Remedial HTML Tutorial

Lesson 1

by Stephanie Heck webmaster@Sheck.com

This is intended to be a simple series tutorial on the subject of HTML, and META TAGS for the average computer user. I will struggle to avoid the techno babble as much as possible, and still be effective. I must first explain a few things to put the tutorial in context. The KISS principle will be strictly adhered to. If I do anything wrong, it will be that I tried to make it too simple. I am trying to make this as easy as possible. I do not desire to overload the circuits of all the new computer users. Nobody expects you to graduate programmers school today. This is very basic . I just need to teach you a few new words.

The author suggests that you print this tutorial. Go up to the left hand corner and click on "File" and then click on "Print". Printing will begin promptly. Or you can use Ctrl + P keys if you desire to do that with your keyboard.

Many people on the internet have heard of HTML, but many do not know what HTML is, or what it does. HTML stands for " Hyper Text Markup Language" . This is the code language that Internet web pages are written in. HTML is a language for computers. You need to know what HTML is, but now is not the time to dwell on it. " Hyper Text Markup Language" = HTML

If you want to see what the HTML code looks like, go to any web page with your Internet Explorer Browser , and go to the top of the browser frame and select "view". Left click on that with the little arrow on your screen that is controlled by your mouse. The little arrow is called a cursor. Your cursor position on your monitor screen is controlled by your mouse.

A small menu will come up after you click on "view", then select "Source" from that menu. Click on "Source".

A new window full of text will then open up with strange looking symbols mixed in with the text. This is the SOURCE CODE that is "behind the scenes" of every web page. It looks very different from English. Take a good look. Don't let it scare you! It is not that hard.

This will be the first time many of my readers will have seen SOURCE CODE. This is the computer code that tells your browser how to display the web page to you. That's how it works folks. This strange, mysterious, and sometimes infuriating code looks rather odd to those who have never seen it before. There are funny looking symbols dispersed within lines of words that you can actually read.

This strange code known as HTML has several sections. The HEADER is usually the section of the web page code at the top or beginning of the SOURCE CODE for the web page. That is why they call it a HEADER. It is at the head, or the top of the page of code. An easy way to remember this is to remember "the head is on top". Most HEADERS are about the size of a paragraph in standard English text. It is a safe bet to say that the HEADER is the first paragraph of the SOURCE CODE in your average web page. The purpose of the HEADER is to give other computers on the network, information about the type and content of the web page.

The BODY of a web pages source code is just that. The main BODY of the code. The BODY starts at a place in the code that looks like this and finishes at a place near the very bottom of the code. Usually at the line in the code right before the last. This is called a BODY TAG. There are many types of tags.

The TAG tells the browser what to do. Each Tag has its own very own function. TAGS cause the computer to execute a command. TAGS are components of HTML. Most HTML TAGS have a slash in them. This is simple. A slash on the right hand side of the TAG means to start or begin the tags function. This is called "opening" that particular TAG. If the slash is on the left hand side of the TAG it means the tags function is finished and the TAG is "Closed"

META TAGS are a means to an end, the end intended result is to assist a web site to get indexed properly by many of the major spider based search engines. The META TAGS are very important because they tell a search engine how to classify your web page. META TAGS are a just a few lines of simple code that go into the HEADER of the HTML SOURCE CODE of your web page. Below is a rough example of META TAGS. META TAGS are always found in the HEADER of the SOURCE CODE of the HTML document.

We will learn more about META TAGS in the next lesson. Please make certain you review the summary below.

SUMMARY

The HEADER is usually the section of the web page code at the top or beginning of the SOURCE CODE for the web page. That is why they call it a header. It is at the head, or the top of the page of code. The BODY of a web pages SOURCE CODE is just that. The main body of the code. The TAG tells the browser what to do. Each Tag has its own very own function. TAGS cause the computer to execute a command. The TAGS are symbols in HTML, also known as HYPER TEXT MARKUP LANGUAGE. TAGS are not visible in a web page document unless you are viewing the source code. META TAGS are a just a few lines of simple code that go into the HEADER of the HTML SOURCE CODE. The META TAGS are very important because they tell a search engine how to classify your web page.

The SOURCE CODE. This is the computer code that tells your browser how to display the web page to you. In a web page the source code is written in HTML.

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Congratulations! You have just completed your first Internet programming lesson. You are on the way to a better understanding of computers. Today has been productive. Study this lesson for the next week. Another lesson will be available next week.

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