The Web Design Group presents:

The HTML Basics series


The HTML Basics series is a collection of documents about HTML and HTML authoring. It attempts to cover all major HTML constructs from the HTML 3.2 specification. Special constructs, such as tables are discussed in more detail, with example code and renderings.

Getting started

* First, read the introduction to the terms used when discussing HTML, as well as the basics principles behind writing it. And for a quick overview of what a document looks like, see the example document with notes on structure.
* A common element in an HTML document is the HTML list. There are actually three types of lists: unordered lists, ordered lists, and definition lists. The last one is somewhat different, as it uses a slightly different syntax.
* By using HTML forms, a visitor can be allowed to perform searches, request more information or otherwise upload information to the server.
* Preformatted text takes away some of the flexibility in HTML, but offers some additional advantages which make it useful for presenting text in which the layout is critical.

More advanced material

* The document head is just as important as its body, even though it contains no text. It allows you to provide information about the document itself. This is especially important for search engines and indexing robots.
* Tables are a powerful method to lay out data, or even your entire document if you are careful.
* Imagemaps are visually pleasing methods of navigating a site, but the normal server-side maps have several disadvantages. Client-side imagemaps are new in Wilbur (HTML 3.2). They are embedded in an HTML document, and so avoid these problems.

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Copyright © 1996 Arnoud "Galactus" Engelfriet.