4. GETTING STARTED IN HTML

What's a "tag" in HTML? A "tag" is a special instruction that doesn't show up on the web page, but that gives the browser information about what to do. "Tags" are also referred to as "markup" or "controls." (When your teacher "marks up" your English paper, you're getting instructions about how it should appear.) HTML tags are easy to recognize: they begin with the symbol "<" and end with the symbol ">" (which are referred to as "angle brackets").

What's the structure of an HTML tag? Every HTML tag has a NAME, sometimes followed by optional ATTRIBUTES that extend or modify the way the tag behaves. (More on "attributes" later.) The tag name generally gives a clue about what the tag does, which makes them fairly easy to learn.
For example, in the tag

What are "CONTAINER" tags? Most HTML tags are "containers," meaning they have a beginning (opener, start) tag and an end tag. The text that is "contained" between the start and end tags follows the tag's instructions. For example,

What is a "STANDALONE" tag? A few tags don't have end tags. Some of these just plop a standalone element on the page. The <img> tag puts a graphic in place. The <br> gives a linebreak. The <hr> produces a horizontal rule (that is, a horizontal line).

Are tags names case sensitive? You could type <BR> or <br> or <Br> or <bR> and they'd all give you a linebreak. Tag names are not "sensitive to case"; i.e., they're not picky about whether you type uppercase or lowercase. (However, other stuff inside a tag may be case sensitive, as we'll see.)