GEO 466/566: The Profession of Geography
HTML and Web-Authoring Basics
Authoring a web page is a remarkably easy process once you understand the basic principles of HTML. A tremendous variety of on-line resources on a wide range of related matters--including colors, icons, images, tables, forms, and sound--makes the process even easier.
The basis for the flexibility and connectivity of the WWW is HTML or hypertext markup language. HTML makes it possible to link from the graphics, text, and sound of one document to the graphics, text, and sound of many millions of other documents with the simple click of the mouse. This is the "hypertext" dimension of HTML. To make this reality, however, documents must be "marked up" with special commands that Web browsers like Netscape can understand. These commands are known as
tags.
You can use these tags and a little bit of text to create a web page in minutes using any standard text editor or word processor like Microsoft Word. Simply type the tags in your document with your text. When you save your document, save it as text only. Do not save it as, say, a Microsoft Word document. Also give your document the three letter suffix ".htm". This will make your file readable to web browsers. At this point you can open your file in Netscape and see how it looks. Remember that you can also work on your text file in MS Word and see how it looks in Netscape by saving your changes to disk and simply toggling between the two programs using the "alt-tab" keystroke combination.
Now you could purchase a book on HTML authoring, but it would probably be outdated in a matter of weeks. Far better information (most of it free!) already exists on the WWW anyway! A sampling of sources appear here, but many of these contain links to other sources.
The Virtual Geography Department's Web "How To" Page
•basic info on page layout and design; brief but well-illustrated tutorials on graphics, clickable image maps, and comment forms
The Bare Bones Guide to HTML
•the definitive page on HTML tags for every aspect of web pages
A Beginner's Guide to HTML
•the basics of HTML explained clearly and simply; lots of good examples
Web Communications HTML Overview
•a lot of good information on tags, including clever "shortcuts"
The HTML Station
•a wide variety of resources and links on every web-authoring topic
Learning to Publish (Univ. of Texas)
•nice compiled resources, especially on HTML basics and on translators and editors
HTML Development (Univ. of British Columbia)
•good information on home page access counters and clickable image maps
An Introduction to HTML and Web Publishing
•clear, concise page on HTML basics and starting a web page
The Web Engineer's Toolbox
•good resources, including an imagemap tutorial and a "color picker"
Netscape's Guide to Tables
•a one-stop shoppers delight for making tables
HTML Pointers
•a variety of HTML links from Yahoo!
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Created by JTK and last revised on 20 October 1996.