Once the HTML editor is
installed, you are ready to begin construction. The
first thing to do is to orient yourself to the HTML
editor. Most products have good tutorial and "help" features
that will explain how to use the tool. In general, however,
they are intuitive and function much like word processors.
HTML editors let you insert images
into the body of a document and create hyperlinks to other pages. They
also permit you to reference a file to be used as a background image. Most HTML editors allow you to insert
additional HTML code wherever you like. This is useful, for example, should you want to add a page counter,
music or video clip to your
site.
Hyperlinks are words or graphics on a
web page that, when clicked, take the visitor to another
page or another web site. To add a hyperlink, you simply
highlight the text field or graphic, select the hyperlink
icon and specify the destination address (URL). You
should specify the full URL address.
Your main page should always be
assigned the file name "index.htm". Other
pages on your web site can be assigned any names you wish
however keep them short and avoid using special
characters. (e.g. #, @). For simplicity, all web page file names
should end with ".htm".
If you feel really brave, you can write
your HTML program using a simple text editor such as WordPad rather than using an HTML Editor.
WordPad is a
utility program that comes bundled with Microsoft operating systems
(e.g. Windows XP).
To
begin, find a simple web page on the Internet that you
like and save it to your directory. Copy the graphics
from that same web page to your hard drive. Print off the
HTML code and see how it works! You can then make some
minor changes to the HTML and watch the results in your web browser (i.e. Netscape or Explorer). Don't
forget to save your program changes and "reload" your page in
your browser. This method is not recommended
for everyone, but is a very good way to learn HTML.
There are plenty of good HTML
programming guides
available on the Internet which explain the basic syntax
of the HTML language. Tools are also available to validate the HTML
that you write.
If you would like to add a Radio and
Television Remote Control to your site, simply insert this HTML into your
page. Your visitors will be impressed!
