CHAPTER 3
Thirty Minute RecipesTOC



The Spider Red
The spider read
the book so red
and filled her web
with spicy tales
of dragonflies
on crystal eyes
        V. Confused
(not to be confused with B. Confused)


What is HTML?TOC



HTML stands for Hyper Text Markup Language. In other words, HTML is a computer language, but one that is very simple and easy to use. You may be skeptical of this, but the important point to remember is that the language was created to be useful for everyone that can type. It is not a complicated computer language although more complicated languages can be used inside HTML documents.

A computer program (usually called a browser) digests the HTML and produces a page on your screen containing the data or information within the HTML document. The browser does all the work. The browser is a very sophisticated computer program. Sophisticated enough to make you and me look good when we land on a post (i.e. a server site) and start to spin our own homepages. HTML documents are often called homepages, but the homepage is more specifically the cover page of a website. The homepage may be called

  • welcome.html
  • home.html
  • index.html

Many word processors use special fonts including bold face and italics to produce impressive documents. These word processors create beautiful documents, but often take advantage of the special characteristics of a given computer system. HTML can be made to create similar documents, but to do so requires use of key words in the HTML language. Due to this feature HTML documents can be viewed on almost any computer. A typical word processor is developed to be used on only one kind of computer. It is not portable (portable means that a particular program or language can be used on any computer). The simple structure of HTML is the key factor which makes it portable. This does not mean that your document will look the same for every browser on the market. I will discuss, in the chapters on tables and lists, design features which will work nicely for most browsers.

It is important to write your documents using a ASCII type word processor. These are word processors which store your documents as simple character files in a standard/portable format used by all computers. Below we give an example of a simple HTML file using an ASCII editor.

To Output .



A Simple ASCII editor

Using Notepad



I list here some of the more popular text word processors.
  • Notepad for Windows on IBM compatible machines.
  • edit for the DOS operating system.
  • vi, or emacs in the UNIX operating system.
  • Sigma Edit/Simple Edit etc. in the Macintosh OS.
On the Macintosh system there are several different names for the text editor but the usual icon for text editors is a large pencil on a piece of paper.

A Simple ASCII editor

Using A MacIntosh ASCII Editor



I have provided an example of a simple HTML document

A Simple HTML FileTOC



To Code .



A Simple HTML File

A Simple HTML File Output





The opening line tells the browser that the file is written using HTML. The browser will " decide" how the text will appear in the view screen.



A NoteTOC

    The browser does not really decide. The computer programmers have given the computer instructions and criteria to determine how the view screen will appear. It is common to speak of the browser or any sophisticated computer program as a person in the sense that it represents the action of the people responsible for its production.


Some HTML TagsTOC



  • < HTML > The HTML tag tells the browser that the document is in HyperText Markup Language. It must be the first line of the document and < / HTML > must be the last line.

  • < HEAD > The Head portion of the document contains the title. It may also contain other information which will be useful to the browser.

  • < TITLE > The browser will use the Title as a headline, usually at the top of the window. The Title appears inside the Head section of the document. If the page is intended to be viewed by " weblians " (i.e. general internet users) then you should tell the user something about the page since this is also used as a bookmark title. The Title should be no more than 64 characters.

  • < BODY > The Body represents the piece of paper you write on. The information you wish to place on the "webpage" must be inside the Body declaration. That is, between

  • < BODY >

    and

  • < /BODY > .


A NoteTOC

    Each part of the document has a beginning and an end, like a sentence. The statement <BODY> is like the beginning of the sentence and the statement </BODY> is like the period at the end. Despite what you may have been told, computers are not intelligent and need big clues about beginnings and endings.


A Closer LookTOC



Now let us look more closely at the body of a more elaborate form of our document.

    < H1 > HTML is Easy and Fun </H1 >
    < H2 > The Spider Red < I > (A Poem) </I > </H2 >
    < P > < H3 > The spider read < BR >
    the book so red < BR >
    and filled her web < BR >
    with spicy tales < BR >
    of dragonflies < BR >
    on crystal eyes < /H3 > < BR >
    < P > < I > author < /I > V. Confused


HTML allows for six preassigned Headline fonts. We will discuss customizing fonts in a Chapter 4 (Font and Center). Most weblians need use only these preassigned headline fonts. The largest is
  • <H1> with required closing </H1>

    and the smallest is

  • <H6> with required closing </H6>.


Important PointTOC

    Each headline should have a beginning <H1> and an end </H1>


  • <I> Writes the text in italics until the end form </I> appears. You may also use <em>, which stands for emphasis. The end form for emphasis is </em>

  • <P> starts a new paragraph with spacing.

  • <BR> creates a line break without spacing.
....

View of Second Simple Example


It is often best to start out by writing simple documents using elementary HTML code words as we have demonstrated above. Writing your own documents gives you more control but more importantly it will be a nice and simple introduction for students into the world of computer programming. Student will be able to produce professional looking documents quickly. Once you and your students have a feel for the language you may wish to use a text processor which will write the HTML code for you as well as let you preview your homepage or webpage before you use it.

The basic form of an webpage is set up to add text at bpap.html on the accompanying disk.


Introductory Remarks for Project Apple Pie TOC



Your personal homepage does not need to be placed on a server to be effective for you. Let us consider some of the different ways that homepages can be effective.

  • A homepage can link you to all your favorite World-Wide Web sites.

  • A homepage can contain your personal records (e.g. your Resume') which can be easily accessed and printed out.

  • A homepage can be your newspaper by connecting you electronically to your favorite electronic newspapers and comic strips.

  • A homepage can be your daily organizer.

  • A homepage can connect your students to one another and to you by posting electronic mailboxes for each student in the class.

Project Code Name:



References (n.b. listed 1998
-some of these are out of date)TOC