The Minimal HTML Document

Every HTML document should contain certain standard HTML tags. Each document consists of head and body text. The head contains the title, and the body contains the actual text that is made up of paragraphs, lists, and other elements. Browsers expect specific information because they are programmed according to HTML and SGML specifications.

Required elements are shown in this sample bare-bones document: 

  <html>
    <head>
    <TITLE>A Simple HTML Example</TITLE>
    </head>
    <body>
    <H1>HTML is Easy To Learn</H1>
    <P>Welcome to the world of HTML.
    This is the first paragraph. While short it is  
    still a paragraph!</P>
    <P>And this is the second paragraph.</P>
    </body>
    </html>

The required elements are the <html>, <head>, <title>, and <body> tags (and their corresponding end tags).

Linking

The chief power of HTML comes from its ability to link text and/or an image to another document or section of a document. A browser highlights the identified text or image with color and/or underlines to indicate that it is a hypertext link (often shortened to hyperlink or just link).

HTML's single hypertext-related tag is <A>, which stands for anchor. To include an anchor in your document:

  1. start the anchor with <A (include a space after the A)
  2. specify the document you're linking to by entering the parameter HREF="filename" followed by a closing right angle bracket (>)
  3. enter the text that will serve as the hypertext link in the current document
  4. enter the ending anchor tag: </A> (no space is needed before the end anchor tag)

Here is a sample hypertext reference in a file: 

    <A HREF="index.html">Back to Introduction</A>

This entry makes the words Back to Introduction the hyperlink to the document index.html, which is in the same directory as the first document.

A Teaching Tool

To see a copy of the file that your browser reads to generate the information in your current window, select View Source (or the equivalent) from the browser menu. (Most browsers have a "View" menu under which this command is listed.) The file contents, with all the HTML tags, are displayed in a new window.

This is an excellent way to see how HTML is used and to learn tips and constructs. Of course, the HTML might not be technically correct. Once you become familiar with HTML and check the many online and hard-copy references on the subject, you will learn to distinguish between "good" and "bad" HTML.

Remember that you can save a source file with the HTML codes and use it as a template for one of your Web pages or modify the format to suit your purposes.