Sams Teach Yourself HTML 4 in 24 Hours

By Dick Oliver

• Table of Contents
  • Copyright
  • About the Author
  • Acknowledgments
  • Tell Us What You Think!
  • Put Your HTML Page Online Today
  • I. Your First Web Page
  • Hour 1. Understanding HTML and XML
    • What Is a Web Page?
    • How Web Pages Work
    • How to Edit Web Pages
    • The Many Faces of HTML
    • Summary
    • Q&A
    • Workshop
  • Hour 2. Create a Web Page Right Now
  • Hour 3. Linking to Other Web Pages
  • Hour 4. Publishing Your HTML Pages
  • II. Web Page Text
  • Hour 5. Text Alignment and Lists
  • Hour 6. Text Formatting and Font Control
  • Hour 7. Email Links and Links Within a Page
  • Hour 8. Creating HTML Forms
  • III. Web Page Graphics
  • Hour 9. Creating Your Own Web Page Graphics
  • Hour 10. Putting Graphics on a Web Page
  • Hour 11. Custom Backgrounds and Colors
  • Hour 12. Creating Animated Graphics
  • IV. Web Page Design
  • Hour 13. Page Design and Layout
  • Hour 14. Graphical Links and Imagemaps
  • Hour 15. Advanced Layout with Tables
  • Hour 16. Using Style Sheets
  • V. Dynamic Web Pages
  • Hour 17. Embedding Multimedia in Web Pages
  • Hour 18. Interactive Pages with Applets and ActiveX
  • Hour 19. Web Page Scripting for Non-Programmers
  • Hour 20. Setting Pages in Motion with Dynamic HTML
  • VI. Building a Web Site
  • Hour 21. Multipage Layout with Frames
  • Hour 22. Organizing and Managing a Web Site
  • Hour 23. Helping People Find Your Web Pages
  • Hour 24. Planning for the Future of HTML
  • VII. Appendixes
  • A. Readers' Most Frequently Asked Questions
  • B. HTML Learning Resources on the Internet
  • C. Complete HTML 4 Quick Reference
  • D. HTML Character Entities

The Many Faces of HTML

You'll find detailed, step-by-step instructions for creating, saving, and viewing your first Web page in the next hour.

You should be aware from the outset, however, that a single Web page can take on many different appearances, depending on who views it and with what they view it. Figure 1.4 is the same Web page pictured earlier in Figure 1.1, as seen with the text-based Lynx Web browser. Lynx users can only see the images if they click the [IMAGE] links at the top of the page.

Figure 1.4 The page from Figure 1.1 looks very different in the DOS Lynx browser.

Not many people use text-based Web browsers like DOS Lynx these days. That's good news for Web page authors who want control over the appearance of their pages, and there's more good news to go with it: Most Web pages will look almost exactly the same in Netscape Navigator as they do in Microsoft Internet Explorer, and they will also look the same on PCs, Macintoshes, and UNIX machines. The page in Figure 1.1, for example, would look the same on any of these machines as long as the size of the viewing window, fonts, and program settings were the same on each machine.

Now for the bad news. Even users of the same version of the same Web browser can alter how a page appears by choosing different display options and/or changing the size of the viewing window. Both Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer allow users to override the background and fonts specified by the Web page author with those of their own choosing. Screen resolution, window size, and optional toolbars can also change how much of a page someone sees when it first appears.

The page in Figure 1.1 is shown in a 640x480 window, with the normal font settings. Figure 1.5 shows the same page at 800x600 resolution, with the Arial font at a large size. These are settings that you as a Web page author have no direct control over; each individual who looks at your pages can always choose whatever settings he or she prefers by selecting Edit, Preferences in Netscape Navigator or Internet Explorer 4, or by selecting Tools, Internet Options in Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.

Figure 1.5 The page from Figure 1.1, displayed by Microsoft Internet Explorer 5 at a higher resolution with larger fonts.

You can't even assume that people will be viewing your Web pages on a computer screen. The page in Figures 1.1, 1.4, and 1.5 might also be read on a low-resolution television screen (see Figure 1.6) or a high-resolution paper printout (see Figure 1.7).

Figure 1.6 Television screens may blur images, and TV Web browsers usually use a larger font to make text readable from a distance.

Figure 1.7 Web browsers usually change the background to white when sending pages to a printer.

As you learn to make your own Web pages, remember how many different forms they can take when people view them. Some Web page authors fall into the trap of trying to make pages appear "perfect" on their computer and are sorely disappointed the first time they discover that it looks different on someone else's screen. (Even worse, some authors put silly messages on their pages demanding that everyone change the size of their viewing window and font settings to match the author's computer, or proclaiming "This page is best viewed by such-and-such." If you've ever encountered such messages, I'm sure you have ignored them just like everyone else does.)

In Part IV, "Web Page Design," you'll find many tips and tricks for ensuring that your pages look great in the widest variety of situations.

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