HTML – Getting Started
The ‘HTML Getting Started’ section will take you through a few more things to get in order, prior to getting started with the HTML tutorial.
In the previous lesson, we focused on what HTML is and what you’ll need to begin writing your own HTML coding. In this lesson, we will focus on creating a folder, copying and pasting, saving a web page and viewing a web page.
Website Templates
If you’d like to get your website up quickly and inexpensively, you may want to consider using a website template. A website template is a website that has already been created. You simply add your own information.
What’s more, if you purchase your template at a site, such as Template Monster, you can also hire them to edit your template for you at a reasonable price.
Creating a Folder
Prior to creating your web pages, you will first need to create a folder for your files. If you’re on a Mac, go to ‘File’ – ‘New Folder’ on the ‘Finder Menu’ and type in a name for your new folder. Call it whatever you’d like, such as website, etc..
If you’re using Windows, create a folder on your desktop. Place your mouse pointer over a blank portion of your screen, right click on your mouse. A menu will appear. Go to ‘New’ – ‘Folder’ and type in a name for your new folder. Call it whatever you’d like, such as website, etc..
Copying and Pasting Codes
The quickest ways to learn how to write your own HTML code is to copy and paste the code into your HTML coding and edit to suit your needs.
To copy the codes, place your mouse pointer over the beginning of the text you would like to copy. Click and hold your left mouse button and drag your mouse over all the code you would like to copy. Your code should now be highlighted. Go to ‘Edit’ – ‘Copy’ and then place your cursor within your HTML code where you would like to place the code. Go to ‘Edit’ – ‘Paste’. Your code should now be displayed.
Saving a Web Page
Once you’ve written some code and you’d like to see how it looks through a web browser, you will first need to save your page as an HTML document.
Save your file with a .html extension. The .html extension tells the browser that the document is HTML. To save your file, go to ‘File’ – ‘Save As’ and locate the new folder you created for your website files. Open your new folder and type in a name for your web page within the File Name box. Make sure you type your name in lowercase letters with no spaces. What’s more, your file name shouldn’t contain any spaces or characters, such as * : ‘ | < > ?.
When saving your website’s main page, it should be saved as index.html, as this is the page web browsers look for to display when a domain name is entered. secondary pages should be saved with the page’s most relevant keyword phrase. For example, if your web page focuses on dog grooming, your page should be saved as doggrooming.html, dog_grooming.html or dog-grooming.html.
Viewing a Web Page
To view your new web page, you must open the file within a web browser, such as Internet Explorer or FireFox.
Go to your new folder to locate your new web page. Click on the page to open it within your default web browser. You can also open the file directly within the web browser by going to ‘File’ – ‘Open’ or ‘Open File,’ depending on the browser you’re using.
If you’re using an HTML editor, you will need to follow their instructions for viewing your page.
This concludes the HTML Getting Started section. In the next tutorial, you will learn about HTML Elements.