w3schools    w3Schools
Search W3Schools :
   
HOME HTML CSS XML JAVASCRIPT ASP PHP SQL MORE...   References Examples Forum About
ADVERTISEMENTS

XML Certification
Download XML editor
Custom Programming
 
Table of contents
Web Primer
Web Primer
Web WWW
Web HTML
Web CSS
Web JavaScript
Web XML
Web Scripting
Web SQL

Selected Reading
Web Statistics
Web Glossary
Web Hosting
Web Quality

W3Schools Tutorials
W3Schools Forum

Helping W3Schools

 

HTML Primer

Previous Next

What is an HTML File?

  • HTML stands for Hyper Text Markup Language
  • An HTML file is a text file containing small markup tags
  • The markup tags tell the Web browser how to display the page
  • An HTML file must have an htm or html file extension
  • An HTML file can be created using a simple text editor

Do You Want to Try It?

If you are running Windows, start Notepad.

If you are on a Mac, start SimpleText.

In OSX start TextEdit and change the following preferences: Open the "Format" menu and select "Plain text" instead of "Rich text". Then open the "Preferences" window under the "Text Edit" menu and select "Ignore rich text commands in HTML files". Your HTML code will probably not work if you do not change the preferences above!

Type in the following text:

<html>
<head>
<title>Title of page</title>
</head>
<body>
This is my first homepage. <b>This text is bold</b>
</body>
</html>

Save the file as "mypage.htm". 

Start your Internet browser. Select "Open" (or "Open Page") in the File menu of your browser. A dialog box will appear. Select "Browse" (or "Choose File") and locate the HTML file you just created - "mypage.htm" - select it and click "Open". Now you should see an address in the dialog box, for example "C:\MyDocuments\mypage.htm". Click OK, and the browser will display the page.

Note: If you are using Internet Explorer 7, the File menu might be hidden. Press the "Alt" key on your keyboard to make it appear.


Example Explained

The first tag in your HTML document is <html>. This tag tells your browser that this is the start of an HTML document. The last tag in your document is </html>. This tag tells your browser that this is the end of the HTML document.

The text between the <head> tag and the </head> tag is header information. Header information is not displayed in the browser window.

The text between the <title> tags is the title of your document. The title is displayed in your browser's caption.

The text between the <body> tags is the text that will be displayed in your browser.

The text between the <b> and </b> tags will be displayed in a bold font.


HTM or HTML Extension?

When you save an HTML file, you can use either the .htm or the .html extension. We have used .htm in our examples. It might be a bad habit inherited from the past when some of the commonly used software only allowed three letter extensions.

With newer software we think it will be perfectly safe to use .html.


Note on HTML Editors:

You can easily edit HTML files using a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editor like FrontPage or Dreamweaver, instead of writing your markup tags in a plain text file.

However, if you want to be a skillful Web developer, we strongly recommend that you use a plain text editor to learn your primer HTML.


Frequently Asked Questions

Q: After I have edited an HTML file, I cannot view the result in my browser. Why?
A:
Make sure that you have saved the file with a proper name and extension like "c:\mypage.htm". Also make sure that you use the same name when you open the file in your browser.

Q: I have edited an HTML file, but the changes don't show in the browser. Why?
A:
A browser caches pages so it doesn't have to read the same page twice. When you have modified a page, the browser doesn't know that. Use the browser's refresh/reload button to force the browser to reload the page.

Q: What browser should I use?
A:
You can do all the training with all of the well-known browsers, like Internet Explorer, Firefox, Netscape, or Opera. However, some of the examples in our advanced classes require the latest versions of the browsers.

Q: Does my computer have to run Windows? What about a Mac?
A:
You can do all your training on a non-Windows computer like a Mac.


HTML Tutorial

Study our Complete HTML Tutorial


Previous Next


Make your web applications look like a million bucks

FusionCharts   

Most web applications today use boring methods to present data to their viewers using grids or simple HTML tables. FusionCharts induces "life" into the web applications by converting monotonous data into lively charts, gauges & maps.

FusionCharts works with all technologies like ASP, ASP.NET, PHP, ColdFusion, Ruby on Rails, JSP, HTML pages etc. and connects to any database to render animated & interactive charts. It takes less than 15 minutes and no expertise whatsoever to build your first chart and just a glance of it to captivate your audience. This fact is endorsed by our 12,000 customers and 150,000 users which include a majority of the Fortune 500 companies. And yeah, your applications could look like a million bucks by spending just $69.

So go ahead, download your copy of FusionCharts and start "wow-ing" your customers now!


 
WEB HOSTING
Shopping Cart
ASP.NET
Shopping Cart
$15 Domain Name
Registration
Save $20 / year!
Buy UK Domain Names
Register Domain Names
Cheap Domain Names
Cheap Web Hosting
Best Web Hosting
PHP MySQL Hosting
Top 10 Web Hosting
UK Reseller Hosting
Web Hosting
FREE Web Hosting
WEB BUILDING
Website Templates
Flash Templates
Website Builder
Internet Business Opportunity
Custom Programming
FREE Trial or Demo
Web Content Manager
Forms,Web Alerts,RSS
Download XML editor
FREE Flash Website
FREE Web Templates
EDUCATION
US Web Design Schools
HTML Certification
JavaScript Certification
XML Certification
PHP Certification
ASP Certification
Home HOME or Top of Page Validate   Validate   W3C-WAI level A conformance icon Printer Friendly  Printer Friendly

W3Schools is for training only. We do not warrant the correctness of its content. The risk from using it lies entirely with the user.
While using this site, you agree to have read and accepted our terms of use and privacy policy.
Copyright 1999-2009 by Refsnes Data. All Rights Reserved.