HTML (Hyper Text Mark-up Language) is the language of the Web. But unlike other well-known languages associated with the Web, such as Java, it is not a programming language. In its most basic form a Web page is just a text file whose content has been marked up with tags—specific text surrounded by < and > brackets, which describe the structure and appearance of the text content.
A Web browser interprets the page and figures out how display this text file according the certain standards set by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).
Over the years the W3C has revised the HTML standard. Coding styles and practices have followed suit. Most Web pages created today should be written to conform with HTML 4.01 or XHTML 1.1 (a stricter version of HTML, based on XML). The advent of Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) has also changed how Web pages look and are written.
- A basic text editor, like Notepad (Windows) or TextEdit (Macintosh).
- Or an HTML text editor, like BBEdit, CuteHTML, or Dreamweaver.
The basics with a few hands-on examples.
- W3School: General HTML Tutorial — http://www.w3schools.com/css/default.asp
- W3C: Getting Started With HTML — http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/Guide/
In the "old days" using tables was the only way to design professional-looking Websites. Many websites still rely heavily on manupilating and nesting tables to achieve complex layouts. With CSS coming along, it is advisable to use tables only for what it was intended—the display of spreadsheet-like information.
- HTMLSource: Basic Tables Tutorial — http://www.yourhtmlsource.com/tables/
Text input fields, radio buttons, checkboxes, dropmenus.
- HTMLSource: Basic Forms Tutorial — http://www.yourhtmlsource.com/forms/basicforms.html
- A List Part: Prettier Accessible Forms — http://alistapart.com/articles/prettyaccessibleforms
- "Try this" on e-Card Builder.
Jpg, gif, or png? Which one when and why? And how to embed them into the page
- WebStyleGuide: Graphic file formats — http://www.webstyleguide.com/graphics/formats.html
- The <img> Tag and the Src Attribute — http://w3schools.com/html/html_images.asp
Code to integrate Flash "applet" into a webpage.
- Adobe: Macromedia Flash OBJECT and EMBED tag syntax — http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/knowledgebase/index.cfm?id=tn_4150
- Adobe: Flash OBJECT and EMBED tag attributes — http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/knowledgebase/index.cfm?id=tn_12701
- A List Part : Bye Bye Embed — http://alistapart.com/articles/byebyeembed
The new standard in website layout. The drop-menus are entirely CSS. No JavaScript!
- W3School: A General CSS Tutorial — http://www.w3schools.com/css/default.asp
- HTMLSource: Introduction to CSS — http://www.yourhtmlsource.com/stylesheets/introduction.html
- HTMLSource: CSS Layout — http://www.yourhtmlsource.com/stylesheets/csslayout.html
- CSSplay: The ULTIMATE CSS only drop-down menu — http://www.cssplay.co.uk/menus/final_drop.html