What is HTML?

With a good software package, such as Netscape Composer, Claris HomePage, Microsoft FrontPage or Adobe PageMill, you probably won't ever work with HTML. Knowing what it stands for and what it looks like is basically all you need to know. Sometimes it can be helpful in troubleshooting.

HTML (hypertext markup language) is a collection of styles that define the components of a Web page. The styles are indicated by markup tags. Html files need to be saved with the extension .htm or .html.

Markup tags tell the Web browser how to display the text. These tags are read by different browsers (Netscape, Internet Explorer) and the browsers interpret them to display the page.

Markup tags usually come in pairs. In the example below, the tag is B for Bold. The tags can be upper or lower case, but are always enclosed in < and > symbols. The ending tag also has a slash before it. Writing the tags in uppercase helps distinguish text from tags.

Example <B>hi there</B>

Let's Make A Page!

Now we have the basics done and we're ready to make a web page.

© 2000 Instructions created by Janine Lim for Berrien County Intermediate School District and shared with AVLN by permission.

---

About | Conference | Members | Standards | Resources | Board | Listserv | Contact
Last updated March 27, 2002