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5. STRUCTURAL TAGS

INDEX CARD #5:

BASIC STRUCTURE OF HTML FILES (5a)

What's the basic structure of an HTML document? An HTML document is divided into two major portions: the HEAD and the BODY. The HEAD contains information about the document; the BODY contains the stuff that will be displayed in the browser window. The skeletal structure is:
<HTML>
<HEAD><TITLE>Document Title</TITLE></HEAD>
<BODY>Contents of Document</BODY>
</HTML>

What is the <TITLE> tag used for? The TITLE container goes inside the HEAD container. It provides a description of the page's contents. Avoid vague titles like "Welcome" or "My Homepage." The title is used:
--at the top of the browser window
--in the HISTORY list (which lists recently-visited sites)
--as the description, when the site is saved in a bookmark file
--by search engines

INFORMATION BROWSERS IGNORE (5b)

Some information in an HTML document is ignored when the document is viewed in a browser:
How do I insert COMMENTS in an HTML document? Browsers will ignore text between the  symbols. Use comments liberally to de-mystify your HTML code. They can extend over more than one line. Be sure to put a space after the initial  , like this: 
How do browsers treat "white space" in HTML documents? In general, browsers will ignore line breaks, tabs, and multiple spaces. So, if you type: these far apart words in your HTML document, they'll appear in the browser as: these far apart words
This is a GOOD feature! It means that you can improve the readability of your HTML code by inserting extra carriage returns, and spreading things out.
Browsers will also ignore tags that they don't understand.

Printable version of Index Card 5a

Printable version of Index Card 5b

WORKSHEET #5:

(W5.1) Continue with the tutorial located at: http://www.cwru.edu/help/introHTML/toc.html (link is no longer valid) Please read Chapter 2 (DOCUMENT TAGS) and take the quiz at the end of Chapter 2.

ASSIGNMENT #5:

(A5.1) Read pages 72–73 (from "Nesting HTML Tags" through "Information Browsers Ignore") and pages 94–95 (from "Setting Up Your HTML Document" through "The Document Body") in the Weasel Book.
(A5.2) Create a file for your homepage; save it as index.htm (I'll refer to this as your "homepage file.")
The "htm" that appears in the file name after the period (.) is called the filename extension; you can use either "htm" or "html" as extensions for your HTML files.
(A5.3) Put the head, body, and title tags in your homepage file. Choose an appropriate title!
(A5.4) Many people like to note the last date that the file was modified somewhere near the top of their homepage. If you want to do this, type the following script (EXACTLY as shown here) inside the BODY container. This will automatically update the revision date, each time you modify your file. (You'll learn more about JavaScript later on!) <SCRIPT LANGUAGE="JavaScript" TYPE="text/javascript">  </SCRIPT>