Writing HTML Tutorial PDF

Writing HTML Writing HTML | About | FAQ | Alumni | Kudos | References | Tags | Lessons | / June 2000 / version 4.5.2 / version history / About this WRITING HTML WAS CREATED to help teachers create Tutorial learning resources that access information on the Internet. Here, you will be writing a lesson called Volcano Web. However, this We created this tutorial may be used by anyone who wants to create web pages. tutorial way back in You can get a sense of the results by looking at our illustrious 1994, when the alumni and kudos or what people say about the tutorial. web was young. By the time you have reached the end of this tutorial you will be able to construct a series of linked web pages for any subject that includes formatted text, pictures, and hypertext links to other web pages on the Internet. If you follow the steps for the Basic Level (lessons 1-14) you will develop a page about volcanoes and if you go on to the Advanced Level (lessons 15-29), you will create an enhanced volcano web site. For faster performance, you can download an archive of all files used in this tutorial. Most of the lessons can be done off-line. If you are having trouble connecting to this site, try our experimental servers, Jade or Zircon but please be nice to these machines; they are doing other work for us. http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/ (1 of 5) [1/2/2002 4:05:24 PM] Writing HTML Why THE WEB IS BECOMING AN INTEGRAL PART of our Create working (and playing) world. You cannot spit anymore these days without hitting a URL (if you do not know what a URL is, Web you will find out here). In a very short time span, the web has revolutionized the way we access information, education, Pages? business, entertainment. It has created industries where there were none before. If you've come this far, you likely have an answer. Being able to develop information on the web might be a job skill, a class requirement, a business necessity, or a personal interest. Unlike any other previous medium, the ability to "write" HTML allows you to potentially connect with millions of other people, as your own self-publisher. Objectives IN THESE LESSONS YOU WILL: This tutorial covers the steps for identify and use different HTML formatting codes. writing HTML files create and modify HTML documents using a simple text using illustrative editor. examples for write a series of web pages that present information, creating web graphics, and provide hypertext links to other documents pages. on the Internet. And maybe you will have some fun! What PUT MOST SIMPLY, HTML, is a format that tells a is computer how to display a web page. The documents themselves are plain text files (ASCII) with special "tags" or codes that a HTML? web browser knows how to interpret and display on your screen. HyperText Markup This tutorial teaches you how to create web pages the old- Language fashioned way -- by hand. There are software "tools" that allow you to spin web pages without touching any HTML. But if you are serious about doing more than a page or two, we believe a grounding in the basics will greatly accelerate what you can do. http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/ (2 of 5) [1/2/2002 4:05:24 PM] Writing HTML Everything you create in this tutorial is designed to run from any desktop computer; it does not depend on access to a web server or specialized computer programming. Getting YOU WILL ALSO NEED A TEXT EDITOR PROGRAM Ready capable of creating plain text files e.g. SimpleText for the Macintosh or NotePad for Windows. We strongly urge that you We will assume you use the most basic text editor while you learn HTML and then have a basic later you can explore HTML "editors" If you use a word knowledge of how processor program then you must save your files as plain ASCII to use your web text format. You should also be familiar with switching between browser menus, multiple applications as well as using the mouse to copy and buttons, and paste selections of text. hypertext links. If you download the tutorial files, you can do nearly all of the lessons off-line. We suggest that you proceed through the lessons in order, but at any time you can return to the index to jump to a different lesson. Within each lesson you can compare your work to a sample file for that lesson. Each lesson page has a link to a concise summary of the tags as well as links to other reference sites. For convention, all menu names and items will be shown in bold text. All text that you should enter from the keyboard will appear in typewriter style. http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/ (3 of 5) [1/2/2002 4:05:24 PM] Writing HTML a. Use the Favorites or Bookmark feature of your web Keep in browser to mark the lesson index page so you can easily Mind navigate to other lessons. b. We've aimed to write instructions generic to (almost) any web browser; sometimes the menu names or features may Some pointers to help you out, since not match the web browser you are using. we will never admit c. This tutorial will show you how to create web pages that knowing can see outward to the world. It will not tell you how to everything. let the world see them; to do this you need to locate an Internet Service Provider that provides web server space. Try http://thelist.internet.com/ or http://www.webisplist.com/. Also, you can search for a free web page hosting service from Freewebspace.net d. Creating pages is one thing, designing web sites is another. We cannot highly enough recommend the Yale C/aIM WWW Style Manual. Sun Microsystem's Guide to Web Style, and the Sevloid Guide to Web Design. e. When you are ready for the big time, see web pages like you have never seen web pages at Dave Siegel's Casbah and High Five sites. Trudge on over to his Web Wonk to get the details. It will amaze you. f. Refer to the HTML tag summary page as a reference. You can get to it by following the hypertext link at the top of every lesson page. g. If you are having trouble, see the Writing HTML FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) before writing us for help. We get lots and lots of e-mail. Too much. Who Did THIS IS A PROJECT of the Maricopa Center for Learning This? and Instruction (MCLI). Writing HTML was developed by Alan Levine, instructional technologist at the Maricopa Community Roll the credits! Colleges. Our former intern, Tom Super, provided invaluable instructional design support. Many others have given helpful suggestions, corrected typos, and expressed their thanks! Once your web pages become available on the Internet, please list them on our Writing HTML Alumni page using our registration form. http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/ (4 of 5) [1/2/2002 4:05:24 PM] Writing HTML Thanks to some great volunteer efforts, Writing HTML is also available in other languages: Spanish / Español v3.0 (thanks to Arturo García Martín and Andrés Valencia) Icelandic / Íslenska "Námsefnisgerð í HTML" v 4.5.2 (thanks to Gudjon Olafsson) Korean v4.5 (thanks to Dr. Byeong choon Lim, Department of Computer Education Chuncheon National University of Education) Italian "Corso di HTML" v4.5.1 (thanks to Cristiana Cavicchi) Japanese v 4.0.` (thanks to kazuaki mizota) Or you can try the online translation tools from AltaVista's Babelfish: Select a Language... Translate Time to IF YOU ARE READY, go to the index of lessons or go Get directly to the first lesson. Started! h a p p y w e b b i n g And have fun. Writing HTML ©1994-1999 Maricopa Center for Learning and Instruction (MCLI) Maricopa Community Colleges The 'net connection at MCLI is Alan Levine Questions? Comments? Visit our feedback center URL: http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/ http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/ (5 of 5) [1/2/2002 4:05:24 PM] Writing HTML FAQ Writing HTML | About | FAQ | Alumni | Kudos | References | Tags | Lessons | / June 2000 / version 4.5.2 / version history / Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) So you have reached a stumbling block in the tutorial? Do not worry! It happens often! Perhaps yours is a question that has come up before. You may also want to review the introductory comments about the tutorial, the tag summary, or the reference list. Where is the download archive? I thought I should be doing the tutorial off line, but then can't access my pages because my web browser keeps trying to dial up my PPP. I've created my web pages, but why can't anyone else see them on the Internet? I've created my web pages on my desktop computer -- how do I get them to a WWW server? I've updated my web pages but do not see the changes in my web browser. Why? When I load my web pages into my web browser, why do I see odd characters at the top of the screen? Why do I see an icon with a question mark rather then my inline image? Could you please help with a tag that makes all HTML commands inside the tag text/ignored? How can I make a link that will the download a file? How do you create a counter that shows how many times someone has visited your page? I downloaded the Windows Zip archive and when I click on the Start link it cannot find locate file TUT/INDEX.HTM. Why? I can't get the volc.html file to load on my browser? I'm using Internet Explorer, is there anything I need to do? This tutorial is great! Can I make copies? How can I have a sound play when my page opens? Can I make a web page from webTV? How can I force the text not to wrap at the edge of the browser window? How do I get rid of the underlining of hyperlinks? What is this fascination about cheese in your lessons? http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/faq.html (1 of 8) [1/2/2002 4:06:20 PM] Writing HTML FAQ Where is the download archive? In January 1998, we changed the download format for the Windows versions of the tutorial from.ZIP files (which many people were unable to properly decompress) to an executable (.EXE) file. See the most current links for downloads from our page at: http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/download.html "I thought I should be doing the tutorial off line, but then can't access my pages because my web browser keeps trying