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Project PACE

HTML Basics

There’s only a dozen or so HTML tags you’ll need to know.
The tags are placed between brackets like this: <    >

  • <html> </html>
  • <head> </head>
  • <title> </title>
  • <h1> </h1>
  • <p> </p>
  • <em> </em>
  • <strong> </strong>
  • <img
    src alt=" " / >
  • <a
    href title=" "> </a>
  • <ol> </ol>
  • <ul> </ul>
  • <li> </li>

These tags tell the browser what to do.

Most HTML tags have an ending tag for when they’ve completed their job.
To make an ending tag, just put a forward slash in the tag, like this:
</html>

HTML tags should always be nested inside each other like this:
<head> <title> </title> </head>

Here are the basics of HTML coding:

  1. Open Windows Notepad (Start > Programs > Accessories > NotePad). In Macintosh, find the SimpleText program and open it. Both of these programs will create plain text documents.
  2. Highlight and copy the following lines of html coding, and paste it into your Notepad or SimpleText document:

    <html>

    <head>

    <title>Type in the title of your Web page here </title>

    </head>

    <body>Copy and paste your content here </body>

    </html>

  3. Save as myfilename.htm
    If you want to create a Home page, call it "index.htm". Otherwise, make up a file name to call this Web page, such as "mystuff.htm" or "comp1.htm" or "1311_F2000.htm".
    Save this document as a text file onto your desktop, or where you can find it again.
  4. Painless so far.
    In your Notepad or SimpleText document, type in the title of your Web page between the <title> </title> tags. This title will go across the top of the window on your Web page.
  5. From any source (your head, a word processing document, PowerPoint, etc.), type in, or highlight, copy and paste any text that will make up the content of your Web page. Place the text between the <body> </body> tags in your Notepad or SimpleText document.
  6. Save this Notepad or SimpleText document.
  7. Here we go! Load your page. You’re so close now.
    You will need to download an ftp client such as "FTP Pro " or "CuteFTP" for PCs, or "Fetch" for Macintoshes. You will be loading this .html file from your desktop onto the server where your Web page will live. You will need to have server space available and will need to know the server name, your user name and the password for uploading to that space.
  8. If you need help loading your Web page, contact your favorite computer guru, Help Desk or Academic Computing Services
  9. Look at that!
    Your Web page can be viewed at
    http://your_server_name/your_account_name/file_name.htm
    For example:
    http://www.ualr.edu/~zqsmith/mydog.htm

Cool! It’s a Web page!

But wait! All the text has run together
and there’s no formatting!

Learn more about formatting your Web page >>

Updated 8.1.2008