HTML: What It Is and What It Does

HTML Basics for Beginners

Sep 20, 2009

There are a number of books out there written to explain the basics of HTML to the masses, but the beginner needs to know what they are getting into. This is a summary.

HTML is the acronym for HyperText Markup Language. The hypertext side of the language allows content writers to link to different pages, documents, image files, video files, and audio files in the same web site, or in other web sites, from around the world.

At its core, HTML is a formatting language that allows content writers to create whole web pages using tags, or pairs of instructions that tell a web browser how to display the contents of a web document.

The Format of an HTML Document

An HTML document must be formatted very specifically in order for a web browser to recognize it as such. This is done using specific identifying HTML tags that also begin to define the structure of the document.

The first tag in all HTML documents is the !DOCTYPE which classifies the document as an HTML document. It is the first tag that is written into the top of every HTML document. It is also used to identify the version of HTML that the document conforms to. The tag looks like this:

!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 5.0 Final//EN">

There are six other HTML tags that identify the structure elements of the HTML document. They are:

!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 5.0 Final//EN"> <html> <head><title>Title of the HTML Document </title> <meta name="keywords" content="Document keywords are inserted here and are not viewed by readers of the document"> <meta name="description" content="The document description is inserted here and is viewed by readers when the document is added to the search results of a search engine"> </head> →All of the rest of the content of the document is added in this area← </html>

The <html> tag immediately follows the !DOCTYPE tag to identify the document as an HTML document. Without the <html> tag, the contents of the document would display in the browser just like it is displayed in a text editor window. The tags would not be read and executed.

The <head> tag is used to help browsers and search engines identify the reference information in the document. The <title> tag identifies the title of the document. The <meta name=“keywords” content=“…”> and the <meta name=“description” content=“…”> are important elements in every HTML document.

Meta information is used by search engines to categorize the contents of the document based on the keywords and the description entered. The <body> tag encloses all of the information that is viewable by the readers of the document.

Each of these tags has a corresponding closing tag which essentially ends the effects the tag has on the document. The only difference between the opening and closing tags is that the closing tags include a forward slash (/), and are written into the document like this:

The Role of HTML Formatting Tags

In a nutshell, HTML formatting tags tell the browser how to display the contents of the HTML document. There are many tag options that allow content creators to tell browsers exactly how to display the content of the document, including:

The list tags, which require <li> as the opening tag and </li> as the closing tag, have to be accompanied by either <ol>…</ol> to specify an ordered, or numbered, list, or <ul>…</ul> to specify an unordered, or bulleted, list. Many other tags exist that allow further formatting possibilities, and the details of these tags can be found on the W3Schools HTML Tutorial website.

The Beauty of Links

Links make the World Wide Web what it is. By adding a link to an HTML document, content creators further expand the size and scope of the Internet. Content creators can also add links into their documents that allow readers to jump from one part of a document to another part of the same document.

Many long web pages have a link that reads “Back to Top” every paragraph or so. The creator of that web page included a small HTML tag somewhere close to the beginning of the document that will point the reader back to the top of the page.

Clicking the “Back to Top” link will take the reader right back to the top of the page where most of the navigation links on the page are included. Links are added to a web page using anchor tags. The tags used are <a href=“…”>…</a>, which directs the reader to an external web page, and <a name=“…”>…</a>, which directs the reader to an internal location on the same document.

To begin creating HTML web pages, use a simple and widely available text editing program, like Notepad, and follow these steps to get going:

Viewing the document in a browser will allow content creators to see what readers will see so appropriate changes can be made before publishing the document to the Internet.

HTML is a simple web programming language to learn. The W3Schools HTML Tutorial website is a free resource that anyone can access to begin learning HTML. Local libraries may also have HTML books and manuals to check out, take home, and begin creating web pages with (other HTML books can also be found at local book retailers for purchase).

These free resources can be invaluable when learning HTML. Use free resources to begin the learning curve before buying any other materials.

The copyright of the article HTML: What It Is and What It Does in Computer Programming Languages is owned by Joshua Nuttall. Permission to republish HTML: What It Is and What It Does in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.