment try running it again but this time move around the <p>`s and <br>`s to see what effect they have on your paragraph.
Remember practice makes perfect!

3. This is a long chapter but dont worry your about half way through!
Now we are going to look at aligning the text (Note - this method can be used on pictures, Flash and any other objects of your website)

Aligning things is simple in HTML, these are the following tags to be used:

<center> Text to be centered here </center>
<p align =left> Text to be aligned left here </align>
<p align =right> Text to be aligned right here </align>

Lets try it out on our paragraph. Try and use the above tags to align your paragraph to the left, right and center.
I

f you are struggling here is my code, have a look at the yellow parts and see if yours is the same: (notice I have also centered the image)

<a href="Page1.php">Click Here for my next page</a>

<center> <p>"This is a standard paragraph of text. <br>Nothing to see here just typing some words for an HTML formatting example.<p> </center>

<p align = right> HTML formatting can be difficult for novice users, so hopefully you will find this chapter as painless as possible.<p> </align>

<p align = left> This is a cheap plug in a paragraph of text for my website www.elpassobooks.co.uk. If you find this guide helpful then you can have a look at my website for more great web guides written by me!<p></align>

<p align = right>End of my meaningless paragraph of text!" </align>
</font>
</body>

TIP: The spelling "center" is american, if you use the English spelling "Centre" your HTML will not work.

4. Now for the final part of the chapter! Sizing, underlining and making your text bold.

There are a number of ways to alter the size of your text in HTML, I am going to show you what I feel is the easiest, you can use numbers ranging from 1 - 7 (1 is small, 7 is large)

THIS IS SIZE 1

THIS IS SIZE 2

THIS IS SIZE 3

THIS IS SIZE 4

THIS IS SIZE 5

THIS IS SIZE 6

THIS IS SIZE 7

Lets take our paragraph again, this time we will make the first paragraph size 5.
This is the code to be used:

<font size = 5> Your text goes here </font>

This is how your 1st paragraph of code should now look, dont worry if you need to space out the HTML like I have done below:

<center>
<p>
<font size =5> "This is a standard paragraph of text. <br>Nothing to see here just typing some words for an HTML formatting example. </font>
<p>
</center>

You can obviously replace the number 5 with any number of your choice from 1 - 7. Experiment and see what results you get.

5. We are finally going to look at making our font Bold, Itallic and Underlined.
This is incredible simple, these are the following tags used:

<b> Look at me im Bold </b>
<i> Look at me im Itallic </i>
<u> Look at me im Underlined </u>

Just like our other tags, the text you want to format goes inbetween the open <b> and closed </b> tags.

Try and use the three tags on your paragraph, experiment and see what results you get.
Again if you are struggling below is my HTML code:

Back To Main Page

<a href="Page1.php">Click Here for my next page</a>

<center>
<p>
<font size =5> <b> "This is a standard paragraph of text. <br>Nothing to see here just typing some words for an HTML formatting example. </b> </font>
<p>
</center>

<p align = right> <i> HTML formatting can be difficult for novice users, so hopefully you will find this chapter as painless as possible. </i> <p></align>

<p align = left> <u> This is a cheap plug in a paragraph of text for my website www.elpassobooks.co.uk. If you find this guide helpful then you can have a look at my website for more great web guides written by me! </u> <p></align>

<p align = right>End of my meaningless paragraph of text!"</align>
</font>
</body>

Tables come in very handy in HTML, not just for presenting data but for designing the layout of your page.
As you are new to HTML I am going to show you how to create your own basic table. Many beginners find tables very daunting and I was no different, dont worry if you dont get it first time, keep trying and it will eventually all fall into place!

1. There are 3 main tags for the table we will be creating:

Table - <table>
Table Row - <tr>
Table Cell - <td>

I will now show you how to create the following table:

Cell1	Cell2
Cell3	Cell4

And here's the code:

<table border>

<tr>

<td>Cell 1</td>

<td>Cell 2</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Cell 3</td>

<td>Cell 4</td>

</tr>

</table>

As you can see, the first table row encloses cells 1 and 2; the second table row encloses cells 3 and 4. Table rows always run horizontally. The contents of each cell - in this case, the words "Cell 1" or "Cell 2" - are sandwiched between the <td> and </td> tags.

In order to see the table, I added border to the table tag. This simply turns the border on. You can also specify its width by adding a number, as in <table border=5>.

"Colspan" and "rowspan"

You can also make a cell in one row stretch across two cells in another. Like this:

Cell 1
Cell 3 Cell 4

To accomplish this, you have to use the colspan modifyer. Just add colspan=2 to the <td>, and voilà!

