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What Is An HTML File

HTML stands for Hyper Text Markup Language An HTML file is a text file containing small markup tags. Markup tags tell the Web browser how to display the page. When you save An HTML file, you can use either the.htm or the.html extension.

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342 views

What Is An HTML File

HTML stands for Hyper Text Markup Language An HTML file is a text file containing small markup tags. Markup tags tell the Web browser how to display the page. When you save An HTML file, you can use either the.htm or the.html extension.

Uploaded by

api-3835536
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Available Formats
Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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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 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.

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

Q: What browser should I use?


A: You can do all the training with all of the common browsers, like Internet Explorer, Mozilla, 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. However, some of the examples in
our advanced classes require a newer version of Windows, like Windows 98 or Windows 2000.

HTML documents are text files made up of HTML elements.

HTML elements are defined using HTML tags.

HTML Tags

• HTML tags are used to mark-up HTML elements


• HTML tags are surrounded by the two characters < and >
• The surrounding characters are called angle brackets
• HTML tags normally come in pairs like <b> and </b>
• The first tag in a pair is the start tag, the second tag is the end tag
• The text between the start and end tags is the element content
• HTML tags are not case sensitive, <b> means the same as <B>

HTML Elements

Remember the HTML example from the previous page:

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

<b>This text is bold</b>

The HTML element starts with a start tag: <b>


The content of the HTML element is: This text is bold
The HTML element ends with an end tag: </b>

The purpose of the <b> tag is to define an HTML element that should be displayed as bold.

This is also an HTML element:

<body>
This is my first homepage. <b>This text is bold</b>
</body>

This HTML element starts with the start tag <body>, and ends with the end tag </body>.

The purpose of the <body> tag is to define the HTML element that contains the body of the HTML
document.

Why do We Use Lowercase Tags?

We have just said that HTML tags are not case sensitive: <B> means the same as <b>. If you surf the
Web, you will notice that plenty of web sites use uppercase HTML tags in their source code. We always use
lowercase tags. Why?

If you want to follow the latest web standards, you should always use lowercase tags. The World Wide
Web Consortium (W3C) recommends lowercase tags in their HTML 4 recommendation, and XHTML (the
next generation HTML) demands lowercase tags.

Tag Attributes

Tags can have attributes. Attributes provide additional information to an HTML element.

The following tag defines an HTML table: <table>. With an added border attribute, you can tell the
browser that the table should have no borders: <table border="0">

Attributes always come in name/value pairs like this: name="value".

Attributes are always specified in the start tag of an HTML element.

Attributes and attribute values are also case-insensitive. However, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)
recommends lowercase attributes/attribute values in their HTML 4 recommendation, and XHTML demands
lowercase attributes/attribute values.

Always Quote Attribute Values

Attribute values should always be enclosed in quotes. Double style quotes are the most common, but
single style quotes are also allowed.

In some rare situations, like when the attribute value itself contains quotes, it is necessary to use single
quotes:

name='John "ShotGun" Nelson'

The most important tags in HTML are tags that define headings, paragraphs and line breaks.
The best way to learn HTML is to work with examples. We have created a very nice HTML editor
for you. With this editor, you can edit the HTML source code if you like, and click on a test
button to view the result.

Headings

Headings are defined with the <h1> to <h6> tags. <h1> defines the largest heading. <h6> defines the
smallest heading.

<h1>This is a heading</h1>
<h2>This is a heading</h2>
<h3>This is a heading</h3>
<h4>This is a heading</h4>
<h5>This is a heading</h5>
<h6>This is a heading</h6>

HTML automatically adds an extra blank line before and after a heading.

Paragraphs

Paragraphs are defined with the <p> tag.

<p>This is a paragraph</p>
<p>This is another paragraph</p>

HTML automatically adds an extra blank line before and after a paragraph.

Line Breaks

The <br> tag is used when you want to end a line, but don't want to start a new paragraph. The <br> tag
forces a line break wherever you place it.

<p>This <br> is a para<br>graph with line breaks</p>

The <br> tag is an empty tag. It has no closing tag.

Comments in HTML

The comment tag is used to insert a comment in the HTML source code. A comment will be ignored by the
browser. You can use comments to explain your code, which can help you when you edit the source code
at a later date.

<!-- This is a comment -->

Note that you need an exclamation point after the opening bracket, but not before the closing bracket.

Basic Notes - Useful Tips

When you write HTML text, you can never be sure how the text is displayed in another browser. Some
people have large computer displays, some have small. The text will be reformatted every time the user
resizes his window. Never try to format the text in your editor by adding empty lines and spaces to the
text.

HTML will truncate the spaces in your text. Any number of spaces count as one. Some extra information:
In HTML a new line counts as one space.
Using empty paragraphs <p> to insert blank lines is a bad habit. Use the <br> tag instead. (But don't use
the <br> tag to create lists. Wait until you have learned about HTML lists.)

You might have noticed that paragraphs can be written without the closing tag </p>. Don't rely on it. The
next version of HTML will not allow you to skip ANY closing tags.

HTML automatically adds an extra blank line before and after some elements, like before and after a
paragraph, and before and after a heading.

We use a horizontal rule (the <hr> tag), to separate the sections in our tutorials.

Basic HTML Tags

Tag Description
<html> Defines an HTML document
<body> Defines the document's body
<h1> to <h6> Defines header 1 to header 6
<p> Defines a paragraph
<br> Inserts a single line break
<hr> Defines a horizontal rule
<!--> Defines a comment

HTML defines a lot of elements for formatting output, like bold or italic text.

Below are a lot of examples that you can try out yourself:

How to View HTML Source

Have you ever seen a Web page and wondered "Hey! How did do they do that?"

To find out, click the VIEW option in your browser's toolbar and select SOURCE or PAGE SOURCE. This will
open a window that shows you the HTML code of the page.

Text Formatting Tags

Tag Description
<b> Defines bold text
<big> Defines big text
<em> Defines emphasized text
<i> Defines italic text
<small> Defines small text
<strong> Defines strong text
<sub> Defines subscripted text
<sup> Defines superscripted text
<ins> Defines inserted text
<del> Defines deleted text
<s> Deprecated. Use <del> instead
<strike> Deprecated. Use <del> instead
<u> Deprecated. Use styles instead

"Computer Output" Tags

Tag Description
<code> Defines computer code text
<kbd> Defines keyboard text
<samp> Defines sample computer code
<tt> Defines teletype text
<var> Defines a variable
<pre> Defines preformatted text
<listing> Deprecated. Use <pre> instead
<plaintext> Deprecated. Use <pre> instead
<xmp> Deprecated. Use <pre> instead

Citations, Quotations, and Definition Tags

Tag Description
<abbr> Defines an abbreviation
<acronym> Defines an acronym
<address> Defines an address element
<bdo> Defines the text direction
<blockquote> Defines a long quotation
<q> Defines a short quotation
<cite> Defines a citation
<dfn> Defines a definition term

Some characters like the < character, have a special meaning in HTML, and therefore cannot be
used in the text.

To display a less than sign (<) in HTML, we have to use a character entity.

Character Entities

Some characters have a special meaning in HTML, like the less than sign (<) that defines the start of an
HTML tag. If we want the browser to actually display these characters we must insert character entities in
the HTML source.

A character entity has three parts: an ampersand (&), an entity name or a # and an entity number, and
finally a semicolon (;).

To display a less than sign in an HTML document we must write: &lt; or &#60;

The advantage of using a name instead of a number is that a name is easier to remember. The
disadvantage is that not all browsers support the newest entity names, while the support for entity
numbers is very good in almost all browsers.

Note that the entities are case sensitive.

Non-breaking Space

The most common character entity in HTML is the non-breaking space.

