Learning HTML and Designing a Web Page

Introduction:
        HTML is an acronym for hypertext markup language which is the programming code of the World Wide Web (WWW). It is a code based on "tags". Web browsers like Netscape and Internet Explorer are designed to read this language and convert it into the pages you see when you explore the WWW. By learning this language, you too can become a web page author and "publish" on the web. Pages on the web have a worldwide audience. All you have to do is create a site that is interesting enough to visit. This project is designed for you to quickly become familiar with the basic elements of HTML and write a simple home page.

Learning HTML and Creating Your Own Home Page:
        There is exploding number of resources available that document the history, current use of, and future of the Internet and the WWW. These resources may be "on-line" (found on the Internet) or published through traditional means such as books, magazines, and newspapers. I learned HTML by using on-line tutorials and practicing with my own web page. I have created a Web Page Tutorial that you can reference which is part of the All Atoms web site. There are two tutorials that I used and there may very well be more out there. Browsers have created good assistance sections for beginning authors. Bear in mind that HTML is still young so additions are being made all the time. You will come across references to HTML 3.0, HTML 4.0, etc. Some of these are practical and some are fancy tricks. What you need to know has already been established. Don't worry about the latest and greatest javascripting until you learn how to do things like getting your title to appear correctly on a web page. Once you've learned the basic code, you can learn how to use an HTML editor to speed up your web page authoring. After you start working your way through the tutorials, you will want to start creating your trial web page. I typed mine in Notepad, but you can also use MSWord (and other word processing applications) as long as you save the document as "text only" and add the file extension ".htm". For your personal page, you might want to try and incorporate the following list of basic elements:

1. A size 1 header
2. A horizontal rule
3. A paragraph of text
4. Something bold
5. Something italicized
6. Something centered
7. Use of a line break
8. A working link to some other page on the web
9. A numbered or unnumbered list
10. Two graphics. Ask me to show you how to quickly get graphics from any page on the web. You can also create your own graphic from scratch using a paint-type software application. You can also use a digital camera and put your picture on your web page.
11. A background other than default white. Ask me about my background archives.

When you are just working on your pages, you do not have to be connected to the Internet. I have created a notebook of information related to HTML and the web and you are welcome to look through it. Let me know if you have any questions and I look forward to seeing your first web pages. Once we feel you have adequate HTML skills, you can proceed to your chemistry research projects.

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