HTML Introduction

HTML is the standard markup language for creating Web pages.

What is HTML?

  • HTML stands for Hyper Text Markup Language
  • HTML is the standard markup language for creating Web pages
  • HTML describes the structure of a Web page
  • HTML consists of a series of elements
  • HTML elements tell the browser how to display the content
  • HTML elements label pieces of content such as "this is a heading", "this is a paragraph", "this is a link", etc

A Simple HTML Document

Example

      <!DOCTYPE html>
      <html lang="en">
      <head>
      <title>Example</title>
      </head>
      <body>
      <h1>Hello World!</h1>
      <p>I am a web developer!</p>
      </body>
      </html>

Example Explained

  • The <!DOCTYPE html> declaration defines that this document is an HTML5 document
  • The <html> element is the root element of an HTML page
  • The <head> element contains meta information about the HTML page
  • The <title> element specifies a title for the HTML page (which is shown in the browser's title bar or in the page's tab)
  • The <body> element defines the document's body, and is a container for all the visible contents, such as headings, paragraphs, images, hyperlinks, tables, lists, etc.
  • The <h1> element defines a large heading
  • The <p> element defines a paragraph

What is an HTML Element?

An HTML element is defined by a start tag, some content, and an end tag:

<tagname>Content goes here... </tagname>

The HTMLelement is everything from the start tag to the end tag:

<h1>This is Heading </h1>
<p>This is paragraph.</p>
Start tag Element content End tag
<h1> This is Heading </h1>
<p> This is paragraph </p>
<br> none none

Note: Some HTML elements have no content (like the <br> element). These elements are called empty elements. Empty elements do not have an end tag!

HTML Basic Examples

HTML Documents

All HTML documents must start with a document type declaration: <!DOCTYPE html>.

The HTML document itself begins with <html> and ends with </html>.

The visible part of the HTML document is between <body> and <body>.

Note: For further reffer html Introduction section

HTML Elements

Never Skip the End Tag

Example: <p>>This is a paragraph

Some HTML elements will display correctly, even if you forget the end tag:

Note: However, never rely on this! Unexpected results and errors may occur if you forget the end tag!

Empty HTML Elements

HTML elements with no content are called empty elements.

The <br> tag defines a line break, and is an empty element without a closing tag:

Example: <p> This is a <br> paragraph with a line break.</p>

HTML is Not Case Sensitive

HTML tags are not case sensitive: <P> means the same as <p>

The HTML standard does not require lowercase tags, but recommended lowercase in HTML, and demands lowercase for stricter document types like XHTML.

HTML Attributes

HTML attributes provide additional information about HTML elements.

HTML Attributes

  • All HTML elements can have attributes
  • Attributes provide additional information about elements
  • Attributes are always specified in the start tag
  • Attributes usually come in name/value pairs like: name="value"

Example of some of HTML Attributes

The href Attribute

The <a> tag defines a hyperlink. The href attribute specifies the URL of the page the link goes to:

Example: < a href="https://www.w3schools.com">Visit W3Schools </a>

The src Attribute

The <img> tag is used to embed an image in an HTML page. The src attribute specifies the path to the image to be displayed:

Example: < img src="img_girl.jpg">Visit the image</a>

There are two ways to specify the URL in the src attribute:

1. Absolute URL - Links to an external image that is hosted on another website. Example: src="https://www.w3schools.com/images/img_girl.jpg".

Notes: External images might be under copyright. If you do not get permission to use it, you may be in violation of copyright laws. In addition, you cannot control external images; it can suddenly be removed or changed.

2. Relative URL - Links to an image that is hosted within the website. Here, the URL does not include the domain name. If the URL begins without a slash, it will be relative to the current page. Example: src="img_girl.jpg". If the URL begins with a slash, it will be relative to the domain. Example: src="/images/img_girl.jpg".

Tip: It is almost always best to use relative URLs. They will not break if you change domain.