Normally HTML will truncate spaces in your text. If you write 10 spaces in your text HTML will remove 9 of
them. To add spaces to your text, use the &nbsp; character entity.

The Most Common Character Entities:

Result Description Entity Name Entity Number


non-breaking space &nbsp; &#160;
< less than &lt; &#60;
> greater than &gt; &#62;
& ampersand &amp; &#38;
" quotation mark &quot; &#34;
' apostrophe &apos; (does not work in IE) &#39;

Some Other Commonly Used Character Entities:

Result Description Entity Name Entity Number


¢ cent &cent; &#162;
£ pound &pound; &#163;
¥ yen &yen; &#165;
§ section &sect; &#167;
© copyright &copy; &#169;
® registered trademark &reg; &#174;
× multiplication &times; &#215;
÷ division &divide; &#247;

HTML uses a hyperlink to link to another document on the Web.

The Anchor Tag and the Href Attribute

HTML uses the <a> (anchor) tag to create a link to another document.

An anchor can point to any resource on the Web: an HTML page, an image, a sound file, a movie, etc.

The syntax of creating an anchor:

<a href="url">Text to be displayed</a>

The <a> tag is used to create an anchor to link from, the href attribute is used to address the document
to link to, and the words between the open and close of the anchor tag will be displayed as a hyperlink.

This anchor defines a link to W3Schools:

<a href="http://www.w3schools.com/">Visit W3Schools!</a>

The Target Attribute

With the target attribute, you can define where the linked document will be opened.

The line below will open the document in a new browser window:

<a href="http://www.w3schools.com/"
target="_blank">Visit W3Schools!</a>

The Anchor Tag and the Name Attribute

The name attribute is used to create a named anchor. When using named anchors we can create links that
can jump directly into a specific section on a page, instead of letting the user scroll around to find what
he/she is looking for.

Below is the syntax of a named anchor:

<a name="label">Text to be displayed</a>


The name attribute is used to create a named anchor. The name of the anchor can be any text you care to
use.

The line below defines a named anchor:

<a name="tips">Useful Tips Section</a>

You should notice that a named anchor is not displayed in a special way.

To link directly to the "tips" section, add a # sign and the name of the anchor to the end of a URL, like
this:

<a href="http://www.w3schools.com/html_links.asp#tips">
Jump to the Useful Tips Section</a>

A hyperlink to the Useful Tips Section from WITHIN the file "html_links.asp" will look like this:

<a href="#tips">Jump to the Useful Tips Section</a>

Basic Notes - Useful Tips

Always add a trailing slash to subfolder references. If you link like this:
href="http://www.w3schools.com/html", you will generate two HTTP requests to the server, because the
server will add a slash to the address and create a new request like this:
href="http://www.w3schools.com/html/"

Named anchors are often used to create "table of contents" at the beginning of a large document. Each
chapter within the document is given a named anchor, and links to each of these anchors are put at the
top of the document.

If a browser cannot find a named anchor that has been specified, it goes to the top of the document. No
error occurs.

Link Tags

Tag Description
<a> Defines an anchor

With frames, you can display more than one Web page in the same browser window.

Frames

With frames, you can display more than one HTML document in the same browser window. Each HTML
document is called a frame, and each frame is independent of the others.

The disadvantages of using frames are:

• The web developer must keep track of more HTML documents


• It is difficult to print the entire page

The Frameset Tag

• The <frameset> tag defines how to divide the window into frames
• Each frameset defines a set of rows or columns
• The values of the rows/columns indicate the amount of screen area each row/column will occupy

The Frame Tag

• The <frame> tag defines what HTML document to put into each frame

In the example below we have a frameset with two columns. The first column is set to 25% of the width of
the browser window. The second column is set to 75% of the width of the browser window. The HTML
document "frame_a.htm" is put into the first column, and the HTML document "frame_b.htm" is put into
the second column:

<frameset cols="25%,75%">
<frame src="frame_a.htm">
<frame src="frame_b.htm">
</frameset>

Basic Notes - Useful Tips

If a frame has visible borders, the user can resize it by dragging the border. To prevent a user from doing
this, you can add noresize="noresize" to the <frame> tag.

Add the <noframes> tag for browsers that do not support frames.

Important: You cannot use the <body></body> tags together with the <frameset></frameset> tags!
However, if you add a <noframes> tag containing some text for browsers that do not support frames, you
will have to enclose the text in <body></body> tags! See how it is done in the first example below.

Frame Tags

Tag Description
<frameset> Defines a set of frames
<frame> Defines a sub window (a frame)
<noframes> Defines a noframe section for browsers that do not handle frames
<iframe> Defines an inline sub window (frame)

With HTML you can create tables.

Tables

Tables are defined with the <table> tag. A table is divided into rows (with the <tr> tag), and each row is
divided into data cells (with the <td> tag). The letters td stands for "table data," which is the content of a
data cell. A data cell can contain text, images, lists, paragraphs, forms, horizontal rules, tables, etc.

<table border="1">
<tr>
<td>row 1, cell 1</td>
<td>row 1, cell 2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>row 2, cell 1</td>
<td>row 2, cell 2</td>
</tr>
</table>

How it looks in a browser:


row 1, cell 1 row 1, cell 2
row 2, cell 1 row 2, cell 2

Tables and the Border Attribute

If you do not specify a border attribute the table will be displayed without any borders. Sometimes this
can be useful, but most of the time, you want the borders to show.

To display a table with borders, you will have to use the border attribute:

<table border="1">
<tr>
<td>Row 1, cell 1</td>
<td>Row 1, cell 2</td>
</tr>
</table>

Headings in a Table

Headings in a table are defined with the <th> tag.

<table border="1">
<tr>
<th>Heading</th>
<th>Another Heading</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>row 1, cell 1</td>
<td>row 1, cell 2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>row 2, cell 1</td>
<td>row 2, cell 2</td>
</tr>
</table>

How it looks in a browser:

Heading Another Heading


row 1, cell 1 row 1, cell 2
row 2, cell 1 row 2, cell 2

Empty Cells in a Table

Table cells with no content are not displayed very well in most browsers.

<table border="1">
<tr>
<td>row 1, cell 1</td>
<td>row 1, cell 2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>row 2, cell 1</td>
<td></td>
</tr>
</table>
How it looks in a browser:

row 1, cell 1 row 1, cell 2


row 2, cell 1

Note that the borders around the empty table cell are missing (NB! Mozilla Firefox displays the border).

To avoid this, add a non-breaking space (&nbsp;) to empty data cells, to make the borders visible:

<table border="1">
<tr>
<td>row 1, cell 1</td>
<td>row 1, cell 2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>row 2, cell 1</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
</tr>
</table>

How it looks in a browser:

row 1, cell 1 row 1, cell 2


row 2, cell 1

Basic Notes - Useful Tips

The <thead>,<tbody> and <tfoot> elements are seldom used, because of bad browser support. Expect
this to change in future versions of XHTML. If you have Internet Explorer 5.0 or newer, you can view a

Table Tags

Tag Description
<table> Defines a table
<th> Defines a table header
<tr> Defines a table row
<td> Defines a table cell
<caption> Defines a table caption
<colgroup> Defines groups of table columns
<col> Defines the attribute values for one or more columns in a table
<thead> Defines a table head
<tbody> Defines a table body
<tfoot> Defines a table footer

HTML supports ordered, unordered and definition lists.

Unordered Lists

An unordered list is a list of items. The list items are marked with bullets (typically small black circles).

An unordered list starts with the <ul> tag. Each list item starts with the <li> tag.

<ul>
<li>Coffee</li>
<li>Milk</li>
</ul>

Here is how it looks in a browser:

• Coffee
• Milk

Inside a list item you can put paragraphs, line breaks, images, links, other lists, etc.

