INDEX-----HTML tags-----NEWARTPOTTERY.COM
First, note that from now on I will often refer to Explorer as your browser. It could just as well be Netscape. It doesn't matter. Use either.
There is one decision you must make at this point. You have to decide what screen resolution you want to use for your web site. This will determine how you and the world see your site. I think that, ideally, the pages you generate should fit the viewer's screen without the viewer ever having to use the scroll feature to view what is to the left and right. At this moment an 800x600 screen resolution is more or less the standard for the web. But this is changing and more and more sites are using higher resolutions. I also understand, that newer operating systems are automatically sizing web images to fit the viewers screen. Everything changes. I use a 800x600 screen and I suggest you do the same. Why worry about this? As you compose your web site you have to constantly view it to see how it is progressing and you want to view your site as web surfers will see it. You can use any resolution you choose, but at this moment, 800x600 is what dominates the web.
And as long as I am on the subject of how you and the viewer will see your web site, as you generate your web pages, it is a good idea to view each HTML page using both Explorer and Netscape. Both browsers see things differently. One web page viewed in Explorer will look different if you view it using Netscape. Usually it is not a major difference, but best to check your work in both before showing it to the world. More about this later. Forward ho....
I generate my web pages- and I am asking you to generate your web pages- using SIMPLETEXT. If you don't have that application or are using a PC, use NOTEPAD. I will be using the word SIMPLETEXT all the time since that is what I use. You generate your web pages using SIMPLETEXT, but you view them using your browser, either Explorer or Netscape. So open your SIMPLETEXT program and then go to FILE at the top of your screen and open a NEW file. Even though there is no text to save as yet, do a SAVE AS and save the file as index.html in a new folder titled "Website" on your desktop. All web pages are to be saved as ".html" files. This HTML file will become your first web page and naming it index means it is going to be your home page; that is, the introductory page to your site.
Keep that blank SIMPLETEXT file open on your desktop and then go into Explorer and open a new- a second- browser window, go FILE>NEW WINDOW. If you are using Netscape, go FILE>NEW>NAVIGATOR. You have to open a NEW second browser window, otherwise you will lose this instructional window. While your browser is open; go to the top of your screen and select FILE and scroll down to OPEN FILE and then open your newly-saved index.html file that is on your desktop in the "Website" folder. So at this moment, on your desktop, you should have three windows- this browser window you are reading now, another browser window with the blank index.html file and a SIMPLETEXT window with the blank index.html file. Keep all three open because you will be constantly jumping back and forth between them as you build a page. You will compose (SIMPLETEXT) then view (Explorer), compose and view, compose and view....
OK, so here is the working condition of your desktop. You have this instructional web page and its linked pages open in one window. You should have your blank index.html file open in SIMPLETEXT in a second window. And the third window should be a second browser window -either Explorer or Netscape-with your blank index.html open in it. This last window and the SIMPLETEXT window should present you with blank windows as your index.html file presently has no text.
Somehow, you should arrange your desktop so that you see at least a piece of each window so you can quickly jump back and forth among them. You will be using all three of these windows. If you have a large monitor screen; you are lucky.
The way you actually build your web page is as follows. You are going to compose your webpage in the SIMPLETEXT window, that is your index.html file. Every time you feel it is necessary to see how the browser is going to translate and display your efforts when it is on the web, you SAVE your index.html, click the index.html browser window to bring it forward, click the REFRESH (Explorer) or RELOAD (Netscape) icon and the browser will display the most recent version of your web page.
A lot of your work building a website will revolve around copying and pasting text that I am going to provide you. (Go back and visit the CUT AND OR COPY AND PASTE PAGE if you don't understand the cut and/or copy and paste procedure.) You can do a cut and paste in virtually any program you are using. However, to cut and paste things off the web, you have to see the "SOURCE" of the web page you want to acquire and the "source" is the HTML page that the browser you are using is converting into the text you are reading right now. To view the SIMPLETEXT "source" of this page, go to the top of your screen, select "VIEW" and scroll down and select "SOURCE" if you are using Explorer and "VIEW SOURCE" if using Netscape. What you will see is the HTML page I generated. This is more or less what you will be generating as you compose your page. Do that right now for this page. Notice that all the HTML tags are the blue words and letters inside the <and>. Take a look and come BACK.
Click here to learn a little ABOUT TAGS.
INDEX-----HTML tags-----NEWARTPOTTERY.COM