to dial up my PPP. How do you run it off line for Web page design?" Most web browsers have a Preferences or Options menu where you put the address of your favorite "home" page--that is, every time you launch the browser, it attempts to connect to this site. Some browsers have an option where you can specify it to start with a blank or empty page. Another approach is to cancel the connection when your modem tries to dial. Another idea (which you can do easily when you finish our tutorial) is to create your very own Home Page that sits on the hard drive. Use your web browser to Open... or Open Local... and find the page. Use your mouse to copy the address or file path indicated in the URL field (usually near the top of a browser window) and then paste it into the area of your Preferences/Options that says "Home Page". This way, when ever the web browser starts, you see your custom page with all the links you like, and you do not have to wait or even connect to an Internet server. "I've created my web pages, but why can't anyone else see them on the Internet? What's the URL to my hard drive?" When you create your web pages, think of them as being able to see out to the entire Internet world (when you are connected to the network). BUT the entire world cannot see back into your computer since it does not have a WWW address on the Internet. If you want to publish on the Internet, you must first locate an Internet Service provider that rents space on its World Wide Web server. If you are at a school or a large company, contact your network administrators. You may want to contact the company that provides your access to the Internet and ask if they rent web server space. If you are shopping for a net provider, try http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/faq.html (2 of 8) [1/2/2002 4:06:20 PM] Writing HTML FAQ MecklerMedia's Provider List or WebISPList. Another option is to use the free web page hosting service offered by Geocities or you can search for other free services sing the tools at Freewebspace.net "I've created my web pages on my desktop computer -- how do I get them to a WWW server" So you have arranged somehow to get web server space! Generally, WWW servers are UNIX computers and you will have to find a utility to transfer files from your desktop computer to the WWW server. If you do not have a program, search the ShareWare.com for a "ftp" utility. If the WWW server you will use is a Macintosh or Windows-based computer, you may be able to transfer the files over your local network. This is one question you will have to ask of whomever is providing you access to the WWW server. "I've updated my web pages but do not see the changes in my web browser. Why?" First, double-checked that you have Saved your HTML file from your text editor. The try using the Reload option in your web browser. Or, the browser may be looking at another copy of the HTML file; in the browser, use Open File... to read in the intended document. "Why don't I see the text in my.... tag on my Web page?" Recall from lesson 1 that the.... tag is part of the information in the HEAD of your HTML file; only the BODY is displayed on the page. The text in the title tag should appear on the menubar of your web browser and it is how the browser will track your pages from its navigation/history menus. It's not uncommon to write what appears to be redundant HTML: New Products from Zippy Communications http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/faq.html (3 of 8) [1/2/2002 4:06:20 PM] Writing HTML FAQ New Products from Zippy Communications............ The same text is used twice -- once for the web browser to identify the page and once in the tag to put the same title on the page. "When I load my web pages into my web browser, why do I see odd characters at the top of the screen." If you are using a word processing program to create your HTML files, be sure that you are saving them as plain text (ASCII) format -- these characters are hidden formatting codes. For Windows users, do not use the Write application -- it will add a bothersome "1" at the top of the screen. Your best bet is to start out by using the simplest text editor possible -- the Windows NotePad or TeachText/SimpleText for the Macintosh. Once you know the basic tags, then go looking for a program to help with the shortcuts. "Why do I see an icon with a question mark rather then my inline image?" This icon means that your web browser could not locate the image file. first check to see that it is in the same folder/directory that you reference in the tag. Next make sure the spelling of the file name exactly matches the file name written in the tag "Why do I see an icon with a broken corner rather then my inline image?" In this case, the external file is a format not recognized by your web browser. Make sure that the file is in the GIF format. Could you please help with a tag that makes all HTML http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/faq.html (4 of 8) [1/2/2002 4:06:20 PM] Writing HTML FAQ commands inside the tag text/ignored? Bad news first... There is no such tag. Even if you use... tags, your browser will interpret any HTML as... HTML. Good news next... All you need to do is substitute the "special characters" (see lesson 9) to replace all occurences of the < and > characters: Replace all " d. Links to Sections of a Page e. HyperGraphic Links 9. Preformatted Text 10. Special Characters é © http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/lessons.html (1 of 3) [1/2/2002 4:06:29 PM] Lessons 11. Definition Lists 12. Address Footers and E-Mail Links 13. You can Blockquote Me on That 14. Lumping vs. Splitting 15. Standard and Enhanced HTML Beyond the 16. Colorful And Textured Backgrounds Basics 17. Don't Blink, Don't Marquee Modify and enhance 18. Spiffing Up Text your web pages with features available in 19. Easy Horizontal Rules HTML 3.2. 20. Extra Alignment , signs. The general format for a HTML tag is: string of text As an example, the title for this section uses a header tag: What are HTML tags? This tag tells a web browser to display the text What are HTML tags? in the style of header level 3 http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/tut1.html (1 of 7) [1/2/2002 4:06:41 PM] 1. Creating Your First HTML Document (We'll learn more about these tags later). HTML tags may tell a web browser to bold the text, italicize it, make it into a header, or make it be a hypertext link to another web page. It is important to note that the ending tag, contains the "/" slash character. This "/" slash tells a web browser to stop tagging the text. Many HTML tags are paired this way. If you forget the slash, a web browser will continue the tag for the rest of the text in your document, producing undesirable results (as an experiment you may want to try this later). NOTE: A web browser does not care if you use upper or lower case. For example,... is no different from... Unlike computer programming, if you make a typographical error in HTML you will not get a "bomb" or "crash" the system; your web page will simply look, well... wrong. It is quick and easy to go inside the HTML and make the changes. Your browser has a small but open vocabulary! An interesting aspect of HTML is that if the browser does not know what to do with a given tag, it will ignore it! For example, in this document you are viewing, the header tag for this section really looks like this: What are HTML tags? but since your browser probably does not support a tag (I made it up, perhaps in the future it could cause the text to wave across the screen?), it proceeds with what it knows how to do. If I were programming a new web browser, I might decide to add the functionality for the tag into my software. Opening Up Your Workspace To complete the lessons in this tutorial, you should create a second web window (this allows you to keep this window with the lesson instructions and one window as your "workspace"), plus open your text editor application in a third window. NOTE: This is a good place to remind you that we will provide directions that are somewhat general as the menu names and file names can differ depending on which web browser you are using. If our instructions say, "Select Open Location... from the File Menu" and your web browser does not have that exact choice, try to find the closest equivalent option in your own web browser. So you will want to be pretty comfortable jumping between different applications and windows on your http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/tut1.html (2 of 7) [1/2/2002 4:06:41 PM] 1. Creating Your First HTML Document computer. Another option is to print out the lesson instructions (but we really do not want to promote that kind of excessive tree carnage). Here are the steps for setting up your "workspace": 1. From the File menu of your web browser, select New Window or New Web Browser (The exact name of the menu command can be different depending on what browser you are using). A second web window should appear. Think of the first window as your "textbook" and the second clone window as your "workspace" for completing the HTML lessons. NOTE: The only reason to have two windows here is so that you can read the instructions for the lessons and also view your working document. It is not mandatory to have two windows open; it just makes your work easier. You could also bookmark this web page or jump back here via your Go or History menu. 2. Next, you need to jump out of the web browser and open your text editor program. NOTE: You will need to move back and forth between the different windows to complete these lessons. This can be a challenge depending on the size of your monitor. You may choose to resize the three windows so that they all fit on your screen or layer your windows so you can click on any of them to bring it to the front. If you are using a word processor program to create your HTML, be sure to save in plain text (or ASCII) format. If you are just starting out, we most STRONGLY recommend that you use the simplest text editor available -- SimpleText for the Macintosh or the Windows NotePad. Why not use those nifty HTML editors? It is sound instructional design