Ordered Lists

An ordered list is also a list of items. The list items are marked with numbers.

An ordered list starts with the <ol> tag. Each list item starts with the <li> tag.

<ol>
<li>Coffee</li>
<li>Milk</li>
</ol>

Here is how it looks in a browser:

1. Coffee
2. Milk

Inside a list item you can put paragraphs, line breaks, images, links, other lists, etc.

Definition Lists

A definition list is not a list of items. This is a list of terms and explanation of the terms.

A definition list starts with the <dl> tag. Each definition-list term starts with the <dt> tag. Each definition-
list definition starts with the <dd> tag.

<dl>
<dt>Coffee</dt>
<dd>Black hot drink</dd>
<dt>Milk</dt>
<dd>White cold drink</dd>
</dl>

Here is how it looks in a browser:

Coffee
Black hot drink
Milk
White cold drink

Inside a definition-list definition (the <dd> tag) you can put paragraphs, line breaks, images, links, other
lists, etc.

List Tags

Tag Description
<ol> Defines an ordered list
<ul> Defines an unordered list
<li> Defines a list item
<dl> Defines a definition list
<dt> Defines a definition term
<dd> Defines a definition description
<dir> Deprecated. Use <ul> instead
<menu> Deprecated. Use <ul> instead

HTML Forms are used to select different kinds of user input.

Forms

A form is an area that can contain form elements.

Form elements are elements that allow the user to enter information (like text fields, textarea fields, drop-
down menus, radio buttons, checkboxes, etc.) in a form.

A form is defined with the <form> tag.

<form>
<input>
<input>
</form>

Input

The most used form tag is the <input> tag. The type of input is specified with the type attribute. The
most commonly used input types are explained below.

Text Fields

Text fields are used when you want the user to type letters, numbers, etc. in a form.

<form>
First name:
<input type="text" name="firstname">
<br>
Last name:
<input type="text" name="lastname">
</form>

How it looks in a browser:

First name:
Last name:

Note that the form itself is not visible. Also note that in most browsers, the width of the text field is 20
characters by default.

Radio Buttons

Radio Buttons are used when you want the user to select one of a limited number of choices.

<form>
<input type="radio" name="sex" value="male"> Male
<br>
<input type="radio" name="sex" value="female"> Female
</form>
How it looks in a browser:

Male
Female

Note that only one option can be chosen.

Checkboxes

Checkboxes are used when you want the user to select one or more options of a limited number of
choices.

<form>
I have a bike:
<input type="checkbox" name="vehicle" value="Bike" />
<br />
I have a car:
<input type="checkbox" name="vehicle" value="Car" />
<br />
I have an airplane:
<input type="checkbox" name="vehicle" value="Airplane" />
</form>

How it looks in a browser:

I have a bike:
I have a car:
I have an airplane:

The Form's Action Attribute and the Submit Button

When the user clicks on the "Submit" button, the content of the form is sent to another file. The form's
action attribute defines the name of the file to send the content to. The file defined in the action attribute
usually does something with the received input.

<form name="input" action="html_form_action.asp"


method="get">
Username:
<input type="text" name="user">
<input type="submit" value="Submit">
</form>

How it looks in a browser:

Username:

If you type some characters in the text field above, and click the "Submit" button, you will send your input
to a page called "html_form_action.asp". That page will show you the received input.

Form Tags

Tag Description
<form> Defines a form for user input
<input> Defines an input field
<textarea> Defines a text-area (a multi-line text input control)
<label> Defines a label to a control
<fieldset> Defines a fieldset
<legend> Defines a caption for a fieldset
<select> Defines a selectable list (a drop-down box)
<optgroup> Defines an option group
<option> Defines an option in the drop-down box
<button> Defines a push button
<isindex> Deprecated. Use <input> instead

With HTML you can display images in a document.

The Image Tag and the Src Attribute

In HTML, images are defined with the <img> tag.

The <img> tag is empty, which means that it contains attributes only and it has no closing tag.

To display an image on a page, you need to use the src attribute. Src stands for "source". The value of the
src attribute is the URL of the image you want to display on your page.

The syntax of defining an image:

<img src="url">

The URL points to the location where the image is stored. An image named "boat.gif" located in the
directory "images" on "www.w3schools.com" has the URL: http://www.w3schools.com/images/boat.gif.

The browser puts the image where the image tag occurs in the document. If you put an image tag
between two paragraphs, the browser shows the first paragraph, then the image, and then the second
paragraph.

The Alt Attribute

The alt attribute is used to define an "alternate text" for an image. The value of the alt attribute is an
author-defined text:

<img src="boat.gif" alt="Big Boat">

The "alt" attribute tells the reader what he or she is missing on a page if the browser can't load images.
The browser will then display the alternate text instead of the image. It is a good practice to include the
"alt" attribute for each image on a page, to improve the display and usefulness of your document for
people who have text-only browsers.

Basic Notes - Useful Tips

If an HTML file contains ten images - eleven files are required to display the page right. Loading images
take time, so my best advice is: Use images carefully.

Image Tags

Tag Description
<img> Defines an image
<map> Defines an image map
<area> Defines a clickable area inside an image map

A good background can make a Web site look really great.

Backgrounds
The <body> tag has two attributes where you can specify backgrounds. The background can be a color or
an image.

Bgcolor

The bgcolor attribute specifies a background-color for an HTML page. The value of this attribute can be a
hexadecimal number, an RGB value, or a color name:

<body bgcolor="#000000">
<body bgcolor="rgb(0,0,0)">
<body bgcolor="black">

The lines above all set the background-color to black.

Background

The background attribute specifies a background-image for an HTML page. The value of this attribute is
the URL of the image you want to use. If the image is smaller than the browser window, the image will
repeat itself until it fills the entire browser window.

<body background="clouds.gif">
<body background="http://www.w3schools.com/clouds.gif">

The URL can be relative (as in the first line above) or absolute (as in the second line above).

Note: If you want to use a background image, you should keep in mind:

• Will the background image increase the loading time too much?
• Will the background image look good with other images on the page?
• Will the background image look good with the text colors on the page?
• Will the background image look good when it is repeated on the page?
• Will the background image take away the focus from the text?

Basic Notes - Useful Tips

The bgcolor, background, and the text attributes in the <body> tag are deprecated in the latest versions
of HTML (HTML 4 and XHTML). The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has removed these attributes from
its recommendations.

Style sheets (CSS) should be used instead (to define the layout and display properties of HTML elements).

Color Values

HTML colors can be defined as a hexadecimal notation for the combination of Red, Green, and Blue color
values (RGB).

The lowest value that can be given to one light source is 0 (hex #00) and the highest value is 255 (hex
#FF).

The table below shows the result of combining Red, Green, and Blue light sources:.

Color Color HEX Color RGB


#000000 rgb(0,0,0)
#FF0000 rgb(255,0,0)
#00FF00 rgb(0,255,0)
#0000FF rgb(0,0,255)
#FFFF00 rgb(255,255,0)
#00FFFF rgb(0,255,255)
#FF00FF rgb(255,0,255)
#C0C0C0 rgb(192,192,192)
#FFFFFF rgb(255,255,255)

W3C Standard Color Names

W3C has listed 16 color names that will validate with an HTML validator.

The color names are: aqua, black, blue, fuchsia, gray, green, lime, maroon, navy, olive, purple, red, silver,
teal, white, and yellow.

Cross-browser Color Names

A collection of nearly 150 color names are supported by all major browsers.

Cross-browser Color Values

Some years ago, when most computers only supported 256 different colors, a list of 216 Web Safe Colors
was suggested as a Web standard. The reason for this was that the Microsoft and Mac operating system
used 40 different "reserved" fixed system colors (about 20 each).

We are not sure how important this is now, since most computers today have the ability to display millions
of different colors, but the choice is left to you.

