How to Use HTML and CSS
Learn how to use HTML and CSS to build stunning websites. This comprehensive guide covers everything from basic syntax to advanced styling techniques.
Learn how to understand HTML coding basics with this comprehensive guide. Perfect for web development beginners. Start building websites today!
So, you want to learn about HTML? Awesome! It's the very foundation of the web. Think of it as the skeleton that holds everything together. Without it, websites would be… well, just plain text. Yikes!
Basically, HTML is like a set of instructions for your browser. It uses special tags to tell the browser how to show text, pictures, and other things on a web page. Think of it as a blueprint. HTML gives you the structure. CSS gives it style. And JavaScript? That makes it move!
<p>This is a paragraph.</p>
<img src="image.jpg" alt="Picture of a flower">
. See how src
tells us where the image is?Every HTML page has a basic setup. You need to know this. It's like the secret handshake. Let's break it down.
<!DOCTYPE html>
PartThis goes at the very top. It tells the browser, "Hey, I'm using HTML5!" Just write <!DOCTYPE html>
. Easy peasy.
<html>
PartThis tag wraps everything else (except the <!DOCTYPE>
). It's like the main container for your website.
<head>
PartThis is where you put behind-the-scenes info. Things like the page title, how to handle letters and symbols and where to find the styles for your page. This stuff doesn't show up on the page itself.
<head>
<title>
: This is the title that shows up in the browser tab. Example: <title>My Cool Website</title>
<meta>
: This gives extra info about your page. Like what kind of characters you're using or a short description. Example: <meta charset="UTF-8">
. Another one: <meta name="description" content="My awesome website.">
<link>
: This connects your HTML to other files, especially CSS (which makes your site look good!). Example: <link rel="stylesheet" href="style.css">
<body>
PartThis is where all the content goes! The text, the pictures, the videos… everything you want people to see. This is the main event!
Okay, now that you know the basic setup, let's look at some of the most used tags. These are your bread and butter.
<h1>
to <h6>
)These are for headings! <h1>
is the most important, like the title of a book. <h6>
is the least important, like a tiny subtitle. Use them to organize your content. It also helps search engines find your page.
For Example:
<h1>My Main Title</h1>
<h2>A Subtitle</h2>
<h3>A Smaller Subtitle</h3>
<p>
)This is for paragraphs of text. The browser automatically adds some space before and after. Keeps things readable!
For Example:
<p>This is a paragraph. You can write a bunch of sentences here. It's how you break up your content into readable chunks.</p>
<a>
)This makes links! You know, the things you click on to go to other pages. The href
attribute tells the link where to go.
For Example:
<a href="https://www.example.com">Go to Example.com</a>
<img>
)This puts pictures on your page! The src
attribute tells it where to find the picture. The alt
attribute is super important. It's what shows up if the picture can't load, and it helps people who can't see the picture understand what it is.
For Example:
<img src="my-awesome-picture.jpg" alt="A picture of a sunset">
<ul>
, <ol>
, <li>
)These make lists! There are two main kinds:
<ul>
): These have bullet points.<ol>
): These have numbers.Each thing in the list goes inside an <li>
tag.
For Example:
Unordered List:
<ul>
<li>First thing</li>
<li>Second thing</li>
<li>Third thing</li>
</ul>
Ordered List:
<ol>
<li>First step</li>
<li>Second step</li>
<li>Third step</li>
</ol>
<div>
)This is a general container. It doesn't do anything on its own. But you can use it to group things together so you can style them or move them around. It takes up the whole width of the page.
For Example:
<div>
<p>Some text in a div.</p>
</div>
<span>
)This is like <div>
, but it only takes up as much space as it needs. It's good for styling parts of text.
For Example:
<p>Some text with a <span style="color: blue;">blue word</span> in it.</p>
<strong>
and <em>
)<strong>
makes text important (usually bold). <em>
makes text emphasized (usually italic).
For Example:
<p>This is <strong>very important</strong> and this is <em>emphasized</em>.</p>
<br>
The <br>
tag inserts a single line break. It's useful for creating short lines of text without starting a new paragraph.
For Example:
<p>This is the first line.<br>This is the second line.</p>
Attributes give tags extra information. They always go in the start tag. They have a name and a value, separated by an equals sign (=).
src
: Where to find an image (for <img>
).href
: Where a link should go (for <a>
).alt
: Text to show if an image can't load (for <img>
).style
: Lets you add styles directly to an element.class
: Gives an element a "class" name (for styling with CSS).id
: Gives an element a unique ID (for styling with CSS or using with JavaScript).For Example:
<img src="sunset.jpg" alt="Beautiful sunset" class="my-image" id="main-image">
Some characters have special meanings in HTML. Like <
and >
Those are used to make tags! So, how do you show them on the page? HTML entities to the rescue!
<
: <
(less than)>
: >
(greater than)&
: &
(ampersand)"
: "
(double quote)'
: '
(single quote)
:
(non-breaking space)For Example:
<p>To show <p>, use <p>.</p>
HTML5 added some new tags that help give meaning to your page structure. They help search engines and other programs understand your content better.
<header>
: The top part of your page or a section.<nav>
: A section with links to other parts of your site.<article>
: A self-contained piece of content (like a blog post).<section>
: A section of your page.<aside>
: Content that's related to the main content, but not part of it.<footer>
: The bottom part of your page or a section.For Example:
<header>
<h1>My Amazing Website</h1>
<nav>
<a href="#">Home</a>
<a href="#">About</a>
<a href="#">Contact</a>
</nav>
</header>
<article>
<h2>My Awesome Article</h2>
<p>This is the article content.</p>
</article>
<footer>
<p>Copyright 2023</p>
</footer>
Forms let you collect information from people! Things like their name, email, etc. You make forms using the <form>
tag.
<input>
: A box where people can type stuff.<textarea>
: A big box for typing lots of text.<select>
: A drop-down list.<button>
: A button you can click.<label>
: A label for an input field. Always use labels! It's good for accessibility.For Example:
<form action="/submit" method="post">
<label for="name">Name:</label>
<input type="text" id="name" name="name"><br><br>
<label for="email">Email:</label>
<input type="email" id="email" name="email"><br><br>
<button type="submit">Send it!</button>
</form>
Tables let you show data in rows and columns. Use the <table>
tag to make a table.
<table>
: Makes a table.<tr>
: A row in the table.<th>
: A header cell (usually at the top).<td>
: A regular data cell.<caption>
: A title for the table.For Example:
<table>
<caption>My Cool Table</caption>
<tr>
<th>Name</th>
<th>Age</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>John Doe</td>
<td>30</td>
</tr>
</table>
Writing clean, well-organized HTML is important. It makes your site easier to maintain, helps people with disabilities use it, and helps search engines find it. Here are some tips:
Want to learn even more about HTML? There are tons of great resources online. Here are a few I like:
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