that you first learn the concepts and THEN look for shortcuts or helpers that make the work less tedious. Also, it will help you if you first create a new directory/folder on your computer that will be your work area. You can call it workarea or myspace or whatever you like; just make sure that you keep all of the files you create in this one area. It will make your life simpler... well, at least while working on this tutorial! Creating Your HTML Document An HTML document contains two distinct parts, the head and the body. The head contains information about the document that is not displayed on the screen. The body then contains everything else that is displayed as part of the web page. http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/tut1.html (3 of 7) [1/2/2002 4:06:41 PM] 1. Creating Your First HTML Document The basic structure then of any HTML page is: : : : : : : The very first line: is not technically required, but is a code that tells the browser what version of HTML the current page is written for. For more information, see the W3C Reference Specification. Enclose all HTML content within... tags. Inside is first your... and then the... sections. Also note the comment tags enclosed by. The text between the tags is NOT displayed in the web page but is for information that might be of use to you or anyone else who might look at the HTML code behind the web page. When your web pages get complicated (like you will see when we get into tables, frames, and other fun stuff about 20 lessons from now!), the comments will be very helpful when you need to update a page you may have created long ago. Here are the steps for creating your first HTML file. Are you ready? 1. If it is not open already, launch your text editor program. 2. Go to the text editor window. 3. Enter the following text (you do not have to press RETURN at the end of each line; the web browser will word wrap all text): http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/tut1.html (4 of 7) [1/2/2002 4:06:41 PM] 1. Creating Your First HTML Document Volcano Web In this lesson you will use the Internet to research information on volcanoes and then write a report on your results. NOTE: Look where the... tag is located. It is in the... portion and thus will not be visible on the screen. What does it do? The tag is used to uniquely identify each document and is also displayed in the title bar of the browser window. In lesson 3 you will learn how to add a string of text for a title that will appear directly on your web page. Also note that we have inserted a comment tag that lists the name of the author and the date the document was created. You could write anything in between the comment tags but it is only visible when you look at the source HTML for a web page. 4. Save the document as a file called "volc.html" and keep it in the "work area" folder/directory you set up for this tutorial. Also, if you are using a word processor program to create your HTML, be sure to save in plain text (or ASCII) format. NOTE: For Windows 3.1 users, you must save all of your HTML files with names that end in.HTM, so in this case your file should be VOLC.HTM. Do not worry! Your web browser is smart enough to know that a file that has a name that ends in.HTM is an HTML file. You can create files with names like VOLC.HTML if you use Windows95 or a later Windows operating system. By using this file name extension, a web browser will know to read these text files as HTML and properly display the web page. Displaying Your Document in a Web Browser http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/tut1.html (5 of 7) [1/2/2002 4:06:41 PM] 1. Creating Your First HTML Document 1. Return to the web browser window you are using for your "work space". (If you do not have a second browser window open yet, select New Window or New Browser from the File window.) 2. Select Open File... from the File menu. (Note: For users of Internet Explorer, click the Browse button to select your file) 3. Use the dialog box to find and open the file you created, "volc.html" 4. You should now see in the title bar of the workspace window the text "Volcano Web" and in the web page below, the one sentence of text you wrote, "In this lesson..." Check Your Work Compare your document with a sample of how this document should appear. After viewing the sample, use the back button on your web browser to return to this page. If your document was different from the sample, review the text you entered in your text editor. A common mistake we hear is, "I cannot see the title!" You shouldn't! The text within the... tag is NOT displayed on the web page; you should see it in the title bar of the web browser window. The most common mistake that beginners make here is that they try using a word processing program to type HTML and then are unable to open it in their browser, or if it does, the page is full of odd garbage characters. When you are starting out, we urge you to use the most basic text editor such as the Windows NotePad or SimpleText for Macintosh. Look for shortcuts later! If you are looking for some free/cheap alternative text editors, our recommendations are EditPad (for Windows) and BBEdit Lite (for Macintosh) Review Topics 1. What are HTML tags? 2. Where is the text of the title tag displayed? 3. What steps are involved in creating a simple HTML document? 4. How do you create a comment tag? 5. How can you display your HTML document in a web browser? Independent Practice http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/tut1.html (6 of 7) [1/2/2002 4:06:41 PM] 1. Creating Your First HTML Document Think of a topic for your own web page. Now create your own HTML text file that includes a tag and a few introductory sentences. Save the HTML file and reload it in your web browser. You might want to create a different folder/directory for this file so you do not get it mixed up with all of the volcano pages you will create for this tutorial. Keep this file handy as you will add to it in later lessons. Coming Next.... Your first web page is done! But, to be honest, it is pretty short and not very exciting! In the next lesson you will modify and update your HTML document. GO TO.... | Lesson Index | previous: "Standardly Speaking" | next: "Modifying HTML" | Writing HTML: Lesson 1: Creating Your First HTML Document ©1994-1999 Maricopa Center for Learning and Instruction (MCLI) Maricopa Community Colleges The 'net connection at MCLI is Alan Levine Questions? Comments? Visit our feedback center URL: http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/tut1.html http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/tut1.html (7 of 7) [1/2/2002 4:06:41 PM] 2. Modifying an HTML Document Writing HTML | About | FAQ | Alumni | Kudos | References | Tags | Lessons | previous | next | 2. Modifying an HTML Document Now that you have created your first HTML document, you will learn how to swiftly make changes in your document and view the updates within your web browser. Objectives After this lesson, you will be able to: Re-open the workspace for your web page. Make changes in your HTML document using the text editor. Reload the document in your web browser to see your changes. Lesson Re-opening Your Workspace Note: If you do not have the document from the previous lesson, download a copy now. To complete this lesson, you will need to create a second web browser window and re-open the text editor window you used in the first lesson. Here are the steps for re-opening your workspace (remember that the exact name of the menu commands may be different depending which web browser you are using): 1. If not open, create a new web browser window by selecting New Window from the File menu. 2. Use the Open File... command from the File menu to find and open the HTML file you created in the previous lesson. 3. Re-open your text editor program. 4. In the text editor, open the file ("volc.html") you created in the previous lesson. NOTE: If you are using Windows 3.1 computer then your file should be named "VOLC.HTM". From now on, we will assume that you can easily re-open your workspace in this manner. http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/tut2.html (1 of 4) [1/2/2002 4:06:46 PM] 2. Modifying an HTML Document Making Changes in Your HTML Document 1. Go to the text editor window. 2. Below the text you typed from the previous lesson, press RETURN a few times and type the following text: A volcano is a location where magma, or hot melted rock from within a planet, reaches the surface. It may happen violently, in a massive supersonic explosion, or more quietly, as a sticky, slow lava flow. Note that this text should be abovethe and tags at the bottom of your HTML file. 3. Select Save from the File menu to update the changes in your HTML file. Reloading the Document in your Web Browser Return to the web browser workspace where the previous version of your file was displayed. Note that the new text you entered in the previous steps may not yet be visible. To see the changes, use the Reload button or menu item in your web browser. This instructs your web browser to read in the same HTML file and display it with whatever changes have been made. You should now see the new text that you entered. Note that the web browser ignores all blank lines and extra spaces (carriage returns) that you enter in the HTML file. It will also ignore any extra space characters (beyond the one between words). However, when you are writing HTML, it will help you greatly to separate major sections by some blank lines... when you need to go back and edit content, it makes it easier to locate the correct location to make the changes. Of course, there will be times that you want your web pages to have blank space between sections (e.g. between paragraphs). You just passed a location in this very page! In Lesson 4 we will learn how to do this. Drag and Drop Bonus! There may be an easier way for you to load and view your HTML pages. You will have to arrange your computer desktop so that you can see the icon for your HTML files adjacent to your web browser window. Simply click and drag the icon for your "vol.html" or "vol.htm" file right into your web browser window. Voilà! your page will display if your computer supports drag and drop operations (It works for operating for Macintosh OS 7.5 and Windows 95 or newer). http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/tut2.html (2 of 4) [1/2/2002 4:06:46 PM] 2. Modifying an HTML Document Check Your Work Compare your document to this sample of how this document should appear. If your page looks different than the example, review the text you entered in the text editor. Make sure it matches the text instructions in the Making Changes in Your HTML Document section of this lesson. Review Review topics for this lesson: 1. How did you re-open your workspace? 