An HTML command consists of a < COMMAND >. Many
commands are paired, with a starting form and an ending form. The
ending form is like the starting form, with the addition of a /.
A command continues until its end form is found.
Basic text formatting commands include <b> (for bold)
and <i> (for italics). When you start bold or italic
text, the formatting continues until the browser finds the end format
command (</b> or </i>). You can combine formatting, such
as some bold italic text, entered as <b>some bold
<i>italic text</i></b>. Forgetting end tags will
often produce undesired results.
HTML defines up to six levels of heading commands (<H1>Heading
text</H1>), numbered from H1 to H6. The default text size for
these headings is successively smaller.
Paragraph text begins with <p> and ends with </p>; while
for paragraph text the end tag is optional, it is a good idea to use
it to avoid confusion in other cases where the end tag is required.
HTML does not provide the commands needed to precisely format text,
as in a word processor or desk-top publishing program, but it does
display text in some format on a variety of computers and systems.
HTML tables are often used to arrange text and graphics on a web page.
An HTML table fits into our general conception of a table-- a collection
of rows and columns of cells which can contain data or graphics. In
the example below, I include material in parentheses to explain what
is happening-- this material would not be typed in. The general format
for a table is :
<TABLE> (the indentation is only to reduce confusion)
<TR> (a table row)
<TD> (a table data cell)
Row 1: CONTENTS of CELL 1
</TD>
<TD> (another table cell)
CONTENTS of CELL 2
</TD> (a table cell)
</TR>
<TR> (a table row)
<TD> (a table cell)
Row 2: CONTENTS of CELL 3
</TD>
<TD> (another table cell)
CONTENTS of CELL 4
</TD> (a table cell)
</TR>
</TABLE>
This table (without the text in parentheses) would display as:
| Row 1: CONTENTS of CELL 1 |
CONTENTS of CELL 2 |
| Row 2: CONTENTS of CELL 3 |
CONTENTS of CELL 4 |
Graphics are included with the <IMG SRC="filename"> command.
Web graphics are contained in files separate from the web page itself,
and are generally in the GIF or JPG format, which can be produced
by many different graphics programs. Graphics appear in the place
in the browser where the <IMG> command occurs. Tables are often
used to position graphics. Using the table code from the previous
example, "CONTENTS of CELL 4" is replaced by
<IMG SRC="../graphics/rbreed-logo2.gif"> to display the logo
graphic at the top of this page:
| Row 1: CONTENTS of CELL 1 |
CONTENTS of CELL 2 |
| Row 2: CONTENTS of CELL 3 |
 |
Additional information on HTML and web development is available from
many sources on the web, including
- http://www.htmlgoodies.com/:
tips and bits of code to create a variety of interesting actions
and effects in HTML.
- http://www.htmlhelp.com/:
a site developed by the Web Design Group to enable people “to
create Web sites that can be used by every person on the Internet,
regardless of browser, platform, or settings.”
