HTML Resource Guide
HTML Resource Guide: Computer Language For Beginners
Unlike the mid-90s when HTML was largely practiced by tech-savvy webmasters, it is common now for just about everyone to be required to have a working knowledge of this web markup language. From the small business owner to the student creating a class project, or even casual individuals working on a blog or personal project online, HTML knowledge is incredibly useful. Although the prospect of having to learn a programming language certainly does seem daunting, the good news is that HTML uses common words so that it is fairly simple to pick up.
The basis of HTML lies in its tags. A tag is an element that specifies an action, formatting, or command for a piece of content. For example, suppose we have a paragraph of text and need to highlight the first line. In a word processor, we would simply select the line and click on the Bold button. It works a little differently with HTML. To start, we would add and tags around the line in question to apply this type of formatting. When finished, it would look like this:
This is a sample sentence in bold!
Hand coding HTML refers to typing out the entire HTML code manually. It is typically done in a plain text editor such as Notepad, TextEdit, or Wordpad. An alternative is to use an HTML editor, though using an HTML editor to create an HTML page is not considered hand coding. Premium and free programs such as Dreamweaver, iWeb, Aloha, and Trellian WebPage are also known as What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) editors. It refers to the fact that these HTML editors allow the user to edit the content and immediately preview the end result. Some offer a split screen option, so that the user can see and edit the source code as well as the final content.
Before posting an HTML page online, there are other issues to address including setting up an account with a web hosting company. An easy alternative is to try online platforms such as Blogger or WordPress. These sites allow common users to quickly create content through WYSIWYG editors as well as hand coding options, and publish it immediately online.
To get started with HTML, have a look through the HTML guides below.
An Introduction to Tags
Preparing the HTML Document
Modifying the Page Title and Meta Tags
- The HTML Title Tag
- What’s in the head? Metadata in HTML
- Meta tags help search engines to understand what a page is about.
Basic Formatting
- Shortcut reference to HTML formatting.
- Commonly Used HTML Tags – Provides an introduction to basic HTML coding.
- In HTML, how do I change the color of the text and background of a web page?
- HTML Coding – Colors
- Web Safe Colors – The 216 Color Palette
Adding Links and Anchors
- Creating hyperlinks
- Links are interactive elements that connect to another page or section.
- The mailto: element is used to create email links.
- Creating and Editing Links and Anchor Links (WYSIWYG editor)
How to Insert Images
- HTML Image Tags
- The Attributes Of The IMG (Image) Element
- Images in HTML
- Responsive images
- Working With Images in WYSIWYG Editor
Creating Forms
- Mozilla Developer Network: My first HTML form
- Carnegie Mellon University: How to Create a MailTo Web Form
- Bates College: Forms in HTML Documents
- How to structure a web form
- A step-by-step guide to getting started with HTML forms
A Quick Look at Tables
- Tables consist of data arranged in rows and columns.
- Tables also help to organize the layout of a page.
- We can apply formatting to the entire table or specific cells.
- HTML5 Bootstrap Tables Snippets
Further Resources
- View a general guide with examples of some common HTML tags.
- Follow a step-by-step tutorial on creating a fully functional HTML page.
- This HTML primer for beginners offers the basics and more.
- Learn more about frames, fonts, scripts, and other aspects of HTML.
- Creating Web Pages with HTML
- Keep this cheat sheet of popular HTML tags and codes handy while working.