The 216 cross-browser color palette was created to ensure that all computers would display the colors
correctly when running a 256 color palette:

000000 000033 000066 000099 0000CC 0000FF


003300 003333 003366 003399 0033CC 0033FF
006600 006633 006666 006699 0066CC 0066FF
009900 009933 009966 009999 0099CC 0099FF
00CC00 00CC33 00CC66 00CC99 00CCCC 00CCFF
00FF00 00FF33 00FF66 00FF99 00FFCC 00FFFF
330000 330033 330066 330099 3300CC 3300FF
333300 333333 333366 333399 3333CC 3333FF
336600 336633 336666 336699 3366CC 3366FF
339900 339933 339966 339999 3399CC 3399FF
33CC00 33CC33 33CC66 33CC99 33CCCC 33CCFF
33FF00 33FF33 33FF66 33FF99 33FFCC 33FFFF
660000 660033 660066 660099 6600CC 6600FF
663300 663333 663366 663399 6633CC 6633FF
666600 666633 666666 666699 6666CC 6666FF
669900 669933 669966 669999 6699CC 6699FF
66CC00 66CC33 66CC66 66CC99 66CCCC 66CCFF
66FF00 66FF33 66FF66 66FF99 66FFCC 66FFFF
990000 990033 990066 990099 9900CC 9900FF
993300 993333 993366 993399 9933CC 9933FF
996600 996633 996666 996699 9966CC 9966FF
999900 999933 999966 999999 9999CC 9999FF
99CC00 99CC33 99CC66 99CC99 99CCCC 99CCFF
99FF00 99FF33 99FF66 99FF99 99FFCC 99FFFF
CC0000 CC0033 CC0066 CC0099 CC00CC CC00FF
CC3300 CC3333 CC3366 CC3399 CC33CC CC33FF
CC6600 CC6633 CC6666 CC6699 CC66CC CC66FF
CC9900 CC9933 CC9966 CC9999 CC99CC CC99FF
CCCC00 CCCC33 CCCC66 CCCC99 CCCCCC CCCCFF
CCFF00 CCFF33 CCFF66 CCFF99 CCFFCC CCFFFF
FF0000 FF0033 FF0066 FF0099 FF00CC FF00FF
FF3300 FF3333 FF3366 FF3399 FF33CC FF33FF
FF6600 FF6633 FF6666 FF6699 FF66CC FF66FF
FF9900 FF9933 FF9966 FF9999 FF99CC FF99FF
FFCC00 FFCC33 FFCC66 FFCC99 FFCCCC FFCCFF
FFFF00 FFFF33 FFFF66 FFFF99 FFFFCC FFFFFF

Colors are displayed combining RED, GREEN, and BLUE light sources.

Color Values

HTML colors are defined using a hexadecimal notation for the combination of Red, Green, and Blue color
values (RGB). The lowest value that can be given to one of the light sources is 0 (hex #00). The highest
value is 255 (hex #FF).

Turn Off the Red

If you turn off the Red light completely, there are 65536 different combination of Green and Blue (256 x
256) to experiment with.

Turn On the Red

By setting the Red parameter to its maximum value, there are still 65536 different combination of Green
and Blue (256 x 256) to experiment with.

16 Million Different Colors

The combination of Red, Green and Blue values from 0 to 255 gives a total of more than 16 million
different colors to play with (256 x 256 x 256).

Most modern monitors are capable of displaying at least 16384 different colors.

If you look at the color table below, you will see the result of varying the red light from 0 to 255, while
keeping the green and blue light at zero.

To see a full list of 16384 different colors based on red light varying from 0 to 255, click on one of the
hexadecimal or rgb values below.

Red Light HEX RGB


#000000 rgb(0,0,0)
#080000 rgb(8,0,0)
#100000 rgb(16,0,0)
#180000 rgb(24,0,0)
#200000 rgb(32,0,0)
#280000 rgb(40,0,0)
#300000 rgb(48,0,0)
#380000 rgb(56,0,0)
#400000 rgb(64,0,0)
#480000 rgb(72,0,0)
#500000 rgb(80,0,0)
#580000 rgb(88,0,0)
#600000 rgb(96,0,0)
#680000 rgb(104,0,0)
#700000 rgb(112,0,0)
#780000 rgb(120,0,0)
#800000 rgb(128,0,0)
#880000 rgb(136,0,0)
#900000 rgb(144,0,0)
#980000 rgb(152,0,0)
#A00000 rgb(160,0,0)
#A80000 rgb(168,0,0)
#B00000 rgb(176,0,0)
#B80000 rgb(184,0,0)
#C00000 rgb(192,0,0)
#C80000 rgb(200,0,0)
#D00000 rgb(208,0,0)
#D80000 rgb(216,0,0)
#E00000 rgb(224,0,0)
#E80000 rgb(232,0,0)
#F00000 rgb(240,0,0)
#F80000 rgb(248,0,0)
#FF0000 rgb(255,0,0)

Shades of Gray

Gray colors are displayed using an equal amount of power to all of the light sources. To make it easier for
you to select the right gray color we have compiled a table of gray shades for you:

RGB(0,0,0) #000000
RGB(8,8,8) #080808
RGB(16,16,16) #101010
RGB(24,24,24) #181818
RGB(32,32,32) #202020
RGB(40,40,40) #282828
RGB(48,48,48) #303030
RGB(56,56,56) #383838
RGB(64,64,64) #404040
RGB(72,72,72) #484848
RGB(80,80,80) #505050
RGB(88,88,88) #585858
RGB(96,96,96) #606060
RGB(104,104,104) #686868
RGB(112,112,112) #707070
RGB(120,120,120) #787878
RGB(128,128,128) #808080
RGB(136,136,136) #888888
RGB(144,144,144) #909090
RGB(152,152,152) #989898
RGB(160,160,160) #A0A0A0
RGB(168,168,168) #A8A8A8
RGB(176,176,176) #B0B0B0
RGB(184,184,184) #B8B8B8
RGB(192,192,192) #C0C0C0
RGB(200,200,200) #C8C8C8
RGB(208,208,208) #D0D0D0
RGB(216,216,216) #D8D8D8
RGB(224,224,224) #E0E0E0
RGB(232,232,232) #E8E8E8
RGB(240,240,240) #F0F0F0
RGB(248,248,248) #F8F8F8
RGB(255,255,255) #FFFFFF

HTML Color Names

The table below provides a list of the color names that are supported by all major browsers.

Note: If you want your pages to validate with an HTML or a CSS validator, W3C has listed 16 color names
that you can use: aqua, black, blue, fuchsia, gray, green, lime, maroon, navy, olive, purple, red, silver,
teal, white, and yellow. If you want to use other colors, you must specify their RGB or HEX value.

