HyperText Markup Language (HTML) is the lingua franca of the Internet, and before you can begin to understand web design features such as CSS, you need to have a good understanding of its basics. Fortunately, HTML is a lot simpler than CSS. Recently, I've had a number of people here at AW tell me they're new to HTML or they don't feel comfortable with it. These lessons are intended to help you become more familiar with this basic building block of web design. Hopefully, they'll help you better understand the source code of your AW homepage, which should make it easier for you to make the changes you want.

Creating an HTML document - There are lots of programs such as Dreamweaver or Front Page you could use to create an HTML page. However, these do not translate well to a pre-existing environment like AW. So, these lessons will show you how to create your documents from scratch. Besides, I'm a coding purist...some say snob. *lol* What can I say?

HTML can be written using any basic text editor. If you are a Windows user, your system came with a program called Notepad, but there are other, either free or relatively inexpensive, text editors available that help you keep track of your code by displaying tags, attributes, or comments in various colors. I use a program called UltraEdit, which color codes these objects and I can tell you it's a lot easier to find your way around once your page gets complicated. It also comes with built in HTML tags that can be easily inserted into your code, which is one reason I'm hooked on it. I'm also told EditPlus, NoteTab and many others have excellent features, as well. You could create your documents in a word processor package such as Word or WordPerfect, but you must remember to use "Save as" and choose plain text (txt extension) as the formatting. If you save it as "Web Page (htm; html)", the word processing program will create a webpage that shows your HTML code rather than rendering your code as a webpage.

Other Markup Languages - in your travels thru the internet, you've probably heard the terms DHTML, XHTML, and XML. These are simply HTML with extras. DHTML stands for Dynamic HyperText Markup Language, which means it incorporates HTML, CSS, and (usually) Javascript to create dynamic content that allows your visitor to actually interact with the page. Dropdown menus and "shopping carts" are examples of dynamic content. XML (eXtensible Markup Language) has been touted as the "future replacement" for HTML. It retains the simplicity of HTML, but allows you to create custom tags — or basically to build your own custom markup language that you can tailor to your subject. In actuality, XML is a companion to HTML, not a replacement. The two languages were created to handle completely different tasks. Then again, Cascading Stylesheets (CSS) have also been proclaimed as the "replacement" for HTML. XHTML stands for eXtensible HyperText Markup Language and is the interim step between HTML and XML, designed to use concepts from each. If anything is going to replace HTML, XHTML is the more likely candidate.

Don't panic though. Personally, I don't see HTML ever going away completely. Well, at least not in my lifetime. XML will give professional designers more tools, but HTML holds all the keys a home designer needs to create terrific webpages. And whereas you can do more with CSS, HTML gives you plenty to work with.