<table border>

<tr>

<td colspan=2>Cell 1</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Cell 3</td>

<td>Cell 4</td>

</tr>

</table>

You can also do this:

Cell 1 Cell 2
Cell 3

Just add rowspan=2 to the <td>, like so:

<table border>

<tr>

<td rowspan=2>Cell 1</td>

<td>Cell 2</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Cell 3</td>

</tr>

</table>

Just remember: Rows run horizontally, columns run vertically. So if you want to stretch a cell horizontally, use colspan. To stretch a cell vertically, use rowspan.

Try inserting some of the HTML code into your own webpage, play around with the parameters and try adding new rows or columns.
If you would like a more detailed look at tables I can reccommend Webmonkey

You now know all the basics to start creating your own website, but dont leave just yet. The final two chapters are probably the most important.

Chapter 9 contains a full list of all HTML Tags
Chapter 10 contains vital information on how to publish your site onto the WWW.

I have now shown you the basic HTML tags to get you started, but did you know about the following tags, some useful, some not so useful!

Basic Tags

<html></html>
Creates an HTML document

<head></head>
Sets off the title and other information that isn't displayed on the Web page itself

<body></body>
Sets off the visible portion of the document

Header Tags

<title></title>
Puts the name of the document in the title bar

Back To Main Page

Body Attributes

<body bgcolor=?>
Sets the background color, using name or hex value

<body text=?>
Sets the text color, using name or hex value

<body link=?>
Sets the color of links, using name or hex value

<body vlink=?>
Sets the color of followed links, using name or hex value

<body alink=?>
Sets the color of links on click

Text Tags

<pre></pre>
Creates preformatted text

<hl></hl>
Creates the largest headline

<h6></h6>
Creates the smallest headline

<b></b>
Creates bold text

<i></i>
Creates italic text

<tt></tt>
Creates teletype, or typewriter-style text

<cite></cite>
Creates a citation, usually italic

<em></em>
Emphasizes a word (with italic or bold)

<strong></strong>
Emphasizes a word (with italic or bold)

<font size=?></font>
Sets size of font, from 1 to 7)

<font color=?></font>
Sets font color, using name or hex value

Links

<a href="URL"></a>
Creates a hyperlink

<a href="mailto:EMAIL"></a>
Creates a mailto link

<a name="NAME"></a>
Creates a target location within a document

<a href="#NAME"></a>
Links to that target location from elsewhere in the document

Formatting

<p></p>
Creates a new paragraph

<p align=?>
Aligns a paragraph to the left, right, or center

<br>
Inserts a line break

<blockquote>
</blockquote>
Indents text from both sides

<dl></dl>
Creates a definition list

<dt>
Precedes each definition term

<dd>
Precedes each definition

<ol></ol>
Creates a numbered list

<li></li>
Precedes each list item, and adds a number

<ul></ul>
Creates a bulleted list

<div align=?>
A generic tag used to format large blocks of HTML, also used for stylesheets

Graphical Elements

<img src="name">
Adds an image

<img src="name" align=?>
Aligns an image: left, right, center; bottom, top, middle

<img src="name" border=?>
Sets size of border around an image

<hr>
Inserts a horizontal rule

<hr size=?>
Sets size (height) of rule

<hr width=?>
Sets width of rule, in percentage or absolute value

<hr noshade>
Creates a rule without a shadow

Tables

<table></table>
Creates a table

<tr></tr>
Sets off each row in a table

<td></td>
Sets off each cell in a row

<th></th>
Sets off the table header (a normal cell with bold, centered text)

Table Attributes

<table border=#>
Sets width of border around table cells

<table cellspacing=#>
Sets amount of space between table cells

<table cellpadding=#>
Sets amount of space between a cell's border and its contents

<table width=# or %>
Sets width of table — in pixels or as a percentage of document width

<tr align=?> or <td align=?>
Sets alignment for cell(s) (left, center, or right)

<tr valign=?> or <td valign=?>
Sets vertical alignment for cell(s) (top, middle, or bottom)

<td colspan=#>
Sets number of columns a cell should span

<td rowspan=#>
Sets number of rows a cell should span (default=1)

<td nowrap>
Prevents the lines within a cell from being broken to fit

Frames

<frameset></frameset>
Replaces the <body> tag in a frames document; can also be nested in other framesets

<frameset rows="value,value">
Defines the rows within a frameset, using number in pixels, or percentage of w idth

<frameset cols="value,value">
Defines the columns within a frameset, using number in pixels, or percentage of width

<frame>
Defines a single frame — or region — within a frameset

<noframes></noframes>
Defines what will appear on browsers that don't support frames

Frames Attributes

<frame src="URL">
Specifies which HTML document should be displayed

<frame name="name">
Names the frame, or region, so it may be targeted by other frames

<frame marginwidth=#>
Defines the left and right margins for the frame; must be equal to or greater than 1

<frame marginheight=#>
Defines the top and bottom margins for the frame; must be equal to or greater than 1

<frame scrolling=VALUE>
Sets whether the frame has a scrollbar; value may equal "yes," "no," or "auto." The default, as in ordinary documents, is auto.