Click on a color name (or a hex value) to view the color as the background-color along with different text
colors:

Color Name Color HEX Color


AliceBlue #F0F8FF
AntiqueWhite #FAEBD7
Aqua #00FFFF
Aquamarine #7FFFD4
Azure #F0FFFF
Beige #F5F5DC
Bisque #FFE4C4
Black #000000
BlanchedAlmond #FFEBCD
Blue #0000FF
BlueViolet #8A2BE2
Brown #A52A2A
BurlyWood #DEB887
CadetBlue #5F9EA0
Chartreuse #7FFF00
Chocolate #D2691E
Coral #FF7F50
CornflowerBlue #6495ED
Cornsilk #FFF8DC
Crimson #DC143C
Cyan #00FFFF
DarkBlue #00008B
DarkCyan #008B8B
DarkGoldenRod #B8860B
DarkGray #A9A9A9
DarkGrey #A9A9A9
DarkGreen #006400
DarkKhaki #BDB76B
DarkMagenta #8B008B
DarkOliveGreen #556B2F
Darkorange #FF8C00
DarkOrchid #9932CC
DarkRed #8B0000
DarkSalmon #E9967A
DarkSeaGreen #8FBC8F
DarkSlateBlue #483D8B
DarkSlateGray #2F4F4F
DarkSlateGrey #2F4F4F
DarkTurquoise #00CED1
DarkViolet #9400D3
DeepPink #FF1493
DeepSkyBlue #00BFFF
DimGray #696969
DimGrey #696969
DodgerBlue #1E90FF
FireBrick #B22222
FloralWhite #FFFAF0
ForestGreen #228B22
Fuchsia #FF00FF
Gainsboro #DCDCDC
GhostWhite #F8F8FF
Gold #FFD700
GoldenRod #DAA520
Gray #808080
Grey #808080
Green #008000
GreenYellow #ADFF2F
HoneyDew #F0FFF0
HotPink #FF69B4
IndianRed #CD5C5C
Indigo #4B0082
Ivory #FFFFF0
Khaki #F0E68C
Lavender #E6E6FA
LavenderBlush #FFF0F5
LawnGreen #7CFC00
LemonChiffon #FFFACD
LightBlue #ADD8E6
LightCoral #F08080
LightCyan #E0FFFF
LightGoldenRodYellow #FAFAD2
LightGray #D3D3D3
LightGrey #D3D3D3
LightGreen #90EE90
LightPink #FFB6C1
LightSalmon #FFA07A
LightSeaGreen #20B2AA
LightSkyBlue #87CEFA
LightSlateGray #778899
LightSlateGrey #778899
LightSteelBlue #B0C4DE
LightYellow #FFFFE0
Lime #00FF00
LimeGreen #32CD32
Linen #FAF0E6
Magenta #FF00FF
Maroon #800000
MediumAquaMarine #66CDAA
MediumBlue #0000CD
MediumOrchid #BA55D3
MediumPurple #9370D8
MediumSeaGreen #3CB371
MediumSlateBlue #7B68EE
MediumSpringGreen #00FA9A
MediumTurquoise #48D1CC
MediumVioletRed #C71585
MidnightBlue #191970
MintCream #F5FFFA
MistyRose #FFE4E1
Moccasin #FFE4B5
NavajoWhite #FFDEAD
Navy #000080
OldLace #FDF5E6
Olive #808000
OliveDrab #6B8E23
Orange #FFA500
OrangeRed #FF4500
Orchid #DA70D6
PaleGoldenRod #EEE8AA
PaleGreen #98FB98
PaleTurquoise #AFEEEE
PaleVioletRed #D87093
PapayaWhip #FFEFD5
PeachPuff #FFDAB9
Peru #CD853F
Pink #FFC0CB
Plum #DDA0DD
PowderBlue #B0E0E6
Purple #800080
Red #FF0000
RosyBrown #BC8F8F
RoyalBlue #4169E1
SaddleBrown #8B4513
Salmon #FA8072
SandyBrown #F4A460
SeaGreen #2E8B57
SeaShell #FFF5EE
Sienna #A0522D
Silver #C0C0C0
SkyBlue #87CEEB
SlateBlue #6A5ACD
SlateGray #708090
SlateGrey #708090
Snow #FFFAFA
SpringGreen #00FF7F
SteelBlue #4682B4
Tan #D2B48C
Teal #008080
Thistle #D8BFD8
Tomato #FF6347
Turquoise #40E0D0
Violet #EE82EE
Wheat #F5DEB3
White #FFFFFF
WhiteSmoke #F5F5F5
Yellow #FFFF00
YellowGreen #9ACD32

HTML Quick List from W3Schools. Print it, fold it, and put it in your pocket.

HTML Basic Document

<html>
<head>
<title>Document name goes here</title>
</head>

<body>
Visible text goes here
</body>

</html>

Heading Elements
<h1>Largest Heading</h1>

<h2> . . . </h2>
<h3> . . . </h3>
<h4> . . . </h4>
<h5> . . . </h5>

<h6>Smallest Heading</h6>

Text Elements
<p>This is a paragraph</p>
<br> (line break)
<hr> (horizontal rule)
<pre>This text is preformatted</pre>
Logical Styles
<em>This text is emphasized</em>
<strong>This text is strong</strong>
<code>This is some computer code</code>

Physical Styles
<b>This text is bold</b>
<i>This text is italic</i>

Links, Anchors, and Image Elements


<a href="http://www.example.com/">This is a Link</a>
<a href="http://www.example.com/"><img src="URL" alt="Alternate Text"></a>
<a href="mailto:webmaster@example.com">Send e-mail</a>

A named anchor:
<a name="tips">Useful Tips Section</a>
<a href="#tips">Jump to the Useful Tips Section</a>

Unordered list
<ul>
<li>First item</li>
<li>Next item</li>
</ul>

Ordered list
<ol>
<li>First item</li>
<li>Next item</li>
</ol>

Definition list
<dl>
<dt>First term</dt>
<dd>Definition</dd>
<dt>Next term</dt>
<dd>Definition</dd>
</dl>

Tables

<table border="1">
<tr>
<th>someheader</th>
<th>someheader</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>sometext</td>
<td>sometext</td>
</tr>
</table>

Frames

<frameset cols="25%,75%">
<frame src="page1.htm">
<frame src="page2.htm">
</frameset>

Forms
<form action="http://www.example.com/test.asp" method="post/get">
<input type="text" name="lastname" value="Nixon" size="30" maxlength="50">
<input type="password">
<input type="checkbox" checked="checked">
<input type="radio" checked="checked">
<input type="submit">
<input type="reset">
<input type="hidden">
<select>
<option>Apples
<option selected>Bananas
<option>Cherries
</select>

<textarea name="Comment" rows="60" cols="20"></textarea>

</form>

Entities
&lt; is the same as <
&gt; is the same as >
&#169; is the same as ©

Other Elements

<!-- This is a comment -->

<blockquote>
Text quoted from some source.
</blockquote>

<address>
Address 1<br>
Address 2<br>
City<br>
</address>

Source : http://www.w3schools.com/html/html_quick.asp

Everywhere on the Web you will find pages that are formatted like newspaper pages using
HTML columns.

HTML Layout - Using Tables

One very common practice with HTML, is to use An HTML <table> is used to divide a part of this
HTML tables to format the layout of an HTML page. Web page into two columns.

A part of this page is formatted with two columns, The trick is to use a table without borders, and
like a newspaper page. maybe a little extra cell-padding.

As you can see on this page, there is a left column No matter how much text you add to this page, it
and a right column. will stay inside its column borders.

This text is displayed in the left column.

Same Layout - Color Added

One very common practice with HTML, is to use An HTML <table> is used to divide a part of this
HTML tables to format the layout of an HTML page. Web page into two columns.

A part of this page is formatted with two columns, This text is displayed in the right column.
like a newspaper page.
The trick is to use a table without borders, and
As you can see at this page, there is a left column maybe a little extra cell-padding.
and a right column.
No matter how much text you add to this page, it
will stay inside its column borders.

Examples

Dividing a part of an HTML page into table columns is very easy to do. To let you experiment with it, we
have put together this simple example.

The <font> tag in HTML is deprecated. It is supposed to be removed in a future version of


HTML.

Even if a lot of people are using it, you should try to avoid it, and use styles instead.

The HTML <font> Tag

With HTML code like this, you can specify both the size and the type of the browser output :

<p>
<font size="2" face="Verdana">
This is a paragraph.
</font>
</p>
<p>
<font size="3" face="Times">
This is another paragraph.
</font>
</p>

Font Attributes

Attribute Example Purpose


size="number" size="2" Defines the font size
size="+number" size="+1" Increases the font size
size="-number" size="-1" Decreases the font size
face="face-name" face="Times" Defines the font-name
color="color-value" color="#eeff00" Defines the font color
color="color-name" color="red" Defines the font color

The <font> Tag Should NOT be Used

The <font> tag is deprecated in the latest versions of HTML (HTML 4 and XHTML).