The alt Attribute

The required alt attribute for the <img> tag specifies an alternate text for an image, if the image for some reason cannot be displayed. This can be due to a slow connection, or an error in the src attribute, or if the user uses a screen reader.

Example: < img src="img_girl.jpg" alt="Girl with a jacket">

HTML Headings

HTML headings are titles or subtitles that you want to display on a webpage.

Example:

Input in the html document

      <!DOCTYPE html>
      <html lang="en">
      <head>
      <title>HTML Headinng</title>
      </head>
      <body>
      <h1>Heading 1</h1>
      <h2>Heading 2</h2>
      <h3>Heading 3</h3>
      <h4>Heading 4</h4>
      <h5>Heading 5</h5>
      <h6>Heading 6</h6>
      </body>
      </html>

Output in the browser

Heading 1

Heading 2

Heading 3

Heading 4

Heading 5
Heading 6

HTML headings are defined with the <h1> to <h6> tags.

<h1> defines the most important heading. <h6> defines the least important heading.

Note: Browsers automatically add some white space (a margin) before and after a heading.

Headings Are Important

Search engines use the headings to index the structure and content of your web pages.

Users often skim a page by its headings. It is important to use headings to show the document structure.

<h1> headings should be used for main headings, followed by <h2> headings, then the less important <h3>, and so on.

Note: Use HTML headings for headings only. Don't use headings to make text BIG or bold.

HTML Paragraphs

A paragraph always starts on a new line, and is usually a block of text.

HTML Paragraphs

The HTML <p> element defines a paragraph.

A paragraph always starts on a new line, and browsers automatically add some white space (a margin) before and after a paragraph.

Example:

<p>This is a paragraph.</p>

<p> This is another paragraph.</p>

HTML <pre> Element

The HTML <pre> element defines preformatted text.

The text inside a <pre> element is displayed in a fixed-width font (usually Courier), and it preserves both spaces and line breaks:

HTML Text Formatting

HTML contains several elements for defining text with a special meaning.

HTML Formatting Elements

Formatting elements were designed to display special types of text:

  • <b> - Bold text
  • <strong> - Important text
  • <i> - Italic text
  • <em> - Emphasized text
  • <mark> - Marked text
  • <small> - Smaller text
  • <del> - Deleted text
  • <ins> - Inserted text
  • <sub> - Subscript text
  • <sup> - Superscript text

HTML Quotation and Citation Elements

In this section we will go through the <blockquote>,<q>, <abbr>, <address>, <cite>, and <bdo> HTML elements.

HTML <blockquote> for Quotations

The HTML <blockquote> element defines a section that is quoted from another source.

Browsers usually indent <blockquote> elements.

HTML <q> for Short Quotations

The HTML <q> tag defines a short quotation.

Browsers normally insert quotation marks around the quotation.

HTML <abbr> for Abbreviations

The HTML <abbr> tag defines an abbreviation or an acronym, like "HTML", "CSS", "Mr.", "Dr.", "ASAP", "ATM".

Marking abbreviations can give useful information to browsers, translation systems and search-engines.

Tip: Use the global title attribute to show the description for the abbreviation/acronym when you mouse over the element.

Example: <p> The < title="World Health Organization" WHO> was founded in 1948. </p>

HTML <address> for Contact Information

The HTML <address> tag defines the contact information for the author/owner of a document or an article.

The contact information can be an email address, URL, physical address, phone number, social media handle, etc.

The text in the <address> element usually renders in italic, and browsers will always add a line break before and after the <address> element.

Example:

         <address>
            Written by John Doe.<br>
            Visit us at:<br>
            Example.com<br>
            Box 564, Disneyland<br>
            USA
          </address>

HTML for Work Title

The HTML <cite>tag defines the title of a creative work (e.g. a book, a poem, a song, a movie, a painting, a sculpture, etc.).

Note: A person's name is not the title of a work.

The text in the <cite> element usually renders in italic.

