Web pages are formatted using HTML (hypertext markup language), a sort of simple code that tells your browser how to layout the page elements. The best way to learn to write HTML is to steal other people's code. You find a page with a layout that you like, and you replace the content (ie. text and images) with your own while keeping the code around it. The basic process goes something like this:

1. Under the View menu, select Source (in netscape, try View-->Document Source).
2. In the window that comes up, select (highlight) all of the text, and copy it.
3. open a basic text editor program, such as SimpleText or BBedit (Mac) or Notepad (windows), and paste the text.
4. Change the blocks of text that appear on the web page. Make sure to leave the code around it intact.
5. Save the file to your hard drive.
6. View the page in your browser by selecting Open File from the File menu, then selecting your new HTML file.
7. Go back to your text editor and make changes and adjustments. Save again.
8. To view again, go back to the browser and click the Reload button.
9. Repeat steps 5 and 6 until your page is complete.

That was a paragraph break. Pretty simple, huh? You shouldn't feel guilty stealing other people's codes... even the most experienced HTML writers borrow bits of code here and there. And the best thing about it is, you'll quickly begin to understand what the code means, because once you understand the basic constructs, HTML is really intuitive and straighforward. For instance:

Not every code is quite that straightforward. Probably the least clear, most confusing code constructs are used to create a link to another page. I mean, what the hell does "HREF" mean anyway? But once you know what it does, it's a lot less intimidating.

Finally, there's a way to include an image in your page, not exactly intuitive but not all that difficult either:

Of course, there are many, many other simple codes for formatting web pages, things that allow you to change font sizes or make your text bold. Then there are much more complicated constructs, such as TABLE and FRAME, which give you more control over the page layout. But you can look those up on your own.

Important Note: for that link I used a relative web address (URL) as in, relative to this page. Compare that to the absolute URL I used for the link above. Relative URLs only work when the file you're linking to resides on the same server, and are easiest when it's in the same directory or a sub directory (sub directory like in the image source listed above). Absolute addresses must be used at all other times.

Here are a few basic pointers and style guides:

• The HTML code is not case sensitive, so "center" and "CENTER" and "Center" would all work fine. However, I recommend that you make all your code in all caps as it's easier to see when you need to rework or troubleshoot.
• On the other hand, file names and sub directory names ARE case sensitive. So if you name your image file "iMaGe.Gif", then that's exactly how you must refer to it in the HTML code or the browser won't find it.
• Don't use spaces in file names. You can use and underscore if you want: page_one.html or big_picture.gif.
• Browsers won't notice extra spaces or paragraph returns, so you can use this to your advantage to keep your HTML code easily readable. Hit the return key often, especially before and after bits of code. Use this page as a guide.

That, by the way, was an "unordered list", hence the "UL" code. Notice I used a similar construct above, an "ordered list", which uses numbers instead of bullets.

Hand coding HTML in this manner can be tedious, and as your work becomes more complex you'll want to try a graphical editor (such as Dreamweaver) , which we'll dig into another time. But it's important you understand how this all works to be able to refine your pages, and to correct some of the problems graphical editors create. Plus, unlike graphical editors, which can be quite expensive and/or often produce overly complicated codes even for the simplest pages, hand coding is always free and generally produces clean code.

So hopefully, this page has prepared you sufficiently to make your first web page. Of course, it still lives on your hard drive, but we'll discuss how to upload your HTML pages and images to a web server at a later date. So what are you waiting for... steal this page!