2. What steps did you use to make changes in your HTML document? 3. How did you display and view these changes in your web browser? Independent Practice As you did in the lesson, modify your own HTML document that you started in the last lesson. Add a few more sentences and see if you can successfully reload the modified document into your web browser. Coming Next.... Now that you have an understanding of the editing process, we will add big and beautiful section headings to your HTML documents. GO TO.... | Lesson Index | previous: "Creating HTML" | next: "Headings" | Writing HTML: Lesson 2: Modifying an HTML Document ©1994-1999 Maricopa Center for Learning and Instruction (MCLI) Maricopa Community Colleges The 'net connection at MCLI is Alan Levine http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/tut2.html (3 of 4) [1/2/2002 4:06:46 PM] 2. Modifying an HTML Document Questions? Comments? Visit our feedback center URL: http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/tut2.html http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/tut2.html (4 of 4) [1/2/2002 4:06:46 PM] 3. Headings: Six Levels Deep Writing HTML | About | FAQ | Alumni | Kudos | References | Tags | Lessons | previous | next | 3. Headings: Six Levels Deep As you see in this web page, the section headings ("Headings -- Six Levels Deep", "Objectives", "Lesson", "HTML Headings"...) appear as different sizes and, perhaps, different colors and fonts. HTML provides tags for designating headings in six levels of significance. Your browser determines the exact font and size for display. Objectives After this lesson, you will be able to: Identify the different levels of headings in HTML and the tags associated with them. Place different level headings within your HTML document and view the changes within your web browser. Lesson HTML Headings You created headings in HTML by "tagging" certain chunks of text with heading tags. The format for an HTML heading tag is: Text to Appear in Heading where N is a number from 1 to 6 identifying the heading size. Here are some examples of different heading sizes: http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/tut3.html (1 of 4) [1/2/2002 4:06:50 PM] 3. Headings: Six Levels Deep Heading Level 1 Heading Level 2 Heading Level 3 Heading Level 4 Heading Level 5 Heading Level 6 Heading levels range from level 1 (Most Important) to level 6 (Least Important). Like an outline, your heading levels should have logical, consistent order and be parallel. Placing HTML Headings in Your Document Note: If you do not have the working document from the previous lesson download a copy now. 1. Re-open your workspace (if not already opened). 2. Go to the text editor window. 3. Open the HTML text file you created in lesson 2, "volc.html". 4. First, we will use the tag to display the title as the biggest header,. Enter the following above the existing body text and after the tags: Volcano Web 5. Below the text already entered, create other headings for future sections of your Volcano Web page. Enter the following headings inside the body of your web page (Note that some are H3 and others are H2 tags): Introduction Volcano Terminology Volcanic Places in the USA http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/tut3.html (2 of 4) [1/2/2002 4:06:50 PM] 3. Headings: Six Levels Deep Mount St Helens Long Valley Volcanic Places on Mars Research Project References 6. Save changes in your text editor. 7. Return to your web browser, Open and Reload the HTML file. Note that on the computer you are using now, you can use the settings in your web browser to define the fonts and/or size of the headings. For example, on one computer you could have a browser display h1 tags as Times font and 36 point; h2 tags as Helvetica font and 24 point, etc. HTML codes designate only that the headers are of a certain type (h1 to h6); how it is displayed is controlled by the user of the web browser. Check Your Work Compare your work to this sample. If some of your headings do not appear correct, be sure to check that the starting tag and ending tags have the same heading level. As an optional exercise, take a look at what happens when you make a typographical error. Open your HTML document in the text editor and delete the slash (/) in the tag, after the header Volcano Web: Volcano Web [missing "/" ------------^^^] Save the changes and reload into your web browser. Without the correct ending of the h1 tag, your web browser interprets all of the succeeding text as part of that header! After trying this you should go back to your document and re-insert the slash in the correct spot. Review Topics http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/tut3.html (3 of 4) [1/2/2002 4:06:50 PM] 3. Headings: Six Levels Deep 1. What are the different levels of headings in HTML? 2. What are the tags associated with these different levels? 3. What steps did you use in placing headings in your HTML document? 4. What happens if you forget a slash at the end of a header tag? Independent Practice Add at least three headers of different levels to your own HTML document. Coming Next.... Breaking up text into paragraphs. GO TO.... | Lesson Index | previous: "Modifying HTML" | next: "Paragraphs" | Writing HTML: Lesson 3: Headings: Six Levels Deep ©1994-1999 Maricopa Center for Learning and Instruction (MCLI) Maricopa Community Colleges The 'net connection at MCLI is Alan Levine Questions? Comments? Visit our feedback center URL: http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/tut3.html http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/tut3.html (4 of 4) [1/2/2002 4:06:50 PM] 4. Breaking it up into paragraphs Writing HTML | About | FAQ | Alumni | Kudos | References | Tags | Lessons | previous | next | 4. Breaking it up into paragraphs So far you have created and modified HTML documents, and you should feel comfortable with the process of editing text and reloading it into your web browser. So now relax for this fast lesson on inserting paragraph breaks. Objectives After this lesson, you will be able to: Identify the paragraph break tag in HTML. Copy text from the web page and paste it in another document. Insert paragraph breaks into the text of your HTML document and view the changes within your web browser. Lesson HTML Paragraph Breaks We've seen earlier that a web browser will ignore all of the CARRIAGE RETURNS typed into your text editor. But, wherever a browser sees the paragraph tag, it inserts a blank line and starts a new paragraph. The HTML code for forcing a paragraph break is: Note that this tag is special in that it does not require an ending tag; for now you do not need to use: In a later lesson we will see why we want to use a closing for the more current HTML coding standards. For basic HTML coding, let's keep it simple for now. Also, the tags have a built in break so it is unnecessary to put tag before a header tag: http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/tut4.html (1 of 6) [1/2/2002 4:06:53 PM] 4. Breaking it up into paragraphs Blah Blah Blah Blah Inserting Paragraph Breaks Note: If you do not have the working document from the previous lesson, download a copy now. Follow the directions below to insert and view a paragraph break in your HTML document. 1. Re-open your workspace (if not already opened). 2. Go to the text editor window. 3. Open your working document, volc.html, in the text editor (if not already opened). 4. First we want to move the sentences ("A volcano is.....") so that they are under the Introduction heading. Use the mouse to cut and paste this text in the proper location. 5. After these sentences, we want to add some more text. But rather than re-typing this in, from this web page use your mouse to select and copy the sentences: Volcanoes have been a part of earth's history long before humans. Compare the history of human beings, a few million years in the making, to that of the Earth, over four billion years in the making. 6. Now, return to your HTML document in the text editor, and paste this text after the existing sentences under the Introduction heading. 7. Save the changes in the text editor. 8. Return to your web browser. 9. If your working document is not visible, Use the Open Local... command from the File menu to open the document. 10. Select Reload from the File menu. You should now see the two sentences of the Introduction. We now want to put a paragraph break between these sentences. 11. Again, return to your HTML document in the text editor. 12. After the second sentence under Introduction (the one that ends " as a sticky, slow lava flow."), press RETURN (it is not necessary but it makes the HTML more readable as you work on it), and then enter the paragraph tag: This section should now look like: Introduction http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/tut4.html (2 of 6) [1/2/2002 4:06:53 PM] 4. Breaking it up into paragraphs A volcano is a location where magma, or hot melted rock from within a planet, reaches the surface. It may happen violently, in a massive supersonic explosion, or more quietly, as a sticky, slow lava flow. Volcanoes have been a part of earth's history long before humans. Compare the history of human beings, a few million years in the making, to that of the Earth, over four billion years in the making. 13. Save the changes in the text editor. 