Example: <p><cite>The Scream</cite> by Edvard Munch. Painted in 1893.</p>

HTML <bdo> for Bi-Directional Override

BDO stands for Bi-Directional Override.

The HTML <bdo> tag is used to override the current text direction:

Example:

Input in the html document

      <!DOCTYPE html>
      <html lang="en">
      <head>
      <title>HTML Headinng</title>
      </head>
      <body>
      <bdo dir="rtl">This text 
      will be written from right to 
      left</bdo>
      </body>
      </html>

Output in the browser

This line will be written from right to left

HTML Favicon

A favicon is a small image displayed next to the page title in the browser tab.

How To Add a Favicon in HTML

Tip: A favicon is a small image, so it should be a simple image with high contrast.

A favicon image is To add a favicon to your website, either save your favicon image to the root directory of your webserver, or create a folder in the root directory called images, and save your favicon image in this folder. A common name for a favicon image is "favicon.ico".

Next, add a <link> element to your "index.html" file, after the <title> element. 

      <!DOCTYPE html>
      <html lang="en">
      <head>
      <title>HTML Headinng</title>
      <link rel="icon" 
        type="image/x-icon" 
          href
            ="/images/favicon.ico" 
          >
      </head>
      <body>
      <h1>Heading 1</h1>
      </body>
      </html>

Favicon File Format Support

The following table shows the file format support for a favicon image:

Browser ICO PNG GIF JPEG SVG
Edge Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Chrome Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Firefox Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Opera Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Safari Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

HTML Page Title

Every web page should have a page title to describe the meaning of the page.

The Title Element

The <title> element adds a title to your page:

Example:

      <!DOCTYPE html>
      <html lang="en">
      <head>
      <title>HTML Tutorial</title>
      </head>
      <body>
      The content of the 
      document......
      </body>
      </html>

The content or text in the title element is shown in the browser's title bar:

What is a Good Title?

The title should describe the content and the meaning of the page.

The page title is very important for search engine optimization (SEO). The text is used by search engine algorithms to decide the order when listing pages in search results.

The importants of <title> element:

  • defines a title in the browser toolbar
  • provides a title for the page when it is added to favorites
  • displays a title for the page in search engine-results

So, try to make the title as accurate and meaningful as possible!

HTML Block and Inline Elements

Every HTML element has a default display value, depending on what type of element it is.

The two most common display values are block and inline.

Block-level Elements

A block-level element always starts on a new line, and the browsers automatically add some space (a margin) before and after the element.

A block-level element always takes up the full width available (stretches out to the left and right as far as it can).

Two commonly used block elements are: <p> and <div>.

The <p> element defines a paragraph in an HTML document.

The <div> element defines a division or a section in an HTML document.

Here are the block-level elements in HTML:

<address> <article> <aside> <blockquote> <canvas>
<dd> <div> <dl> <dt> <fieldset>
<figcaption> <figure> <footer> <form> <h1>-</h6>
<header> <hr> <li> <main> <nav>
<noscript> <ol> <p> <pre> <section>
<table> <tfoot> <ul> <video>

Inline Elements

An inline element does not start on a new line.

An inline element only takes up as much width as necessary.

Here are the inline elements in HTML:

<a> <abbr> <acronym> <b> <bdo>
<big> <br> <button> <cite> <code>
<dfn> <em> <i> <img> <input>
<kbd> <label> <map> <object> <output>
<q> <samp> <script> <select> <small>
<span> <strog> <sub> <sup> <textarea>
<time> <tt> <var>

Note: An inline element cannot contain a block-level element!

HtML block and inline elemenets section Summary

  • A block-level element always starts on a new line and takes up the full width available
  • An inline element does not start on a new line and it only takes up as much width as necessary
  • The <div> element is a block-level element and is often used as a container for other HTML elements
  • The <span> element is an inline container used to mark up a part of a text, or a part of a document

Reference

  • w3schools is the refrence for all this documentation preparation.