1. What is HTML anyway?

Developed by scientist Tim Berners-Lee in 1990, HTML is the "hidden" code that helps us communicate with others on the World Wide Web (WWW).

HTML is a language for describing web pages.

HTML stands for Hyper Text Markup Language
HTML is a markup language
A markup language is a set of markup tags
The tags describe document content
HTML documents contain HTML tags and plain text
HTML documents are also called web pages

HTML Example:-

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<body>

<h1>My First Heading</h1>

<p>My first paragraph.</p>

</body>
</html>

Example Explained:-

The DOCTYPE declaration defines the document type.
The text between <html> and </html> describes the web page.
The text between <body> and </body> is the visible page content.
The text between <h1> and </h1> is displayed as a heading.
The text between <p> and </p> is displayed as a paragraph.

The <!DOCTYPE html> declaration is the doctype for HTML5.

HTML Tags:-

HTML markup tags are usually called HTML tags.

HTML tags are keywords (tag names) surrounded by angle brackets like <html>.
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 end tag is written like the start tag, with a forward slash before the tag name.
Start and end tags are also called opening tags and closing tags.

<tagname>content</tagname>

HTML Elements:-

"HTML tags" and "HTML elements" are often used to describe the same thing.

But strictly speaking, an HTML element is everything between the start tag and the end tag, including the tags:

HTML Element:

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

Web Browsers:-

The purpose of a web browser (such as Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari) is to read HTML documents and display them as web pages.

The browser does not display the HTML tags, but uses the tags to determine how the content of the HTML page is to be presented/displayed to the user:

HTML Page Structure:-

Below is a visualization of an HTML page structure:

The <!DOCTYPE> Declaration:-

The <!DOCTYPE> declaration helps the browser to display a web page correctly.

There are many different documents on the web, and a browser can only display an HTML page 100% correctly if it knows the HTML type and version used.

Common Declarations:-

HTML5

<!DOCTYPE html>

HTML 4.01

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

XHTML 1.0

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">

HTML Editors:-

Writing HTML Using Notepad or TextEdit.

HTML can be edited by using a professional HTML editor like:

Adobe Dreamweaver
Microsoft Expression Web
CoffeeCup HTML Editor

However, for learning HTML we recommend a text editor like Notepad (PC) or TextEdit (Mac). We believe using a simple text editor is a good way to learn HTML.

Follow the 4 steps below to create your first web page with Notepad.

Step 1: Start Notepad.

To start Notepad go to:

Start
    All Programs
        Accessories
            Notepad

Step 2: Edit Your HTML with Notepad.

Type your HTML code into your Notepad:

Step 3: Save Your HTML.

Select Save as. in Notepad's file menu.

When you save an HTML file, you can use either the .htm or the .html file extension. There is no difference, it is entirely up to you.

Save the file in a folder that is easy to remember, like My First Code.

Step 4: Run the HTML in Your Browser.

Start your web browser and open your html file from the File, Open menu, or just browse the folder and double-click your HTML file.

The result should look much like this:

HTML Basic - 4 Examples

Don't worry if the examples use tags you have not learned.

You will learn about them in the next sessions.

Example:-

<h1>This is a heading</h1>
<h2>This is a heading</h2>
<h3>This is a heading</h3>

HTML Paragraphs:-

HTML paragraphs are defined with the <p> tag.

Example:-

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

HTML Links:-

HTML links are defined with the <a> tag.

Example:-

<a href="http://www.uettaxila.edu.pk">This is a link</a>

The link address is specified in the href attribute.

(You will learn about attributes a little later).

HTML Images:-

HTML images are defined with the <img> tag.

Example:-

<img src="myimage.jpg" alt="My_Picture" width="104" height="142">

HTML Elements:-

HTML documents are defined by HTML elements.

HTML Elements:-

An HTML element is everything from the start tag to the end tag:

* The start tag is often called the opening tag. The end tag is often called the closing tag.

HTML Element Syntax:-

An HTML element starts with a start tag / opening tag
An HTML element ends with an end tag / closing tag
The element content is everything between the start and the end tag
Some HTML elements have empty content
Empty elements are closed in the start tag
Most HTML elements can have attributes

Note: You will learn about attributes in the sometime.

Nested HTML Elements:-

Most HTML elements can be nested (can contain other HTML elements).

HTML documents consist of nested HTML elements.

HTML Document Example:-

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>

<body>
<p>This is my first paragraph.</p>
</body>

</html>

The example above contains 3 HTML elements.

HTML Example Explained:-

The <p> element:

<p>This is my first paragraph.</p>

The <p> element defines a paragraph in the HTML document.
The element has a start tag <p> and an end tag </p>.
The element content is: This is my first paragraph.

The <body> element:

<body>
<p>This is my first paragraph.</p>
</body>

The <body> element defines the body of the HTML document.
The element has a start tag <body> and an end tag </body>.
The element content is another HTML element (a p element).

The <html> element:

<html>

<body>
<p>This is my first paragraph.</p>
</body>

</html>

The <html> element defines the whole HTML document.
The element has a start tag <html> and an end tag </html>.
The element content is another HTML element (the body element).