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has removed the <font> tag from its recommendations. In future
versions of HTML, style sheets (CSS) will be used to define the layout and display properties of HTML
elements.

Where to Learn More About Style Sheets?


First off: Finish the last chapters in our HTML tutorial !!! In the following chapters we will explain why
some tags, like <font>, are to be removed from the HTML recommendations, and how to insert a style
sheet in an HTML document.

To learn more about style sheets: Study our CSS Tutorial.

HTML 3.2 Was Very Wrong !

The original HTML was never intended to contain tags for formatting a document. HTML tags were
intended to define the content of the document like:

<p>This is a paragraph</p>

<h1>This is a heading</h1>

When tags like <font> and color attributes were added to the HTML 3.2 specification, it started a
nightmare for web developers. Development of large web sites where fonts and color information had to
be added to every single Web page, became a long, expensive and unduly painful process.

What is so Great About HTML 4.0 ?

In HTML 4.0 all formatting can be removed from the HTML document and stored in a separate style
sheet.

Because HTML 4.0 separates the presentation from the document structure, we have what we always
needed: Total control of presentation layout without messing up the document content.

Prepare Yourself for XHTML

XHTML is the "new" HTML. The most important thing you can do is to start writing valid HTML 4.01. Also
start writing your tags in lower case. Always close your tag elements. Never end a paragraph without
</p>.

NOTE: The official HTML 4.01 recommends the use of lower case tags.

If you want to read about how this web site was converted to XHTML, please visit our XHTML tutorial.

Validate Your HTML Files as HTML 4.01

An HTML document is validated against a Document Type Definition (DTD). Before an HTML file can be
properly validated, a correct DTD must be added as the first line of the file.

The HTML 4.01 Strict DTD includes elements and attributes that have not been deprecated or do not
appear in framesets:

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC


"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/strict.dtd">

The HTML 4.01 Transitional DTD includes everything in the strict DTD plus deprecated elements and
attributes:

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC


"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd">

The HTML 4.01 Frameset DTD includes everything in the transitional DTD plus frames as well:
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC
"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Frameset//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/frameset.dtd">

With HTML 4.0 all formatting can be moved out of the HTML document and into a separate style
sheet.

How to Use Styles

When a browser reads a style sheet, it will format the document according to it. There are three ways of
inserting a style sheet:

External Style Sheet

An external style sheet is ideal when the style is applied to many pages. With an external style sheet, you
can change the look of an entire Web site by changing one file. Each page must link to the style sheet
using the <link> tag. The <link> tag goes inside the head section.

<head>
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"
href="mystyle.css">
</head>

Internal Style Sheet

An internal style sheet should be used when a single document has a unique style. You define internal
styles in the head section with the <style> tag.

<head>
<style type="text/css">
body {background-color: red}
p {margin-left: 20px}
</style>
</head>

Inline Styles

An inline style should be used when a unique style is to be applied to a single occurrence of an element.

To use inline styles you use the style attribute in the relevant tag. The style attribute can contain any CSS
property. The example shows how to change the color and the left margin of a paragraph:

<p style="color: red; margin-left: 20px">


This is a paragraph
</p>

Style Tags

Tag Description
<style> Defines a style definition
<link> Defines a resource reference
<div> Defines a section in a document
<span> Defines a section in a document
<font> Deprecated. Use styles instead
<basefont> Deprecated. Use styles instead
<center> Deprecated. Use styles instead

The Head Element


The head element contains general information, also called meta-information, about a document. Meta
means "information about".

You can say that meta-data means information about data, or meta-information means information about
information.

Information Inside the Head Element

The elements inside the head element should not be displayed by a browser.

According to the HTML standard, only a few tags are legal inside the head section. These are: <base>,
<link>, <meta>, <title>, <style>, and <script>.

Look at the following illegal construct:

<head>
<p>This is some text</p>
</head>

In this case the browser has two options:

• Display the text because it is inside a paragraph element


• Hide the text because it is inside a head element

If you put an HTML element like <h1> or <p> inside a head element like this, most browsers will display
it, even if it is illegal.

Should browsers forgive you for errors like this? We don't think so. Others do.

Head Tags

Tag Description
<head> Defines information about the document
<title> Defines the document title
<base> Defines a base URL for all the links on a page
<link> Defines a resource reference
<meta> Defines meta information

Tag Description
<!DOCTYPE> Defines the document type. This tag goes before the <html> start tag.

The Meta Element

As we explained in the previous chapter, the head element contains general information (meta-
information) about a document.

HTML also includes a meta element that goes inside the head element. The purpose of the meta element
is to provide meta-information about the document.

Most often the meta element is used to provide information that is relevant to browsers or search engines
like describing the content of your document.

Keywords for Search Engines

Some search engines on the WWW will use the name and content attributes of the meta tag to index your
pages.
This meta element defines a description of your page:

<meta name="description" content="Free Web tutorials on HTML, CSS, XML, and XHTML">

This meta element defines keywords for your page:

<meta name="keywords" content="HTML, DHTML, CSS, XML, XHTML, JavaScript, VBScript">

The intention of the name and content attributes is to describe the content of a page.

However, since too many webmasters have used meta tags for spamming, like repeating keywords to give
pages a higher ranking, some search engines have stopped using them entirely.

You can read more about search engines in our Web Building Tutorial.

Unknown Meta Attributes

Sometimes you will see meta attributes that are unknown to you like this:

<meta name="security" content="low">

Then you just have to accept that this is something unique to the site or to the author of the site, and that
it has probably no relevance to you.

HTML Links

When you click on a link in an HTML document like this: Last Page, an underlying <a> tag points to a
place (an address) on the Web with an href attribute value like this: <a href="lastpage.htm">Last
Page</a>.

The Last Page link in the example is a link that is relative to the Web site that you are browsing, and your
browser will construct a full Web address like http://www.w3schools.com/html/lastpage.htm to access the
page.

Uniform Resource Locators

Something called a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) is used to address a document (or other data) on the
World Wide Web. A full Web address like this: http://www.w3schools.com/html/lastpage.htm follows these
syntax rules:

scheme://host.domain:port/path/filename

The scheme is defining the type of Internet service. The most common type is http.

The domain is defining the Internet domain name like w3schools.com.

The host is defining the domain host. If omitted, the default host for http is www.

The :port is defining the port number at the host. The port number is normally omitted. The default port
number for http is 80.

The path is defining a path (a sub directory) at the server. If the path is omitted, the resource (the
document) must be located at the root directory of the Web site.
The filename is defining the name of a document. The default filename might be default.asp, or
index.html or something else depending on the settings of the Web server.

URL Schemes

Some examples of the most common schemes can be found below:

Schemes Access
file a file on your local PC
ftp a file on an FTP server
http a file on a World Wide Web Server
gopher a file on a Gopher server
news a Usenet newsgroup
telnet a Telnet connection
WAIS a file on a WAIS server

Accessing a Newsgroup

The following HTML code:

<a href="news:alt.html">HTML Newsgroup</a>

creates a link to a newsgroup like this HTML Newsgroup.

Downloading with FTP

The following HTML code:

<a href="ftp://www.w3schools.com/ftp/winzip.exe">Download WinZip</a>

creates a link to download a file like this: Download WinZip.

(The link doesn't work. Don't try it. It is just an example. W3Schools doesn't really have an ftp directory.)

