Introduction to HTML

HTML stands for HyperText Markup Language. Developed by scientist Tim Berners-Lee in 1990, HTML is the written language that allows us to "communicate" with others on the World Wide Web (WWW). There are some basics you will need to understand before writing HTML for the first time.

HTML Structure Tags

All HTML documents are divided into two main parts: the header and the body.

<!-- HEADER SECTION -->

<html>
<head>
<title>Title of My Page</title>
</head>

<!-- BODY SECTION -->

<body>
</body>

</html>

The first tag in a HTML document is <html>. This tag tells your browser that this is the start of an HTML document. The <head> tag is header information, which is not displayed in the browser window. The <title> tag is the title of your document which is displayed at the top of your browser. Directly below the <title> tag belongs your <meta> tags. The text between the <body> tags is the text that will be displayed in your browser. Other than the <meta> tag, all these tags are meant to be in a HTML ONLY ONE TIME! Here is how it all goes together:

<html>

<head>

<title>Title of My Page</title>

<meta name="copyright" content="2006 www.kdwebpagedesign.com">

</head>

<body>

This is where your page information goes.

</body>

</html>

None of the HTML structure tags mentioned above belong in ANY HTML that you write for eBay. The only code that you should use is the HTML you would normally insert between the <body></body> tags. Remember, the code you use on eBay is being inserted into an already completed Web page which already has a set of HTML structure tags.

Opening and closing HTML tags

All tag formats are the same. They begin with a less-than sign < and end with a greater-than sign >. Always. Learning HTML is learning the tags to format your layout, text and images. Tags can have attributes. Attributes can provide additional information about the HTML elements on your page and always come in name/value pairs like this: name="value". Almost all HTML tags require an open <tag> and close </tag>, it is very important to remember to close your tags otherwise your HTML will not work like you want it to. Notice throughout these tutorials how I have indented the HTML. This is not required, but it will keep your work neat and organized which will make it easier when you need to edit your work.

It is important to close tags in the reverse order from which they are opened. This is called "nesting". The below graph demonstrates the correct way and the incorrect way to input your tags.

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