14. Return to your web browser and Reload the document. The two sentences of the introduction should now be separate paragraphs. Other types of breaks To separate major sections of a web page, use the horizontal rule or hr tag. This inserts a straight line like you see right above the heading for this section. The HTML format for a horizontal rule tag is: Let's try it now! Put an hr tag above the Introduction heading. This will help to separate the opening sentence of the lesson from the other portions that will follow. And finally, there is the tag which forces text to a new line like the tag, but without inserting a blank line. You might use this tag when making a list of items, when writing the lines of a poem, etc. Compare the differences between using the and in these two examples: Paragraph tags Only HTML Result http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/tut4.html (3 of 6) [1/2/2002 4:06:53 PM] 4. Breaking it up into paragraphs And then, we could all see at once the brilliant purpose of the paragraph tag. And then, we could all see at once the brilliant purpose of the Moving on... paragraph tag. the more tags you write, Moving on... the better you will feel? the more tags you write, the better you will feel? Paragraph and Line Break tags HTML Result And then, we could all see at once the brilliant purpose of the paragraph tag. And then, we could all see at once the brilliant purpose Moving on... of the paragraph tag. the more tags you write, Moving on... the better you will feel? the more tags you write, the better you will feel? The tag can be used for a different layout style for your section headings. If you notice, the header tags , ,... automatically insert white space above and below the text of the header tag. Some web page authors prefer a style that controls this white space. Section titles with Header Tags HTML Result http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/tut4.html (4 of 6) [1/2/2002 4:06:53 PM] 4. Breaking it up into paragraphs and in the end it was all for naught. and in the end it was all for The New Cheese Edict naught. Later, sir Longhorn declared that all makers of cheese would The New Cheese Edict have to be certified before commencing production. Later, sir Longhorn declared that all makers of cheese would have to be certified before commencing production. Section titles with and tags NOTE! The tag is covered in the next lesson but all it does is make the text bold. HTML Result and in the end it was all for naught. and in the end it was all for The New Cheese Edict naught. Later, sir Longhorn declared that all makers of cheese would The New Cheese Edict have to be certified before Later, sir Longhorn declared that commencing production. all makers of cheese would have to be certified before commencing production. The difference may seem trivial now, but it opens up possibilities when later we learn to create text of different size and color for our section headings. For example, take a look at Web Pages That Don't Look Like Web Pages Check Your Work If you would like, compare your web page to this sample. If your document was different from the sample, review how you entered the paragraph break, , into the text editor. Make sure you entered it as instructed in the Inserting Paragraph Breaks section of this lesson. http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/tut4.html (5 of 6) [1/2/2002 4:06:53 PM] 4. Breaking it up into paragraphs Review Topics 1. What is the HTML tag for a paragraph break? 2. What steps did you use for inserting a paragraph break in your document? 3. How did you display and view the changes in your web browser? 4. * Extra Credit: What is a horizontal rule tag? a tag? Independent Practice Use the , the , or the tags to create paragraphs or sections in your own document. Coming Next.... Do you remember your first font? How about adding Style... to your text. GO TO.... | Lesson Index | previous: "Headings" | next: "Styled Text" | Writing HTML: Lesson 4: Breaking it up into paragraphs ©1994-1999 Maricopa Center for Learning and Instruction (MCLI) Maricopa Community Colleges The 'net connection at MCLI is Alan Levine Questions? Comments? Visit our feedback center URL: http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/tut4.html http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/tut4.html (6 of 6) [1/2/2002 4:06:53 PM] 5. Doing it with Style Writing HTML | About | FAQ | Alumni | Kudos | References | Tags | Lessons | previous | next | 5. Doing it with Style Just like a word processor, HTML can tell a web browser to display certain portions of text in Italic or Bold Style or even a combination. Objectives After this lesson, you will be able to: Identify the HTML tags for the text styles: bold, italic, and typewriter (mono-spaced). Enter text in your HTML document in these different text styles and view the changes within your web browser. Lesson HTML Style Tags HTML offers several tags for adding style to your text. Just remember to be judicious and consistent in the use of styles; too much can make the text uncomfortable to read... Style tags HTML Result This is Bold... This is Italic... This is Bold This is Typewriter... This is Italic This is Typewriter Note how you can combine the style tags as long as they are correctly nested, the italic tags are both within the bold tags. Note also, that the order does not matter. HTML Result http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/tut5.html (1 of 4) [1/2/2002 4:06:56 PM] 5. Doing it with Style This is Bold AND Italic This is Bold AND Italic And So is This And So is This Furthermore, you can also add style to the text that appears in heading tags. Note how the different style tags are opened and closed around the words they style and how the heading tags surround the whole text for the heading. HTML Result blah blah blah New and blah blah blah Improved! blah blah blah New and Improved! blah blah blah Entering Styled Text in Your HTML Document Note: If you do not have the working document from the previous lesson, download a copy now. Follow these steps to apply style tags to your HTML document. 1. Re-open your workspace (if not already opened). 2. Return to your HTML document, volc.html, in the text editor. 3. Find the word "volcano" in the first sentence of the Introduction. We are going to make this bold to highlight an important word. 4. Insert the tags to make this word appear as bold text: volcano 5. Now we will modify the second paragraph with the bold and italic tags to emphasize a word. Enter... and... tags around the word billion so this section looks like: Volcanoes have been a part of earth's history long http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/tut5.html (2 of 4) [1/2/2002 4:06:56 PM] 5. Doing it with Style before humans. Compare the history of human beings, a few million years in the making, to that of the Earth, over four billion years in the making. 6. Finally, we will use the typewriter, tag to indicate a special word. Under the Volcano Terminology heading, enter the following: The study of volcanoes, or Volcanology, includes many odd terms. 7. Save in the text editor and Reload in your web browser. Check Your Work Look at an example that shows these changes. It is important when using style tags to properly terminate the tag(s) with the proper tag. Otherwise, all succeeding text will inherit this text style. It can look bizarre. Review Topics 1. What are HTML style tags? 2. What are the different tags used for different styles of text? 3. What steps did you use in entering styled text into your HTML document? 4. *Extra Credit: How can these styles be useful in creating a web page or lesson? Independent Practice Try using the style tags for bold, italic, and typewriter to the text of your own web page. See if you can successfully combine styles... that are pleasing to read. Coming Next.... How to put together lists of items, in both numbered and bulleted fashion. GO TO.... | Lesson Index | previous: "Paragraphs" | next: "Lists" | http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/tut5.html (3 of 4) [1/2/2002 4:06:56 PM] 5. Doing it with Style Writing HTML: Lesson 5: Doing it with Style ©1994-1999 Maricopa Center for Learning and Instruction (MCLI) Maricopa Community Colleges The 'net connection at MCLI is Alan Levine Questions? Comments? Visit our feedback center URL: http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/tut5.html http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/tut5.html (4 of 4) [1/2/2002 4:06:56 PM] 6. Lists, Lists, Lists Writing HTML | About | FAQ | Alumni | Kudos | References | Tags | Lessons | previous | next | 6. Lists, Lists, Lists Lists can present items of information in an easy-to-read format. In fact, there is a list right here, lurking under the next heading! Objectives After this lesson, you will be able to: Identify HTML codes for creating unordered, ordered, and nested lists for a web page. Place different list types within your HTML document and view the changes within your web page. Lesson Many web pages display lists of items -- these may be items preceded with a "bullet" (Unordered) or a sequentially numbered list (Ordered). These lists are easy to format in HTML, and they may even be nested (lists of lists) to produce an outline format. Lists are also handy for creating an index or table of contents to a series of documents or chapters. Unordered Lists Unordered Lists, or.. tags, are ones that appear as a list of items with "bullets" or markers in the front. The bullet marks will depend on the particular version of your web browser and the font specified for displaying normal WWW text (e.g. for Macintosh, the bullets are the option-8 character -- in Times font this is a small square, in Geneva it is a large round dot). Here is an example of an unordered list: http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/tut6.html (1 of 7) [1/2/2002 4:07:00 PM] 6. Lists, Lists, Lists My Unordered List: Item 1 Item 2 Item 3 And this is the HTML format for producing this format: My Unordered List: Item 1 Item 2 Item 3 The tag marks the beginning and end of the list, and the indicates each list item. Ordered Lists Ordered lists are ones where the browser numbers each successive list item starting with "1." Note that the only difference is changing the ul tag to ol tag. Using the example from above: My Ordered List: 1. Item 1 2. Item 