Link to your Mail system

The following HTML code:

<a href="mailto:someone@w3schools.com">someone@w3schools.com</a>

creates a link to your own mail system like this:

someone@w3schools.com

Insert a Script into HTML Page

A script in HTML is defined with the <script> tag. Note that you will have to use the type attribute to
specify the scripting language.

<html>
<head>
</head>
<body>
<script type="text/javascript">
document.write("Hello World!")
</script>
</body>
</html>

The script above will produce this output:

Hello World!

Note: To learn more about scripting in HTML, visit our JavaScript School.

How to Handle Older Browsers

A browser that does not recognize the <script> tag at all, will display the <script> tag's content as text
on the page. To prevent the browser from doing this, you should hide the script in comment tags. An old
browser (that does not recognize the <script> tag) will ignore the comment and it will not write the tag's
content on the page, while a new browser will understand that the script should be executed, even if it is
surrounded by comment tags.

Example
JavaScript:
<script type="text/javascript">
<!--
document.write("Hello World!")
//-->
</script>

VBScript:
<script type="text/vbscript">
<!--
document.write("Hello World!")
'-->
</script>

The <noscript> Tag

In addition to hiding the script inside a comment, you can also add a <noscript> tag.

The <noscript> tag is used to define an alternate text if a script is NOT executed. This tag is used for
browsers that recognize the <script> tag, but do not support the script inside, so these browsers will
display the text inside the <noscript> tag instead. However, if a browser supports the script inside the
<script> tag it will ignore the <noscript> tag.

Example
JavaScript:
<script type="text/javascript">
<!--
document.write("Hello World!")
//-->
</script>
<noscript>Your browser does not support JavaScript!</noscript>

VBScript:
<script type="text/vbscript">
<!--
document.write("Hello World!")
'-->
</script>
<noscript>Your browser does not support VBScript!</noscript>
Script Tags

Tag Description
<script> Defines a script
<noscript> Defines an alternate text if the script is not executed
<object> Defines an embedded object
<param> Defines run-time settings (parameters) for an object
<applet> Deprecated. Use <object> instead

HTML tags can have attributes. The special attributes for each tag are listed under each tag description.
The attributes listed here are the core and language attributes that are standard for all tags (with a few
exceptions):

Core Attributes

Not valid in base, head, html, meta, param, script, style, and title elements.

Attribute Value Description


class class_rule or style_rule The class of the element
id id_name A unique id for the element
style style_definition An inline style definition
title tooltip_text A text to display in a tool tip

Language Attributes

Not valid in base, br, frame, frameset, hr, iframe, param, and script elements.

Attribute Value Description


dir ltr | rtl Sets the text direction
lang language_code Sets the language code

Keyboard Attributes

Attribute Value Description


accesskey character Sets a keyboard shortcut to access an element
tabindex number Sets the tab order of an element

New to HTML 4.0 is the ability to let HTML events trigger actions in the browser, like starting a JavaScript
when a user clicks on an HTML element. Below is a list of attributes that can be inserted into HTML tags to
define event actions.

Window Events

Only valid in body and frameset elements.

Attribute Value Description


onload script Script to be run when a document loads
onunload script Script to be run when a document unloads

Form Element Events


Only valid in form elements.

Attribute Value Description


onchange script Script to be run when the element changes
onsubmit script Script to be run when the form is submitted
onreset script Script to be run when the form is reset
onselect script Script to be run when the element is selected
onblur script Script to be run when the element loses focus
onfocus script Script to be run when the element gets focus

Keyboard Events

Not valid in base, bdo, br, frame, frameset, head, html, iframe, meta, param, script, style, and title
elements.

Attribute Value Description


onkeydown script What to do when key is pressed
onkeypress script What to do when key is pressed and released
onkeyup script What to do when key is released

Mouse Events

Not valid in base, bdo, br, frame, frameset, head, html, iframe, meta, param, script, style, title elements.

Attribute Value Description


onclick script What to do on a mouse click
ondblclick script What to do on a mouse double-click
onmousedown script What to do when mouse button is pressed
onmousemove script What to do when mouse pointer moves
onmouseout script What to do when mouse pointer moves out of an element
onmouseover script What to do when mouse pointer moves over an element
onmouseup script What to do when mouse button is released

Below is a reference of ASCII characters in URL-encoding form (hexadecimal format).

Hexadecimal values can be used to display non-standard letters and characters in browsers
and plug-ins.

Try It

Type some text or an ASCII value in the input field below, and click on the "URL Encode" button to see the
URL-encoding.

URL-encoding from %00 to %8f

ASCII Value URL-encode ASCII Value URL-encode ASCII Value URL-encode


æ %00 0 %30 ` %60
%01 1 %31 a %61
%02 2 %32 b %62
%03 3 %33 c %63
%04 4 %34 d %64
%05 5 %35 e %65
%06 6 %36 f %66
%07 7 %37 g %67
backspace %08 8 %38 h %68
tab %09 9 %39 i %69
linefeed %0a : %3a j %6a
%0b ; %3b k %6b
%0c < %3c l %6c
c return %0d = %3d m %6d
%0e > %3e n %6e
%0f ? %3f o %6f
%10 @ %40 p %70
%11 A %41 q %71
%12 B %42 r %72
%13 C %43 s %73
%14 D %44 t %74
%15 E %45 u %75
%16 F %46 v %76
%17 G %47 w %77
%18 H %48 x %78
%19 I %49 y %79
%1a J %4a z %7a
%1b K %4b { %7b
%1c L %4c | %7c
%1d M %4d } %7d
%1e N %4e ~ %7e
%1f O %4f %7f
space %20 P %50 € %80
! %21 Q %51 %81
" %22 R %52 ‚ %82
# %23 S %53 ƒ %83
$ %24 T %54 „ %84
% %25 U %55 … %85
& %26 V %56 † %86
' %27 W %57 ‡ %87
( %28 X %58 ˆ %88
) %29 Y %59 ‰ %89
* %2a Z %5a Š %8a
+ %2b [ %5b ‹ %8b
, %2c \ %5c Π%8c
- %2d ] %5d %8d
. %2e ^ %5e Ž %8e
/ %2f _ %5f %8f

URL-encoding from %90 to %ff

ASCII Value URL-encode ASCII Value URL-encode ASCII Value URL-encode


%90 À %c0 ð %f0
‘ %91 Á %c1 ñ %f1
’ %92 Â %c2 ò %f2
“ %93 Ã %c3 ó %f3
” %94 Ä %c4 ô %f4
• %95 Å %c5 õ %f5
– %96 Æ %c6 ö %f6
— %97 Ç %c7 ÷ %f7
˜ %98 È %c8 ø %f8
™ %99 É %c9 ù %f9
š %9a Ê %ca ú %fa
› %9b Ë %cb û %fb
œ %9c Ì %cc ü %fc
%9d Í %cd ý %fd
ž %9e Î %ce þ %fe
Ÿ %9f Ï %cf ÿ %ff
%a0 Ð %d0
¡ %a1 Ñ %d1
¢ %a2 Ò %d2
£ %a3 Ó %d3
%a4 Ô %d4
¥ %a5 Õ %d5
| %a6 Ö %d6
§ %a7 %d7
¨ %a8 Ø %d8
© %a9 Ù %d9
ª %aa Ú %da
« %ab Û %db
¬ %ac Ü %dc
¯ %ad Ý %dd
® %ae Þ %de
¯ %af ß %df
° %b0 à %e0
± %b1 á %e1
² %b2 â %e2
³ %b3 ã %e3
´ %b4 ä %e4
µ %b5 å %e5
¶ %b6 æ %e6
· %b7 ç %e7
¸ %b8 è %e8
¹ %b9 é %e9
º %ba ê %ea
» %bb ë %eb
¼ %bc ì %ec
½ %bd í %ed
¾ %be î %ee
¿ %bf ï %ef

Your First Step: A Personal Web Server

• If you want other people to view your pages, you must publish them.
• To publish your work, you have to copy your files to a web server.
• Your own PC can act as a web server if it is connected to a network.
• If you are running Windows 98, you can use the PWS (Personal Web Server).
• PWS is hiding in the PWS folder in your Windows CD.
Personal Web Server (PWS)

PWS turns any Windows computer into a Web server. PWS is easy to install and ideal for developing and
testing Web applications. PWS has been optimized for workstation use, but has all the requirements of a
full Web server. It also runs Active Server Pages (ASP) just like its larger brother IIS.

