SEM1A5 - Part 1 - Writing HTML documents

Writing HTML documents

This document is about writing HTML documents. It is very easy to write in HTML, ridiculously easy to get started. Some things are more complicated.

You need to open up an editor application and copy the following code into the beginning of your document:

<html><head><title>YOUR TITLE</title>
<link rev="made" href="mailto:EMAIL@cs.bham.ac.uk">
</head>

This is the header of your document. Give your document a title (to appear at the head of your World-Wide Web browser window) at the place where the text reads YOUR TITLE and put your email name at the place where the text reads EMAIL.

Now you have to start the body of your text. Copy the following:

<body>
<h3>HEADING</h3>

Where the text reads HEADING type some heading of your own.

Now you can type in the text you want to record. Just type as if it were normal text: it will come out as plain text. When you have finished, add the following to the very bottom of your file:

<p>
<hr>
<address>
&#169; EMAIL@cs.bham.ac.uk
</address>
<hr>
</body>
</html>

Again, put your email name at the place where the text reads EMAIL. You now have a complete HTML document. Save it with the suffix .html. Now start up your favourite World-Wide Web browser (eg XMosaic, Netscape) and open your document. For Netscape, select the File menu and choose the Open file... option. You can then select your .html file.

You may be a little unhappy about the blandness of your text. If so, then you could consider some of the following:

can be used to insert a blank line before a piece of text.
<hr> will give you a line across the window.
before a piece of text will start italics. Switch off italics by using .
before a piece of text will start bold type. Switch off bold by using .
Lists like this one involve telling the browser you want to start a list by typing <ul>. Each new item in the list requires <li> before it. Tell the broswer you have finished the list by typing <ul>.

This should be enough to get you going.