Webpage Creation/HTML Links


Write your own HTML

At least the first couple of pages that you author should be written using nothing more than a plain old text editor (like notepad in Windoze). Why?

  1. Hopefully it will help you focus on adding content rather than flashy annoying stuff.
  2. When you use a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get, pronounced WhySeeWig) editor to write your HTML, the editor will often add all manner of crufty kludge. (After you have written a couple of pages by hand, try to duplicate them using a WYSIWYG editor, I think you will be surprised by all the junk that gets added.)
  3. Writing your own HTML is not only empowering, but also quite easy.

There are two main things you need to build a useful website:

Various educational resources address differing amounts of these two issues. For the sake of web citizens everywhere, please spend time reading the philosophical as well as the technical literature.

Because philosophy is so often overlooked, the links to "good design" resources come first.


Philosophy of web page design (a.k.a avoid the blink tag)

Philip and Alex's Guide to Web Publishing
An excellent work that talks about some of the philosophical concerns every web publisher needs to address. This book has also been published on dead trees if you would like to buy a copy.


"How to" links (Write your own HTML)

Writing HTML Lessons
A very good site for beginners, start here.

Introduction to HTML
Case Western Reserve University's critically acclaimed introduction to HTML (I haven't gone through this tutorial, but its table of contents looks pretty good).

The HMTL Primer
NCSA Beginner's Guide to HTML. An introduction to writing html that "doesn't pretend to offer instruction on every aspect of html."

The Bare Bones Guide to HTML
Advertises itself as being as concise as possible. Not the place to find step-by-step information, but a nice reference.


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Email: sanders@cs.rochester.edu
Last change: October 18, 2000

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