HTML Resources


You should browse these sites to get an idea of their contents and then go back and read them carefully. You can download the files as either *.html documents to read in Netscape or you can save them as *.txt files to read in a word processor.
A Very Short HTML Primer: http://raven.ubalt.edu/staff/kaplan/classes/hm-intro/

"This brief discussion will get you started with a few basic -- I mean very basic -- HTML commands. The World Wide Web offers dozens of HTML guides and manuals from which you can learn everything you'll ever want or need to know about HTML tags. Below, I have included some links to a few of the best starting places. You will soon find your own faves." (Nancy Kaplan's Page)


Introduction to Web Authoring: http://raven.ubalt.edu/classes/intro_web_author/

Stuart Moulthrop's complete set of HTML lessons, developed for 10 hours of hands-on instruction. Very well organized and presented; helpful for everyone, from the most novice of websters to those who know a lot already but want to know even more.


A Beginner's Guide to HTML: http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/demoweb/html-primer.html

This is a primer for producing documents in HTML, the markup language used by the World Wide Web. It includes the following information:

  Acronym Expansion 
  What This Primer Doesn't Cover 
  Creating HTML Documents 
            The Minimal HTML Document 
            Basic Markup Tags 
                 Titles 
                 Headings 
                 Paragraphs 
            Linking to Other Documents 
                 Relative Links Versus Absolute Pathnames 
                 Uniform Resource Locator 
                 Anchors to Specific Sections in Other
                 Documents 
                 Anchors to Specific Sections Within
                 the Current Document 
       Additional Markup Tags 
            Lists 
                 Unnumbered Lists 
                 Numbered Lists 
                 Definition Lists 
                 Nested Lists 
            Preformatted Text 
            Extended Quotes 
            Addresses 
       Character Formatting 
            Physical Versus Logical: Use Logical
            Tags When Possible 
                 Logical Styles 
                 Physical Styles 
            Using Character Tags 
            Special Characters 
                 Escape Sequences 
                 Forced Line Breaks 
                 Horizontal Rules 
  In-line Images 
  Alternate Text for Viewers That Can't Display
  Images 
       External Images, Sounds, and Animations 
       Troubleshooting 
            Avoid Overlapping Tags 
            Embed Anchors and Character Tags, But
            Not Anything Else 
            Check Your Links 
       A Longer Example 
       For More Information 
            Fill-out Forms 
            Style Guides 
            Other Introductory Documents 
            Additional References 


Introduction To HTML and URLs: http://www.utirc.utoronto.ca/HTMLdocs/NewHTML/htmlindex.html

This site contains good explanations of html, tags, links, anchors, etc. Use it to supplement the Beginner's Guide above.


HTML Documents: A Mosaic Tutorial: http://fire.clarkson.edu/doc/html/htut.html

I know we are really designing for Netscape, but this site will be very helpful for beginners. This tutorial will show you how to create and display Mosaic (and Netscape) screens like the one you are now reading. Such screens are composed as ordinary ASCII text files, containing markup characters of the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). Once composed these text files are saved with an .html extension.


A guide to HTML and CGI scripts: http://snowwhite.it.brighton.ac.uk/~mas/mas/courses/html/html.html

We won't get into CGI scripts, but this site will also help you get into web page compositon. This site is interactive, with examples and tutorials. Use it!


Composing Good HTML: http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~tilt/cgh/

Please read this site after you've gotten the basics. It has some good examples and suggestions for style. You may need to skim past the technical information to get at the readable discussion of stylistic considerations.


The HTML Authors' Board (HAB): http://www.tnet.de/~aw/hab/hab_idx.html

This site will link you to several style guides, including some tips offered here at this site.


Top Ten Tips for Web Designers: http://home.earthlink.net/~lyndaw/tips.html

Great because it's readable, short, and useful. Be sure to read Lynda Weinman's site ASAP.


Web Style Manual: http://info.med.yale.edu/caim/StyleManual_Top.HTML

The contents of this very useful site are below. Patrick Lynch has done a great job here.
INTRODUCTION

I. INTERFACE DESIGN IN WWW SYSTEMS
Hypermedia and Conventional Document Design
Navigation in Hyperspace
WWW Site Structure
WWW Page Design
Efficient Use of the World Wide Web
System Responsiveness
Well-balanced Page and Menu Designs

II. WWW PAGE DESIGN
Design Integrity in WWW Systems

Essential Elements of WWW Pages
Page Length
Design Grids for HTML
Sample Templates for an WWW Pages
Local Links and Navigation Aids
Page Headers
Typography
Page Footers: Verifying Origin and Authorship
Official Seals or Marks of the Institution
Contact Information
Copyright
Page Date
Page URL

III. OPTIMIZING PERFORMANCE IN WWW PAGES
Sizing Inlined Graphics
Interlacing GIF Graphics
Using Width and Height in Graphic Anchors
Loading Low Rez/High Rez Graphics
Trimming graphics by Limiting Bit Depth
JPEG Graphics


Back to 2303h Main Memu