Don't Forget the End Tag.

Some HTML elements might display correctly even if you forget the end tag:

<p>This is a paragraph
<p>This is a paragraph

The example above works in most browsers, because the closing tag is considered optional.

Never rely on this. Many HTML elements will produce unexpected results and/or errors if you forget the end tag.

Empty HTML Elements:-

HTML elements with no content are called empty elements.

<br> is an empty element without a closing tag (the <br> tag defines a line break).

Tip: In XHTML, all elements must be closed. Adding a slash inside the start tag, like <br />, is the proper way of closing empty elements in XHTML (and XML).

HTML Tip: Use Lowercase Tags:-

HTML tags are not case sensitive: <P> means the same as <p>. Many web sites use uppercase HTML tags.

HTML Attributes:-

Attributes provide additional information about HTML elements.

HTML Attributes

HTML elements can have attributes
Attributes provide additional information about an element
Attributes are always specified in the start tag
Attributes come in name/value pairs like: name="value"

Attribute Example:-

HTML links are defined with the <a> tag. The link address is specified in the href attribute:

Example:-

<a href="http://www.google.com">Google Search</a>

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.

HTML Tip: Use Lowercase Attributes

Attribute names and attribute values are case-insensitive.

HTML Headings

Headings are important in HTML documents.

HTML Headings

Headings are defined with the <h1> to <h6> tags.

<h1> defines the most important heading. <h6> defines the least important heading.

Example:-

<h1>This is a heading</h1>
<h2>This is a heading</h2>
<h3>This is a heading</h3>

Note: Browsers automatically add some empty space (a margin) before and after each heading.

Headings Are Important:-

Use HTML headings for headings only. Don't use headings to make text BIG or bold.

Search engines use your headings to index the structure and content of your web pages.

Since users may skim your pages by its headings, it is important to use headings to show the document structure.

H1 headings should be used as main headings, followed by H2 headings, then the less important H3 headings, and so on.

HTML Lines:-

The <hr> tag creates a horizontal line in an HTML page.

The hr element can be used to separate content:

Example:-

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

HTML Comments:-

Comments can be inserted into the HTML code to make it more readable and understandable. Comments are ignored by the browser and are not displayed.

Comments are written like this:

Example:-

Note: There is an exclamation point after the opening bracket, but not before the closing bracket.

HTML Tip - How to View HTML Source:-

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

To find out, right-click in the page and select "View Source" (IE) or "View Page Source" (Firefox), or similar for other browsers. This will open a window containing the HTML code of the page.

HTML Tag Reference Summary:-

Tag	Description
<html>	Defines an HTML document
<body>	Defines the document's body
<h1> to <h6>	Defines HTML headings
<hr>	Defines a horizontal line
<!-->	Defines a comment

HTML Paragraphs:-

HTML documents are divided into paragraphs.

HTML Paragraphs.

Paragraphs are defined with the <p> tag.

Example:-

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

Note: Browsers automatically add an empty line before and after a paragraph.

Don't Forget the End Tag:-

Most browsers will display HTML correctly even if you forget the end tag:

Example:-

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

The example above will work in most browsers, but don't rely on it. Forgetting the end tag can produce unexpected results or errors.

Note: Future version of HTML will not allow you to skip end tags.

HTML Line Breaks:-

Use the <br> tag if you want a line break (a new line) without starting a new paragraph:

Example:-

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

HTML Output - Useful Tips:-

You cannot be sure how HTML will be displayed. Large or small screens, and resized windows will create different results.

With HTML, you cannot change the output by adding extra spaces or extra lines in your HTML code.

The browser will remove extra spaces and extra lines when the page is displayed. Any number of lines count as one line, and any number of spaces count as one space.

Try the following Code:

<!DOCTYPE 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 ignores the layout!</p>

</body>

</html>

Try this code:-

<!DOCTYPE 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>

HTML Text Formatting:-

This text is bold

This text is italic

This is computer output

This is_subscript and ^superscript

The code is:

<!DOCTYPE html>

<html>

<body>

<p><b>This text is bold</b></p>

<p><i>This text is italic</i></p>

<p><code>This is computer output</code></p>

<p>This is<sub> subscript</sub> and <sup>superscript</sup></p>

</body>

</html>

HTML Formatting Tags:-

HTML uses tags like <b> and <i> for formatting output, like bold or italic text.

These HTML tags are called formatting tags

Pre Formatted Text:-

<!DOCTYPE html>

<html>

<body>

<pre>

This is

preformatted text.

It preserves both spaces

and line breaks.

</pre>

<p>The pre tag is good for displaying computer code:</p>

<pre>

for i = 1 to 10

print i

next i

</pre>

</body>

</html>

Address:-
How to define contact information for the author/owner of an HTML document.

<!DOCTYPE html>

<html>

<body>

<address>

Written by Aamir Arsalan<br>

<a href="aamir.arsalan@uettaxila.edu.pk">Email me</a><br>

Address: Computer Engineering Department, UET Taxila.<br>

Phone: 0333-5701845

</address>

</body>

</html>

Abbreviations and acronyms:-
How to handle abbreviations and acronyms.