2 3. Item 3 And this is the HTML format for producing this format: My Ordered List: Item 1 Item 2 Item 3 http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/tut6.html (2 of 7) [1/2/2002 4:07:00 PM] 6. Lists, Lists, Lists Nested Lists Ordered Lists and Unordered lists can have different levels; each will be indented appropriately by your web browser. Your major concern will be to verify that each list is properly terminated and the nesting order is correct. It can start to look complicated with all of those tags floating around, but just try to remember the basic structure: Here is an example of an unordered list with sublevels of other lists: Nested Unordered List This is the first item This is the second item ❍ This is the first subitem of the second item And this is a subitem of a subitem Getting lost yet? ❍ This is the second subitem of the second item ❍ This is the third subitem of the second item This is the third item Note how the bullet marks change for different levels of the list. And this is the HTML format for producing this format: Nested Unordered List This is the first item This is the second item This is the first subitem of the second item http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/tut6.html (3 of 7) [1/2/2002 4:07:00 PM] 6. Lists, Lists, Lists And this is a subitem of a subitem Getting lost yet? This is the second subitem of the second item This is the third subitem of the second item This is the third item Nested Lists -- Mixing them together Not only can you include ordered lists within ordered lists, but you can also mix and match list types. Hold onto your hats! The HTML starts to look pretty ugly, but watch how lists completely contain other lists. For example, this ordered list includes a nested unordered list: Nested Unordered List Nested Unordered List 1. This is the first item 2. This is the second item ❍ This is the first subitem of the second item 1. An this is a numbered subitem of a subitem 2. An this is another numbered subitem of a subitem 3. Getting lost yet? ❍ This is the second subitem of the second item ❍ This is the third subitem of the second item 3. This is the third item And this is the HTML format for producing this format. Note how the HTML has been indented to make it easier to read: Nested Unordered List This is the first item This is the second item This is the first subitem of the second item http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/tut6.html (4 of 7) [1/2/2002 4:07:00 PM] 6. Lists, Lists, Lists And this is a numbered subitem of a subitem And this is another numbered subitem of a subitem Getting lost yet? This is the second subitem of the second item This is the third subitem of the second item This is the third item Placing Lists in Your HTML Document Note: If you do not have the working document from the previous lesson, download a copy now. Using the list tags, you will now add an ordered and an unordered list to your Volcano Web page. 1. Re-open your workspace (if not already opened). 2. Open your HTML document in the text editor. 3. Under the Volcano Terminology header we will use an unordered list to display examples of technical words used in the study of volcanoes. Go to this section in your HTML document. 4. First add the following sentence. How many of these do you know? 5. Now enter the HTML format to create the list of terms: caldera vesicularity pahoehoe rheology lahar 6. Now we will use an ordered list to define the required parts of the assignment in this lesson. Under the Research Project heading, enter the following: (HINT -- this might be a good time to copy and paste from the web page, unless you enjoy typing in text!) Your mission is to find information and report on a volcano, other than the ones listed above, that has erupted in the last 100 years. Your reports must include: http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/tut6.html (5 of 7) [1/2/2002 4:07:00 PM] 6. Lists, Lists, Lists Type of volcano Geographic location Name, distance, and population of nearest major city Dates of most recent and most destructive eruptions. Other events associated with the recent eruptions (earthquakes, floods, mudslides, etc) Then, write a one page description on the major hazards to humans in the vicinity of this volcano. Speculate on what you would do if you were in charge of minimizing the risk to the population. 7. Save your HTML file and Reload in your web browser. Check Your Work You may want to compare your document with a sample for this section. If your list is different than the list in the sample, review how you entered your list in your text editor. Make sure it matches the instructions in the Placing Lists in Your HTML Document section of this lesson. Review Topics 1. How are lists valuable in a web page? 2. What is the HTML tag for a unordered list? 3. What is the tag for a ordered list? 4. How might you set up a nested list? 5. What steps did you use in adding a list to your HTML document? Independent Practice You may want to experiment with changing the ordered list you created to one that is unordered. Also, insert an ordered or an unordered list of items to your own WWW document. Be sure to verify that it displays correctly in your web browser. Can you create a list that includes sub-lists? Coming Next.... http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/tut6.html (6 of 7) [1/2/2002 4:07:00 PM] 6. Lists, Lists, Lists Making it more than just plain text -- adding pictures to your page. GO TO.... | Lesson Index | previous: "Stylized Text" | next: "Graphics" | Writing HTML: Lesson 6: Lists, Lists, Lists ©1994-1999 Maricopa Center for Learning and Instruction (MCLI) Maricopa Community Colleges The 'net connection at MCLI is Alan Levine Questions? Comments? Visit our feedback center URL: http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/tut6.html http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/tut6.html (7 of 7) [1/2/2002 4:07:00 PM] 7. Graphics a la Web Writing HTML | About | FAQ | Alumni | Kudos | References | Tags | Lessons | previous | next | 7. Graphics à la "the Web" Sending text over the Internet is just old fashioned e-mail. People have been doing it for decades! When you can include Pictures, your message can be much more informative! Is the going rate still 1000 words per picture? Objectives After this lesson, you will be able to: Identify the graphic formats for the World Wide Web. Discuss key points to consider when including graphics in WWW documents. Download a graphic file to your computer. Use the correct HTML format for including pictures in your web page. Lesson Lean back and relax! This lesson is mostly an introduction to graphics for the Web. But we'll have you do a little activity below. The Web's Graphic Format There are numerous file formats for computer graphics... PICT, GIF, TIFF, PNG, not to mention EPS, BMP, PCX, JPEG... It sounds like cryptic poetry. Bad poetry. Geek poetry! The way a web browser displays graphics in HTML format indicates the location of a graphic file in a single format that can be interpreted by different types of computers. For example, when the information in that format is received by your Macintosh computer, the web browser knows to display it as a picture format for Macintosh. However, when that same information is received by your Windows browser, it is displayed as a Windows graphic. In technical jargon, we would say that this picture format is platform independent. HTML itself is platform independent, since plain text characters can be understood by any computer. The standard format that can display within a web page is GIF or Graphics Interchange Format. The GIF http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/tut7.html (1 of 4) [1/2/2002 4:07:03 PM] 7. Graphics a la Web compresses the picture information (reduces the file size) and translates it to binary code that can be sent over the Internet. GIF compression is most effective on graphics that have contiguous areas of solid color, and compression is even greater when the color is continuous in the horizontal direction. GIF images have the feature of defining a color to be "transparent" so images can appear to have non- rectangular boundaries. They can also be saved in the "interlaced" format so that when you see a web page, the images start to appear soon and "dissolve" to the final image. The other file format used on the web is JPEG (named after the Joint Photographic Expert Group that designed this format). In the early web years, JPEG images were not displayed in the page but were displayed in a separate window, using an external "helper" application. But most web browsers these days support JPEG images to be displayed right in the web page too. JPEG compression is very effective for photographic images where the colors can vary spatially over short distances ("grainy" images). JPEG offers some dramatic compression in filesize, sometimes by a factor of 10 (e.g. a 1500 kb file reduced to 150 kb), which may be at a trade-off for some image quality. JPEG images do not have the ability to have transparency. For more information about these file formats, see the SITO page on Graphics File Compression. If you are in the mood for a great book, try Lynda Weinman's Designing Web Graphics. More and more graphics programs have built-in features to save files as GIF format. Newer ones such as ImageReady from Adobe and Fireworks from Macromedia have been specifically designed for creating web graphics. You can find other shareware programs/utilities for converting graphics to web format from download.com. Some Points to Consider When Using Graphics For this tutorial, you do not have to use one of these graphics programs. We will show you how to get a copy of the images that you will need. However, as you begin to develop your own web pages, you should become familiar with creating pictures in either GIF or JPEG format. If your web pages include graphics, consider the following: Large and numerous images may look great on a high-end computer, but they will frustrate users who must wait for images to be sent over the network. As a suggestion, keep the total file size of all images on a web less than 100k (we aim for less