How to Install a Personal Web Server (PWS):

• Browse your Windows installation to see if you have installed PWS.


• If not, install PWS from the PWS directory on your Windows CD.
• Follow the instructions and get your Personal Web Server up and running.

Internet Information Server (IIS)

Windows 2000's built-in Web server IIS, makes it easy to build large applications for the Web. Both PWS
and IIS include ASP, a server-side scripting standard that can be used to create dynamic and interactive
Web applications. IIS is also available for Windows NT.

Your Next Step: A Professional Web Server

• If you do not want to use PWS or IIS, you must upload your files to a public server.
• Most Internet Service Providers (ISP's) will offer to host your web pages.
• If your employer has an Internet Server, you can ask him to host your Web site.
• If you are really serious about this, you should install your own Internet Server.

HTML Summary

This tutorial has taught you how to use HTML to create your own web site.

HTML is the universal markup language for the Web. HTML lets you format text, add graphics, create links,
input forms, frames and tables, etc., and save it all in a text file that any browser can read and display.

The key to HTML is the tags, which indicates what content is coming up.

For more information on HTML, please take a look at our HTML examples and our HTML reference.

Now You Know HTML, What's Next?

The next step is to learn XHTML and CSS.

XHTML

XHTML is the "new" HTML. The latest HTML recommendation is HTML 4.01. This is the last and final HTML
version.

HTML will be replaced by XHTML, which is a stricter and cleaner version of HTML.

If you want to learn more about XHTML, please visit our XHTML tutorial.

CSS

CSS is used to control the style and layout of multiple Web pages all at once.

With CSS, all formatting can be removed from the HTML document and stored in a separate file.
CSS gives you total control of the layout, without messing up the document content.

To learn how to create style sheets, please visit our CSS tutorial.

Simple html program

<html>

<body>

The content of the body element is displayed in your browser.

</body>

</html>

html>

<body>

<p>This is a paragraph.</p>

<p>This is a paragraph.</p>

<p>This is a paragraph.</p>

<p>Paragraph elements are defined by the p tag.</p>

</body>

</html>

<html>

<body>

<p>

This paragraph

contains a lot of lines

in the source code,

but the browser

ignores it.

</p>

<p>
This paragraph

contains a lot of spaces

in the source code,

but the browser

ignores it.

</p>

<p>

The number of lines in a paragraph depends on the size of your browser window. If you resize the browser
window, the number of lines in this paragraph will change.

</p>

</body>

</html>

line breaks

<html>

<body>

<p>

To break<br>lines<br>in a<br>paragraph,<br>use the br tag.

</p>

</body>

</html>

<html>

<body>

<p>

My Bonnie lies over the ocean.

My Bonnie lies over the sea.

My Bonnie lies over the ocean.

Oh, bring back my Bonnie to me.

</p>
<p>Note that your browser simply ignores your formatting!</p>

</body>

</html>

<html>

<body>

<h1>This is heading 1</h1>

<h2>This is heading 2</h2>

<h3>This is heading 3</h3>

<h4>This is heading 4</h4>

<h5>This is heading 5</h5>

<h6>This is heading 6</h6>

<p>Use heading tags only for headings. Don't use them just to make something bold. Use other tags for
that.</p>

</body>

</html>

<html>

<body>

<h1 align="center">This is heading 1</h1>

<p>The heading above is aligned to the center of this page. The heading above is aligned to the center of
this page. The heading above is aligned to the center of this page.</p>

</body>

</html>

<html>

<body>

<p>The hr tag defines a horizontal rule:</p>

<hr>

<p>This is a paragraph</p>

<hr>
<p>This is a paragraph</p>

<hr>

<p>This is a paragraph</p>

</body>

</html>

background colour

<html>

<body>

<!--This comment will not be displayed-->

<p>This is a regular paragraph</p>

</body>

</html>

<html>

<body>

<p>

<a href="lastpage.htm">

This text</a> is a link to a page on

this Web site.

</p>

<p>

<a href="http://www.microsoft.com/">

This text</a> is a link to a page on

the World Wide Web.

</p>

</body>

</html>

set an image
<html>

<body>

<p>

You can also use an image as a link:

<a href="lastpage.htm">

<img border="0" src="buttonnext.gif" width="65" height="38">

</a>

</p>

</body>

</html>

open a link in new browser window

<html>

<body>

<a href="lastpage.htm" target="_blank">Last Page</a>

<p>

If you set the target attribute of a link to "_blank",

the link will open in a new window.

</p>

</body>

</html>

jump to another part of window in the same document

<html>

<body>

<p>

<a href="#C4">See also Chapter 4.</a>

</p>

<h2>Chapter 1</h2>
<p>This chapter explains ba bla bla</p>

<h2>Chapter 2</h2>

<p>This chapter explains ba bla bla</p>

<h2>Chapter 3</h2>

<p>This chapter explains ba bla bla</p>

<h2><a name="C4">Chapter 4</a></h2>

<p>This chapter explains ba bla bla</p>

<h2>Chapter 5</h2>

<p>This chapter explains ba bla bla</p>

<h2>Chapter 6</h2>

<p>This chapter explains ba bla bla</p>

<h2>Chapter 7</h2>

<p>This chapter explains ba bla bla</p>

<h2>Chapter 8</h2>

<p>This chapter explains ba bla bla</p>

<h2>Chapter 9</h2>

<p>This chapter explains ba bla bla</p>

<h2>Chapter 10</h2>

<p>This chapter explains ba bla bla</p>

<h2>Chapter 11</h2>

<p>This chapter explains ba bla bla</p>

<h2>Chapter 12</h2>

<p>This chapter explains ba bla bla</p>

<h2>Chapter 13</h2>

<p>This chapter explains ba bla bla</p>

<h2>Chapter 14</h2>

<p>This chapter explains ba bla bla</p>


<h2>Chapter 15</h2>

<p>This chapter explains ba bla bla</p>

<h2>Chapter 16</h2>

<p>This chapter explains ba bla bla</p>

<h2>Chapter 17</h2>

<p>This chapter explains ba bla bla</p>

</body>

</html>

break out of frame

<html>

<body>

<p>Locked in a frame?</p>

<a href="http://www.w3schools.com/"

target="_top">Click here!</a>

</body>

</html>

<html>

<body>

<p>

This is a mail link:

<a href="mailto:someone@microsoft.com?subject=Hello%20again">

Send Mail</a>

</p>

<p>

<b>Note:</b> Spaces between words should be replaced by %20 to <b>ensure</b> that the browser
will display your text properly.

</p>
</body>

</html>

A very complicated mail to link

<html>

<body>

<p>

This is another mailto link:

<a
href="mailto:someone@microsoft.com?cc=someoneelse@microsoft.com&bcc=andsomeoneelse2@microso
ft.com&subject=Summer%20Party&body=You%20are%20invited%20to%20a%20big%20summer%20par
ty!">Send mail!</a>

</p>

<p>

<b>Note:</b> Spaces between words should be replaced by %20 to <b>ensure</b> that the browser
will display your text properly.

</p>

</body>

</html>

background colour

<html>

<body bgcolor="yellow">

<h2>Look: Colored Background!</h2>

</body>

</html>

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