<!DOCTYPE html>

<html>

<body>

<p>The <abbr title="World Health Organization">WHO</abbr> was founded in 1948.</p>

<p>Can I get this <abbr title="as soon as possible">ASAP</abbr>?</p>

<p>The title attribute is used to show the spelled-out version when holding the mouse pointer over the acronym or abbreviation.</p>

</body>

</html>

Text direction:-
How to change the text direction.

<!DOCTYPE html>

<html>

<body>

<p>

If your browser supports bi-directional override (bdo), the next line will be written from the right to the left (rtl):

</p>

<bdo dir="rtl">

My name is Aamir Arsalan

</bdo>

</body>

</html>

Quotations:-
How to handle long and short quotations.

<!DOCTYPE html>

<html>

<body>

<h2>The blockquote Element</h2>

<p>The blockquote element specifies a section that is quoted from another source.</p>

<p>Here is a quote from WWF's website:</p>

<blockquote cite="http://www.worldwildlife.org/who/index.html">

For 50 years, WWF has been protecting the future of nature. The world’s leading conservation organization, WWF works in 100 countries and is supported by 1.2 million members in the United States and close to 5 million globally.

</blockquote>

<p><b>Note:</b> Browsers usually indent blockquote elements.</p>

<h2>The q Element</h2>

<p>The q element defines a short quotation.</p>

<p>WWF's goal is to:

<q>Build a future where people live in harmony with nature.</q>

We hope they succeed.</p>

<p><b>Note:</b> Browsers insert quotation marks around the q element.</p>

</body>

</html>

Deleted and inserted text:-
How to mark deleted and inserted text.

<!DOCTYPE html>

<html>

<body>

<p>My favorite color is <del>blue</del> <ins>red</ins>!</p>

<p>Notice that browsers will strikethrough deleted text and underline inserted text.</p>

</body>

</html>

Marked/Highlighted text:-
How to mark/highlight text.

<!DOCTYPE html>

<html>

<body>

<p>Do not forget to buy <mark>milk</mark> today.</p>

</body>

</html>

HTML Text Formatting Tags:-

Tag	Description
<b>	Defines bold text
<i>	Defines a part of text in an alternate voice or mood
<small>	Defines smaller text
<sub>	Defines subscripted text
<sup>	Defines superscripted text
<ins>	Defines inserted text
<del>	Defines deleted text
<mark>	Defines marked/highlighted text

HTML "Computer Output" Tags:-

Tag	Description
<code>	Defines computer code text
<pre>	Defines preformatted text

HTML Citations, Quotations, and Definition Tags:-

Tag	Description
<abbr>	Defines an abbreviation or acronym
<address>	Defines contact information for the author/owner of a document
<bdo>	Defines the text direction
<blockquote>	Defines a section that is quoted from another source
<q>	Defines an inline (short) quotation
<cite>	Defines the title of a work

HTML Links

Links are found in nearly all Web pages. Links allow users to click their way from page to page.

HTML links:-
How to create links in an HTML document.

HTML Hyperlinks (Links)

The HTML <a> tag defines a hyperlink.

A hyperlink (or link) is a word, group of words, or image that you can click on to jump to another document.

When you move the cursor over a link in a Web page, the arrow will turn into a little hand.

The most important attribute of the <a> element is the href attribute, which indicates the link's destination.

By default, links will appear as follows in all browsers:

An unvisited link is underlined and blue
A visited link is underlined and purple
An active link is underlined and red

HTML Link Syntax:-

The HTML code for a link is simple. It looks like this:

<a href="url">Link text</a>

The href attribute specifies the destination of a link.

Example:-

<a href="http://www.google.com/">Visit Google</a>

which will display like this: Visit Google

Clicking on this hyperlink will send the user to Google page.

Tip: The "Link text" doesn't have to be text. It can be an image or any other HTML element.

HTML Links - The target Attribute:-

The target attribute specifies where to open the linked document.

The example below will open the linked document in a new browser window or a new tab:

Example:-

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

HTML Links - The id Attribute:-

The id attribute can be used to create a bookmark inside an HTML document.

Tip: Bookmarks are not displayed in any special way. They are invisible to the reader.

Example:-

An anchor with an id inside an HTML document:

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

Create a link to the "Useful Tips Section" inside the same document:

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

Or, create a link to the "Useful Tips Section" from another page:

<a href="http://www.google.com #tips">
Visit the Useful Tips Section</a>

An image as a link:-
How to use an image as a link.

<!DOCTYPE html>

<html>

<body>

<p>Create a link of an image:

<a href="default.asp">

<img src="smiley.gif" alt="HTML tutorial" width="42" height="42"></a></p>

<p>No border around the image, but still a link:

<a href="default.asp">

<img style="border:0;" src="smiley.gif" alt="HTML tutorial" width="42" height="42"></a></p>

</body>

</html>

Link to a location on the same page:-
How to link to a bookmark.

<!DOCTYPE html>

<html>

<body>

<p>

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

</p>

<h2>Chapter 1</h2>