than 50k each). Not all of us have a 21-inch computer monitor! Keep graphic images no wider than 480 pixels and no higher than 300 pixels to avoid forcing users to scroll or resize their web browser window. Color gradients may look pretty but for GIF images they do not compress as much as solid color areas and they can sometimes come out "banded". Some graphics programs offer options for "no dithering" when converting to GIF -- this can http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/tut7.html (2 of 4) [1/2/2002 4:07:03 PM] 7. Graphics a la Web reduce the amount of "noise" in a solid background. Many dark grey tones on Macintosh computers are not discernible on Windows computers. Rather than displaying all of the images on the web page, have them linked as external images that are downloaded only when a viewer clicks on a hypertext item (this will be covered later in lesson 8a and in lesson 8d). If you have numerous pictures to display, try to break the web page into a series of linked pages. A single image (e.g. a small "bullet") can appear several times in a web page with little added delay each time you use that same image. Many web browsers "cache" images (storing them on your computer) meaning that using the same file in several web pages will load them from the viewer's computer rather than loading them across the Internet. Most importantly, make sure that the images are ones that add meaning to your HTML documents. You may design a beautiful web page, loaded with large pictures, that may load nicely from your computer, but may be excruciatingly slow by a viewer using a slow modem over a busy network. The 'net is a busy place and getting busier every second. Saving and Including Pictures in Your Web Page For the next lesson you will first need to download a copy of a GIF image of a volcano (watch out for that hot lava!). Just follow the instructions on the Lesson 7 Image Studio and then return here to complete this lesson. Check Your Work Check to see that the file, lava.gif, is saved in the same directory/folder as your HTML file, volc.html. If it is not there, check to see if you accidentally saved it in another directory/folder. Then, move it to the correct location. Review Topics 1. What are the two graphic formats used for the World Wide Web? 2. How can a graphic file display on different computers? 3. What are some key points to consider when including graphics in web pages? 4. How did you save the lava graphic for use in your WWW document? http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/tut7.html (3 of 4) [1/2/2002 4:07:03 PM] 7. Graphics a la Web Independent Practice Surf the web and browse for pictures. Try to download at least one image that might be useful for your page. Just a few places you might try: ClipArt Connection CoolText Online Graphics Generator Ditto.com Yahoo's Clip Art Lycos' Picture Search Yahoo's ImageSurf The Free Site Free Graphics Store Barry's Clip Art Server Coming Next.... You have the image... Now, how in the H T M L do you display it in your document? GO TO.... | Lesson Index | previous: "Lists" | next: "Inline Images" | Writing HTML: Lesson 7: Graphics à la the Web ©1994-1999 Maricopa Center for Learning and Instruction (MCLI) Maricopa Community Colleges The 'net connection at MCLI is Alan Levine Questions? Comments? Visit our feedback center URL: http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/tut7.html http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/tut7.html (4 of 4) [1/2/2002 4:07:03 PM] 7a. Inline Graphics Writing HTML | About | FAQ | Alumni | Kudos | References | Tags | Lessons | previous | next | 7a. Inline Graphics WWW Mathematics: Text + Pictures = Multimedia Multimedia + WWW = Global HyperMedia Got it? Objectives After this lesson, you will be able to: Place an inline image within your HTML document. Select how the pictures align with surrounding text. Modify the inline image tag to account for viewers using a non-graphic browser. Specify the dimensions of inline image. Lesson Let's see how with HTML you can include pictures like the "Big M" in a web page... HTML Tags for Inline Graphics An "inline" image is one that appears within the text of a WWW page, such as this picture of "Big M". The HTML format for the inline image tag is: http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/tut7a.html (1 of 7) [1/2/2002 4:07:07 PM] 7a. Inline Graphics where filename.gif is the name of a GIF file that resides in the same directory/folder as your HTML document. By "inline", this means that a web browser will display the image in between text. Note how the text immediately follows the "Big M" above. What if we want the "Big M" sitting on its very own line? To force the image to appear on a separate line, simply insert a paragraph tag before the image tag: Alignment of Text and Inline Graphics With an attribute to the tag, you can also control how text adjacent to the image aligns with the picture. The align attribute, added inside the tag, can produce the following effects: align=top is for Maricopa Community Colleges located in the Valley of the Sun, metropolitan Phoenix, Arizona. Our license plates say that we are the Grand Canyon State... align=middle http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/tut7a.html (2 of 7) [1/2/2002 4:07:07 PM] 7a. Inline Graphics is for Maricopa Community Colleges located in the Valley of the Sun, metropolitan Phoenix, Arizona. Our license plates say that we are the Grand Canyon State... align=bottom (default) is for Maricopa Community Colleges located in the Valley of the Sun, metropolitan Phoenix, Arizona. Our license plates say that we are the Grand Canyon State... Note how the text aligns only for one line... (shrink or stretch the width of your WWW browser window to see what happens.) In a later lesson, we will see a way to align blocks of text so that they flow around the side of an image. Placing an Inline Image in Your HTML document Note: If you do not have the working document from the previous lesson, download a copy now. You will also need to have the GIF image available from the Lesson 7 Image Studio. In this exercise, you will add an introductory picture of a volcano to your lesson. 1. Re-open your workspace (if not already open). 2. Open your volc.html document with the text editor. 3. Above the Volcano Web heading, enter the following: http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/tut7a.html (3 of 7) [1/2/2002 4:07:07 PM] 7a. Inline Graphics This HTML format will insert, at the very top of your page, the lava picture that you downloaded in the previous lesson. 4. Save and reload in your web browser. In placing the image, you may have wondered why we did not need to put a tag after the image. This is because the following text was a header. A web browser always inserts a paragraph break before and after an tag. The alt="..." attribute If your web pages will be viewed by users using a text-only browser (such as lynx), they will not be able to view any inline images. Or sometimes, users will turn off the loading of inline images to save time on downloading over slow network connections. An attribute for the tag allows for substitution of a descriptive string of text to hold the place of the image. Under these conditions, a viewer with a text browser will see a place holder so that the top of our lesson page looks like: [IMAGE] Volcano Web In this lesson you will use the Internet to research information on volcanoes and then write a report on your results. ----------------------------------------------------------------- In this Lesson... This lets the viewer know that there is a graphic inserted at the top of this page. You could modify the tag so that rather than using the place holder, it displays a text string. For example, in our lesson we could add "A Lesson on:" by modifying the to read: The alt="..." attribute replaces the place holder with a text string so that from a text-only browser (or when loading of images is shut off), it would now appear: http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/tut7a.html (4 of 7) [1/2/2002 4:07:07 PM] 7a. Inline Graphics A Lesson On Volcano Web In this lesson you will use the Internet to research information on volcanoes and then write a report on your results. ----------------------------------------------------------------- In this Lesson... At this time, make this same edit to your HTML file for the tag that displays the picture of the volcano. Height and Width attributes Another option you may want to include in your tags are two attributes that give the dimensions of the image in pixels. Why? Normally, your web browser has to determine these dimensions as it reads in the image; the loading of your page can be faster if you specify these numbers in your HTML. The format for including this option is: where X is the width of the image and Y is the height of the image in pixels. You can usually use some sort of graphics program or utility to determine these numbers. Another way to find the dimensions of an image is to load it into your web browser -- you may be able to drag and drop the icon for the image into your browser window -- and the height and width will be displayed in the title bar of the browser. For our example in this lesson, the lava.gif image is 300 pixels wide and 259 pixels high. So you should edit your volc.html file to read: NOTE: the order of the attributes inside the tag does not matter. Often we are asked if you can alter the size of the image by inserting numbers other than the actual dimensions of the image. The answers is yes but the results may be undesirable. If you insert larger http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/tut7a.html (5 of 7) [1/2/2002 4:07:07 PM] 7a. Inline Graphics numbers (to make the image bigger) the result will be a "blocky" picture. Sometimes this can be a useful effect on images with large areas of solid color. Take a look at our example of Going from Small to Big. If you use lower numbers (to make the image smaller) the result may be a distorted picture. Also, the full size image still has to be downloaded, so there is no real savings in terms of time to download the image. Any re-sizing of