Making A Page

An HTML file is actually a simple text file. A web page is an HTML file that has been read and displayed by a web browser. Web sites are primarily made up of HTML files. Today you will start creating a web site of your own!

Creating Your Web Folder

Try It: Create A Web Folder
Create a folder on your desktop with a name like name_website where you replace name with your name, such as lisa_website.

Tip: Keep folder names short and don't use characters like %, &, @, or spaces.

First, you will need to create a folder on your computer where you will put the HTML files you create. For now, create your new folder on the desktop. Give your folder a simple name, such as lisa_website. This folder name will be part of the web address, known as the URL, of your web site.

Create Your File

Next, you will need to create your first HTML file. Download and install TextWrangler on your Macintosh (or X on your PC). This will be the program you use to create and edit your HTML files. There are much more complicated programs for making web sites, but all you really need is a text editor!

Open your editor and create a new file. It should be blank to start.

Saving & Naming Your File

Try It: Create A Web Page
Create new file in your text editor and save it as an HTML file into the folder you just created. Use a name like name_page1.html where you replace name with your name, such as lisa_page1.html.

Tip: End HTML files in .html and keep them short. Don't use characters like %, &, @, or spaces.

You will need to save your file into the folder you just created. In order to save it as an HTML file, use "Save As" and choose "HTML" as the file format.

End the name of your file with .html This tells your browser that the file is an HTML file. For example, the page you are reading right now is named lesson1.html.

In general, it is good practice to keep the names of your files and folders short and only use numbers, letters and the "_" symbol. Avoid using spaces or other symbols, such as @ or &. For example, html_lesson1.html is a better name than this is my first html lesson!.html.

Creating More Files

When you create more HTML files and link to them, save them in the same folder you just created. You should also put any image files you want to use in that folder as well. You will learn more about displaying images on your HTML pages in Lesson 3.

End of Topic

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