Getting Started



In this lesson, you will learn what an HTML document is and what they look like.

HTML is Plain Text

HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) documents, are written in plain text (ASCII) with special markup codes embedded right in the text. This means HTML files contain nothing but printable characters and HTML markup codes. This is unlike a Word file which can contain special characters for formatting functions.

What does HTML Look Like?

What distinguishes an HTML file from any other plain- text file is the presence of markup codes. Markup codes are typed into a document and control the formatting and layout of your finished document. The markup codes that are typed into a document are enclosed within these angle brackets: "< >". The angle brackets and the markup codes together constitute a tag.
When your are talking about an HTML document you refer to it as a "source" document, or just "source".

Here is an example of the "source" of a simple HTML document:


Note the markup codes- html, head, title, and body.

Viewing your HTML document?

Every Web page that you see on the World Wide Web is an HTML document. The Web pages you see don't look like the source displayed above. The reason for this is because the source is viewed through a Web Browser. The Web Browser used at URI is Netscape. To see what the simple HTML document above would look like on the Web you must view it through a browser.

Here is what the HTML document will look like viewed through Netscape:


Note that the markup code is not visible.

It is important to realize that an HTML document can look different depending on which Web browser it is viewed through. The font, font size, and text formatting can vary from browser to browser. Thus, viewing the simple HTML document above through MOSAIC (a Web browser) could look different than the view we see through Netscape.

Now that you have seen the source of a simple HTML document and what it will look like on the Web viewed through Netscape, let's see something a bit more complicated. You will need to open a new Netscape window and position it next to the Netscape window displaying this tutorial.This new window is your experimental window, and will be called so throughout the tutorial.

Choose New Web Brower from the File menu and position this window next to the tutorial.

A Web page will appear. What does this Web page's source look like? It is easy to find out. Netscape allows you to view the source of any Web page it displays. Let's view the source of the Web page that appeared.

Click on the new Netscape window you opened.

Choose Document Source from the View menu.

After a few seconds, an HTML document will appear on the screen. You should see a few familiar things. Scroll through and take a gander. It may look complicated now, but by the end of the tutorial you will understand what all that text and markup code means.

Close the source window. The Netscape window should be visible again.

When you close the window containing the source, a copy of the source will be on your desktop. You can look at the source as often as you like, by double clicking on it. Double clicking on the icon for the source will run SimpleText to view it.

Move your windows around and locate the copy of the source on your desktop.

Open up the source and then close it again. You may throw it in the trash any time you like.

It is now time for you to create your own HTML document.

Next Topic: Creating a Simple HTML Document
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