the image requires extra "work" by the web browser to recalculate the page layout. You could experiment and see for yourself. We just might be wrong! You can also specify the size of an inline image in dimensions that are percentages of the current browser window size, so that the image will resize itself if the viewer expands or reduces the size of their browser window. Take a look at our example of Percentage Scaling. Caveat Emptor! This may not work on all web browsers! Check Your Work You may want to compare your work to this sample of how this document should appear. If your document is different from the example, check how you entered the image format in your text editor. Make sure you entered it as instructed in the Placing an Inline Image in Your HTML Document section of this lesson. If you see a picture icon with a question mark: blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah first check that the HTML file and the image are in the same folder/directory. Then, you may want to make sure that the file name entered in the tag matches the name of the file. NOTE: Some computer systems (UNIX) are case sensitive for the names of files, meaning that the file "lava.GIF" is NOT the same as "lava.gif". Other computers (Macintosh) consider them as the same files. Even if your computer does not differentiate between capital and small case, we suggest that you be consistent in the naming of files and how they are referred to in your HTML and use all lower case letters. (Many WWW servers run UNIX). http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/tut7a.html (6 of 7) [1/2/2002 4:07:07 PM] 7a. Inline Graphics Review Topics 1. What is the HTML format for an inline image? 2. What type of tag must you put before an image tag to make the image appear on a separate line? 3. How did you add the lava picture to your document? 4. What does the alt="...." attribute do? What does the height="...." attribute do? Independent Practice Add an inline image to your web page using a GIF picture file that is stored on your computer or one that you have downloaded from the Internet. Coming Next.... Create links to other documents and files that you create as well as ones on the Internet. GO TO.... | Lesson Index | previous: "Graphics" | next: "Linking with Anchors" | Writing HTML: Lesson 8d: Links to Sections of a Page ©1994-1999 Maricopa Center for Learning and Instruction (MCLI) Maricopa Community Colleges The 'net connection at MCLI is Alan Levine Questions? Comments? Visit our feedback center URL: http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/tut7a.html http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/tut7a.html (7 of 7) [1/2/2002 4:07:07 PM] 8. Linking it with Anchors Writing HTML | About | FAQ | Alumni | Kudos | References | Tags | Lessons | previous | next | 8. Linking it with Anchors Relax... this lesson is quick and easy! In fact, it is just information for you to read... What is a URL? The real power of the web is the ability to create hypertext links to related information. That other information may be other web pages, graphics, sounds, digital movies, animations, software programs, contents of a file server, a log-in session to a remote computer, a software archive, or an "ftp" site. The World Wide Web uses an addressing scheme known as URLs, or Uniform Resource Locators (sometimes also called "Universal Resource Locator"), to indicate the location of such items. These hypertext links, the ones usually underlined in blue, are known as anchors (This should not be news to you as you followed several to get this far!). In the next lessons we will: Review the concept of URLs. Find and copy URLs from your web browser to your HTML text document. Write an HTML anchor to link to another document in the samedirectory as our first document. Write an HTML anchor to link to another document in a different directory as our first document. Write an HTML anchor to link to another web document on the Internet. Write an HTML anchor that links to another section of the same document. Incorporate a graphic that acts as a "hyperlink" to another document. Wow! That sounds like a lot to do! Don't worry -- it is no more complex than what you have done up to this point. After all, without the hypertext, we would be only calling this "Writing TML" and not Writing HTML Coming Next.... Using URLs to connect documents together via hypertext links. GO TO.... | Lesson Index | previous: "Inline Graphics" | next: "Links to Local Files" | http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/tut8.html (1 of 2) [1/2/2002 4:07:09 PM] 8. Linking it with Anchors Writing HTML: Lesson 8: Linking it with Anchors ©1994-1999 Maricopa Center for Learning and Instruction (MCLI) Maricopa Community Colleges The 'net connection at MCLI is Alan Levine Questions? Comments? Visit our feedback center URL: http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/tut8.html http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/tut8.html (2 of 2) [1/2/2002 4:07:09 PM] 8a. Linking to Local Files Writing HTML | About | FAQ | Alumni | Kudos | References | Tags | Lessons | previous | next | 8a. Linking to Local Files Can my document talk to my document? Well, they can at least be linked! Objectives After this lesson, you will be able to: Create a link to an HTML document in the same directory/folder as your main document. Create a link to display a graphic image. Create a link to a file in a different directory/folder than your main document. Reorganize the structure of your web. Lesson Now, you will take your first step of "anchoring" by creating a hypertext link to a second web page. These links are called "local" because they reside on the same computer as the working document (they do not have to venture out on the Internet). You will also be shuffling around the parts of your growing web site (do you see how this becomes more than just a "home page"?). Note: If you do not have the working document from the previous lesson, download a copy now. Link to Local Files The simplest anchor link is one that opens another HTML file in the same directory as the presently displayed web page. The HTML format for doing this is: text that responds to link Think of it as "a" for anchor link and "href" for "hypertext reference". The filename must be another HTML file. Whatever text occurs after the first > and before the closing symbols will be the "hypertext" that appears underlined and "hyper." Now follow these steps to build an anchor link in your HTML document to a local file: 1. Open your HTML document, volc.html, in the text editor. 2. First, under the Volcanic Places in the USA heading, enter the following text which introduces the two volcanoes discussed in later sections. http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/tut8a.html (1 of 8) [1/2/2002 4:07:14 PM] 8a. Linking to Local Files Listed below are two places in the United States that are considered "active" volcanic areas. 3. Below the "Mount St. Helens" heading, enter: On May 18, 1980, after a long period of rest, this quiet mountain in Washington provided detailed observations on the mechanics of highly explosive eruptions. The text "detailed observations" will link the viewer to a second HTML document called msh.html. This second HTML file does not yet exist; we will construct it in steps (5) and (6). 4. Save and close your HTML document 5. Now, with your text editor, open a window for a New document. 6. Enter the following text in the new window: Mount St Helens Mount St Helens The towering pine trees of this once-quiet mountain were toppled over like toothpicks. 7. Save this file as msh.html in the same directory/folder as your working HTML file (volc.html). 8. Reload volc.html in your web browser. 9. Test the hypertext link for the words "detailed observations". When selected, it should connect you to the new page about Mount St. Helens. Anchor Link to a Graphic In lesson 7a, we learned how to display an "inline" graphic that would appear in your web page. With the anchor tag, you can also create a link to display a graphic file. When the anchor link is selected, it will download the image file and display the image by itself in an empty page. The simplest anchor link is to a file in the same directory/folder as the document that calls it. The format for creating a hypertext link to a graphic is the same as above for linking to another HTML document: text that responds to link where filename.gif is the name of a GIF image file. http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/tut8a.html (2 of 8) [1/2/2002 4:07:14 PM] 8a. Linking to Local Files Now follow these steps to add a link to a graphic file in your HTML document: 1. Download a copy of a GIF image from the Lesson 8a Image Studio. 2. Open the msh.html file in the text editor. 3. Modify the text to include a link to the image of Mount St. Helens. The towering pine trees of this once-quiet mountain were toppled over like toothpicks. 4. Save the msh.html file and Reload in your web browser 5. Now click on the link you just created in step (3). 6. A picture of blown down trees should be displayed. Links to other directories The anchor tags can also link to an HTML document or graphic file in another directory/folder in relation to the document that contains the anchor. For example, in our lesson, we may wish to keep all of the graphics in a separate directory/folder called pictures. As you create more and more HTML files, keeping the image files in its own area will make things a bit more organized for you. Let's do that now: 1. From your computer system, create a sub-directory/folder called pictures in the same location where your volc.html file is stored. 2. Move the msh.gif file to this new sub-directory/folder. 3. Open the msh.html file in your text editor. 4. Edit the anchor tag for the graphic to read: The towering pine trees of this once-quiet mountain were toppled over like toothpicks. NOTE: With HTML you can direct your web browser to open any document/graphic at a directory level lower (i.e. a sub-directory or folder within the directory/folder that contains the working HTML file) by using the "

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