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Web page construction
HTML
Document Layout
All HTML documents must start with <HTML> and end with </HTML>. Between those codes are two sections, the head and the body, marked at start and end by <HEAD></HEAD> and <BODY></BODY>, respectively. The only tag inside the head of the document that you need to know about is the title tag (<title>the title goes here </TITLE>).
Creating Web Pages With A Text Editor
This section explains how to create Web pages with a simple, raw text editor, such as Notepad.
- Converting
Old Documents
- If you plan to reuse or adapt existing documents, you'll need to save them as text files or in RTF format. If you save them as plain text (ASCII) files, you'll have to insert all the HTML tags manually. If you convert them to RTF, you can then use an RTF to HTML converter to get them at least part of the way into shape. For an RTF converter, point your Web browser at ftp://ftp.cray.com/ src/WWWstuff/RTF/rtftohtml_overview.html, the "rtftohtml" home page. (Or, for a Word and RTF converter, try http://www.stattech.com.au/, the Stat Tech home page, where you can download a free version of E-Publish.
- Writing
the Text
- A big part of the job, as with the creation of any document, is the writing of the text. Do it in a word processor and save it as a text file with line breaks, or type it in your text editor if you prefer. As with any formal document, do the writing and the formatting in different stages, so that each job is done thoroughly.
- Formatting
a Web Page
- All the formatting tags you incorporate into your document will go between the <BODY> and </BODY> tags. Most tags go before and after the text they affect, in pairs. Listed below are some of the most common HTML commands. For elaborate documents, consult with an actual designer. Putting together a graceful document is harder than it looks. At the very least, pick up a simple design reference.
- Inserting
Graphic Images
- Don't overlook the mixed-media potential of the World Wide Web. A big part of the sudden popularization of the Internet centered on the Web is the simple fact that Web pages can display pictures (on most Web browsers). Web sites with illustrations and effective use of graphics are much more inviting and communicative than the text-only world that the Internet has only recently emerged from. The two widely recognized graphics image file formats on the Web are GIF extension .gif, CompuServe's Graphics Image File format) and JPEG (extension .jpg, the Internet standard promulgated by the Joint Photographic Experts Group). GlFs are still the most widely displayed, but JPEGs are almost universally recognized now, and can be compressed to much smaller sizes, albeit with some trade-off in image quality. The basic tag for inserting a figure is <IMG SRC="filename" ALT="text">, where text is alternative text to be displayed by non graphical browsers and browsers with image loading turned off. To learn more about the <IMG> tag, view the source of some pages using illustrations in ways that you'd like to.
- Inserting
Hypertext Links
- The bottom line of the Web is its "hypertext" nature. The real genius of hypertext is that it hides the baroque Internet addressing protocols that are so clumsy to discuss and learn about. Sure, you still have to type in some URLs, but even those are getting easier. Most of the time, though, navigating the Internet can be as simple as pointing to the name of something you want to see or hear and clicking your mouse. There's the rub. To make your own Web site, it's up to you to plan and insert the hypertext links. The HTML tag used for hypertext links is <A>, the anchor tag.
- Finishing
the Web Document
- When you're finished working on your document (for now), save it, but not as a text file (or it will get the .txt extension). Instead, specify "All Files" in the Save as Type box in the Save As dialog box of your text editor, and type a filename with the .htm extension at the end.