<frame noresize>
Prevents the user from resizing a frame

Forms

For functional forms, you'll have to run a CGI script. The HTML just creates the appearance of a form.

<form></form>
Creates all forms

<select multiple name="NAME" size=?></select>
Creates a scrolling menu. Size sets the number of menu items visible before you need to scroll.

Back To Main Page

<option>
Sets off each menu item

<select name="NAME"></select>
Creates a pulldown menu

<option>
Sets off each menu item

<textarea name="NAME" cols=40 rows=8></textarea>
Creates a text box area. Columns set the width; rows set the height.

<input type="checkbox" name="NAME">
Creates a checkbox. Text follows tag.

<input type="radio" name="NAME" value="x">
Creates a radio button. Text follows tag

<input type=text name="foo" size=20>
Creates a one-line text area. Size sets length, in characters.

<input type="submit" value="NAME">
Creates a Submit button

<input type="image" border=0 name="NAME" src="name.gif">
Creates a Submit button using an image

<input type="reset">
Creates a Reset button

I know what your thinking; What the point of all this if nobody else can see my site?
Well let me show you how to upload your website to the internet.

I am going to show you how to upload using the FREE microsoft web publishing wizard. If you dont have it on your PC, it can be downloaded for free here:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.

aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=63C2DB9B-C616-46C2-8713-AF9BB83C8D89

1. The first thing that you need is host, when you sign up with a host you will usually recieve the following:

A domain name - Eg. www.yourname.co.uk

A number of email accounts - Eg. yourname@yourdomain.co.uk

Webspace - This is like your own hard-drive but on the internet (Usually in MB)

Bandwidth - This is the amount of traffic your site is able to handle (Usually in GB)

Some hosts will also offer you incentives to sign up like free software, guestbooks for your site, shopping carts etc.

I would recommend a host called "1&1" internet , they are based in the UK and I host all of my websites there.

A very useful feature that you get if you sign up with 1&1 is a sitebuilder package. It is for novice users (like yourself) and allows you to create a professional Flash website by following step by step instructions on their website. Absolutly NO knowledge of Flash or HTML is needed! Its perfect for first time website builders who want to quickly get a website up and running.This comes free with the £4.99 package.

The standard package that I use is only £4.99 a month.

3. Now that you have a host ready, you need to transfer your website from your PC, to the host.
This is done through a procedure called "FTP - File Transfer Protocol"
There are a number of FTP software packages available on the WWW, but I am going to show you how to transfer your files using the built in FTP client in Windows.

Here is a step by step guide.

1. Select your entire website (make sure your website is all in ONE folder), you can do this by holding the "CTRL" key whilst clicking on each page.

2. Then Right Click on one of the files you have selected,
Select "Send To > Web Publishing Wizard"

3. When you have clicked on "Web Publishing Wizard", rather unsurprisingly a Wizard opens"
Click "Next", then when it says "Select a Webserver", click "New"
Enter a descriptive name, this is for your benefit so give it a sensible name, then click "Next"

4. You are then asked for a URL or Internet address, this is whatever domain you registered with your ISP, Eg. www.yoursite.co.uk
You are also asked for your local directory, this is the directory on your hard drive where your website is stored. Make sure all this is entered correctly and click "Next"

5. If all the information is entered correctly you will get a box asking for your username and password for your domain.
If you are unsure of your username or password contact your host.
Once you have entered your username and password click "OK"

6. If you are successful then you are ready to send your files to the web.
If however you recieve an error dont worry, click on next and when asked to select a service provider, select "FTP" from the drop down box and click "Next".

7. You are then asked for your FTP server name and the subfolder containing your pages.
To find out your FTP server name please contact your host.
Once the information has been entered click "Next". If you then click "Finish" your files will be published to your host and your website is up and running!

10. To publish future files to the web, follow steps 1 & 2, and simply select your server from the drop down list

11. When the operation is completed you will get the following message:

The Web publishin wizard has updated your files to the webserver

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