Part one of five: “What is HTML?” and key terms

HTML is a computer language used to configure websites. It’s initials represent ‘Hyper Text Markup Language’ That means that not only can knowledge of HTML help you with your coding, but it is the key to making personal websites on places like Geocites or Angelfire. Before we get into actual codes themselves, there are a few key terms that you should know. These are as follows…

Command: A code you type into the input box (the place where the actual HTML is put). It will tell a visitor’s computer to display your page however you choose.
Upload: To give a code a web address. This is done so that if anyone in the world types in the URL it is given, they will see your image (but with the command I will soon teach you, visitors won’t have to type in the URL to see the image).
Brackets: What every command must begin & end with (with the exception of images). When a visitor’s computer sees these, it knows that this is HTML, and it is not to be displayed as text; rather the command is to be carried out. There are two kinds of these, the opening bracket, which looks like this - <, and the closing bracket, which looks like this - >. It would look like this- (with HTML STUFF being the actual command)
In addition to opening and closing brackets, every tag must be closed too, unless you want this command carried out for the whole page. So when you want it to no longer apply, you must type the first word of the code in between an opening bracket, a forward slash, and then a closing bracket at the end. So it would look like this, for example-

Written by Shannon in June 2002. Edited November 2004 and February 2005.