AN INTRODUCTION TO HTML

HTML TERMS:

• WYSIWYG -- What You See Is What You Get (except in HTML)
• HTML Markup Tags
• HTML Document Elements

Most word processors are WYSIWYG-based. While HTML does provide extensive capabilities to control the look of a document, it is NOT WYSIWYG-based.

An HTML tag is a text markup command. Each tag starts with a "less than" symbol and ends with a "greater than" symbol.

The first word in each tag is a command name. Command names are case insensitive. Some tags also contain attributes with assigned values. Attribute values can be case sensitive, so be careful!

HTML Document Elements

Some tags do not require a closure tag, while other tags require a closure tag containing the command name with a leading slash. Tags requiring closure must be properly nested (they cannot overlap).

Examples of HTML elements:

• <H1>Main Header</H1>
• <A HREF="http://www.csun.edu/">CSU, Northridge</A>
• <HR>
• <P>Beginning of a paragraph.