HTML Language
Lesson #05 
The Basic HTML Structure
Written By C-Pimp
In this lesson we will look at a group of HTML tags that you will be using in every web document that you create. The following core tags are the base for every web page and are
essential to ensure that your pages display properly when viewed through a web browser.
I. The Four Structure Tags
Here is a look at the main structure tags. You will have to get used to these since you will be using them for all your pages. I always startup a new page by "copy-pasting" the structure (as shown below in the example) into my fresh new document. You'll need to make sure all of these are in place to ensure that everyone (regardless of their web browser) will be able view your HTML creations properly. Each of these is used in pairs with a START and END tag.
The HTML tag tells the browser that your page is an actual HTML page. These tags will be the first and last tag on all of your HTML documents. The components of your entire document will be between the START and END HTML tag.
This tag is used to reference your document. You will place your website title in between these tags.
This tag enables you to give your page a title. It's always best to insert descriptive text about your page between these tags. This will also be the name that is displayed in your browser's system tray when someone bookmarks and/or adds your site to their favorites list.
This is the meat of your website document. The entire code for your page goes in between the BODY tags. They basically represent the beginning and end of your web page's body. All your principal HTML tags will be resting in between these two tags.
II. Putting It All Together
Now that you've had the pleasure of shaking hands with the core tags, it’s time to put them all together. Here is a bare bones example of what an HTML document should look like.
<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>
Your Web Page Title</TITLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY>
All your tags and text goes here.
This is the body of your web document.
The end BODY and HTML tag below closes the document.
</BODY>
</HTML>
There you have it. This is the basic structure for an HTML document. Once these core tags are in place - you can then fill up the body with whatever you want to have on your website.
Keep in mind that Tags are not case sensitive. In other words, you don’t have to use capital letters like I've been using and will be using in these lessons. It ultimately won’t make a difference on how your page will look as long as the tags are used correctly. I DO recommend using CAPS for your HTML tags. As you can see in the example above, CAPS make your tags a lot easier to distinguish from all the other text and objects that makeup your HTML document.
[ <- HTML LANGUAGE | POST THOUGHTS | E-MAIL LESSON | NEXT LESSON -> ]
Adult Webmasterism
