A Basic Web Page

Updated February 9, 1996

Basic Page Layout

Here is my short tutorial on actually editing HTML files. Basically, you have codes in sharp parentheses such as <H1> or <BODY>. The codes come in pairs, and the end of the pair has a slash in front such as

<H1>This would be Header type 1</H1>

<H2>This would be Header type 2</H2>

<P>This would be a Paragraph</P>

NOTE: The Paragraph doesn't offically need a /Paragraph at the end but HoTMetaL requires it.

The main things you need in a file are

HTML,
HEAD,
BODY,
Paragraphs
Headers (H1, H2 ... H6) and
comments

The <HTML> and </HTML> go right at the top and bottom of the file. In between you have a HEAD and a BODY. The header should contain a TITLE which is the name of the "page." This title doesn't show up when viewing the page but is what appears in the Hotlist of Home Pages if you save it. The body contains all the stuff you see. A basic body would contain at least a H1 header that is similar if not identical to the TITLE and would contain a paragraph or two (which are marked by a P and an optional /P).

<HTML>

Type in name of page (file) info.

<BODY>

Type in name of page (file) info you want users to see.

<P> This is all the info like the stuff you're reading.

<P> This would be the second paragraph.

</HTML>

That's the gist of a file. Another good thing to add at the top is a Comment containing the name of the file. I also use comments elsewhere to make searching during editing a lot easier. A comment is enclosed between angle parens like everything else but begins with an exclamation point.

Here is the comment used at the beginning of this file:

<!name of file: H_BASIC.HTML> and here is a snide comment:

<! Your mother wears army boots >

Mike Moxcey