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
  • 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
    • Interactive Highlighting
    • Preloading Images for Speed
    • Adding Up an Order Form
    • The Wide World of JavaScript
    • Summary
    • Q&A
    • Workshop
  • 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

Q&A

1. Are there other, "secret," attributes besides OnMouseOver, OnMouseOut, OnBlur, and OnFocus that I can use just as easily? And can I put them anyplace other than in an <a> or <input> tag?

   Yes and yes. Each HTML tag has an associated set of JavaScript attributes, which are called events. For example, OnClick can be used within the <a> tag and some forms tags to specify a command to be followed when someone clicks that link or form element. Refer to Appendix C, "Complete HTML 4 Quick Reference," for a complete listing of the events you can use in each tag.

2. Doesn't Microsoft use a different scripting language for Internet Explorer?

   Yes, Microsoft recommends using a scripting language based on Visual Basic called VBScript, but Microsoft Internet Explorer version 3 or later also supports JavaScript. Many commands work slightly differently in the Microsoft implementation of JavaScript than they do in Netscape Navigator, however. Fortunately, the simple commands covered in this hour work exactly the same in both browsers so you can use them with confidence.

3. I tried using the tricks from this hour with images that were arranged in a table, but it didn't always work. Why?

   There's a bug in Netscape Navigator 3 that causes problems when you dynamically change images in a table. The trouble was corrected in Netscape Navigator 4 and was never an issue with Microsoft Internet Explorer. Because some people still use Navigator 3, it's safer to avoid changing any image within a table using JavaScript.

Share This