What is HTML?

Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML), is the standard markup language used for text on the Internet. HTML includes a standard set of codes, or tags used for marking up documents. HTML is also used to embed tables, lists, graphics, and other elements in web documents. Users can mark up text documents with HTML tags in a text editor or use an HTML editor, or a software application that creates web pages. Users may employ a WYSIWYG HTML editor, which function like word processing programs and allow users to create and publish web pages without writing HTML code.

Hypertext

“Hypertext” refers to words in one text file that link to information in another text file. Links function as embedded references to another, separate webpage. Hypertext allows users to find and retrieve information easily.

Markup Language

HTML is one type of markup language. Markup languages are sets of codes or tags that format a page of text. These codes appear before and after words or groups of words and indicate their structure, such as their position in a paragraph or their size. HTML incorporates structural and format tags. Structural tags govern the structural elements of a document, such as the paragraph structure and headings. Format tags govern the appearance of text, such as bold or italic text. The program used to present the marked text, such as a web browser, “reads” the marked text and presents it to the user. The end user does not see the HTML instructions, or tags, but rather sees the text formatted as the original writer intended.

How HTML is used on the Internet

Documents are written and marked up with HTML and then loaded onto a server. The end user accesses the hypertext documents through a browser, which requests them from a Hypertext Transfer Protocol, or HTTP, server.  This is why website addresses begin with “http://”, which indicates that the requested file is a hypertext document. The browser interprets the text according to the HTML tags attached to the text file that tell the browser how to display the text, graphics, and links.

• Introduction to HMTL: This site defines HTML and its main uses.
• Writing HTML: This site defines HTML and links to sites that include HTML templates, lists of HTML tags, and other information on creating web documents.
• Creating Web Sites using HTML or a WYSIWYG HTML Editor: A brief overview of using HTML code and WYSIWYG HTML editors to create web pages.