Using Notepad, (under "Accessories" in Windows '95 and Windows 3.1), or any ascii text editor, you can write your own HTML code. Anything that is between < > brackets does not show up as text in the browser.
I. The following is all you need to make a web page that any browser can read:
<html>
<head>
<title>YOU TOO CAN WRITE HTML CODE: Fill this in with something descriptive: it will label the page for the user at the top of their browser screen</title>
</head>
<body> or <body bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> [if you want the background of the page to be white.]
This is where you type all the text, insert graphics, etc.
</body>
</html> [These two codes must come at the very last]
II. Hyperlinks:
To insert a hyperlink: type
<a href="http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/General/Internet/WWW/HTMLPrimerP1.html">
The text you want to appear underlined, such as A Beginner's Guide to HTML, or the actual address</a>
To insert a "mailto" command, type
<a href="mailto:pcurrah@brooklyn.cuny.edu"> pcurrah@brooklyn.cuny.edu</a>
III. Some basic formatting:
<BR> inserts a break between lines
<B>BOLD TEXT</B>
<i>italicized text</i>
<P>yadda, yadda, yadda</p> put at the beginning and end of paragraphs.
<center>Centers text in the middle of the page</center>
<blockquote>indents whatever is between the brackets -- a sentence or an entire page</blockquote>
<hr>inserts a line like this one:
IV. To insert a graphic:
The graphic is added to page by typing in this HTML code:
<img src= "http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/webcore/graphics/bcicon.jpg">
The only difference between inserting a graphic and inserting a hyperlink is at the beginning of the code: instead of "a href" you type, "img src" -- short for "image source." Of course, for Netscape or IE to display the image, your graphic has to be where you say it is. Also note that case is very important -- if you identigy the graphic in the code with UPPER CASE letter, but the graphic is named in lower case on the server, it won't find it
[Lots of common graphics -- buttons, bars, "new," etc..-- have been put on the WebCore graphics page at:
http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/webcore/graphics/. There is also a link from that page to a page with different backgrounds linked on it. You'll also find instructions for downloading any graphics for your own use.]
V. To view the file in your browser (to see if it looks right):
1. Save the file in Notepad (or whatever text editor you use):
i. Within the text editor box, choose "File," then choose "save."
ii. Type a file name in the dialog box. Always use lower case names. Also be sure that your file name ends with either .htm or .html . Early in your HTML coding life, you should make a firm commitment to either .htm or .html and stick with your choice.
iii. If you saved the file on your hard drive, be sure to remember exactly where you saved it on your hard drive so you can find it easily when you're opening it your browser or when you want to FTP it to the BC servers.
2. View it with your browswer -- Netscape or IE.
i. Open up Netscape.
ii. Choose the "File" option within Netscape.
iii. From the "File" menu choose "Open Page"
iv. Hit "Choose file" and then locate your file in the directory tree. Click on it the file name
v. Hit "open."
vi. The Dialog box changes -- hit "Open" again -- you now are viewing your page the way it would appear on the web if it was on the web.
Note: If you made changes to your file in the text editor, before you view it again with your browser:
i. You need to resave it in the text editor
ii. When you go back into Netscape, you need to press the "reload" button so the browser knows to look for the most recent version of the file.
VI. To publish your file (once it's published, it becomes a web page)
1. Transfer the file to to the campus server with the FTP program. To do this, you need:
i. an FTP account. (To learn how to get an account, go to
http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/webcore/index.htm#noftp.)ii. a modem (with and ISP) or network connection to the internet on the computer you plan to use
iii. special software, called WS_FTP, available from Nick Irons in the Faculty Lab.
Instructions for using the software are available at
http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/webcore/ftpinfo.htm.
