[web] Trying to learn HTML

This is the book we are using at Western Kentucky University to learn HTML. We are only a couple of chapters in at this point, but many of the people in our class that are new to HTML seem to like it so far. They do say that it covers alot of information in those first few chapters.

One thing to note is that is covers standards for HTML 4.0. I believe (not positive) the current standard is 4.01, although I am not sure of the differences in the two.

If you prefer online content, I think the World Wide Web Consortium (LINK) has some walk throughs/tutorials.

I've used www.htmldog.com in the past and I found that it was pretty good at teaching other people basic XHTML/CSS. If you want something in print, I don't have any specific suggestions, but it may be worthwhile to head to a library and see if they have any recent books.

Hey thanks for the replies so far. I also had another question aswell. Whats the difference between CSS, XHTML and HTML? O_o

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Original post by OneThreeThreeSeven Whats the difference between CSS, XHTML and HTML?

HTML and XHTML are different languages. They're pretty much similar, but XHTML is more strict in what regards to XML syntax, while HTML is more forgiving. CSS is a completely separate thing, it's used to define the aspect of a page, not its contents.

EDIT: first post and I already make a formatting error? What?

Hi, if you can, get a book that includes a some CSS as it may help save some repetition in your html.

http://www.w3schools.com/

is a great source for web programming

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Original post by OneThreeThreeSeven What's the difference between CSS, XHTML and HTML?

XHTML is a reformulation of HTML as an XML application. What does that mean? Read on.

HTML is a fairly loose markup language defined in Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML). XML is another markup language, also defined in SGML, but unlike HTML its structure is far more rigid and it is designed to be extensible. XHTML, therefore, is a definition of most HTML constructs in XML, meeting the requirements of rigidity/preciseness (for instance, you must close the single-element img tag, as attributes />, and all tag identifiers must be lowecase - , not ).

Why reformulate HTML in XML? Since XML is far more regular, it is also easier to process by machines, allowing for easier node manipulation, content generation/substitution, and theoretically simpler browser implementations, among other benefits.

As for CSS, it is a separate language that exists in order to separate presentation elements or style from structural elements or markup (and that's an imprecise use of the term "markup," yes, but it's idiom now so just go with it). CSS allows you to define and change how a page looks and sounds on different devices without changing the markup ([X]HTML).

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Original post by ankatrooper http://www.w3schools.com/ is a great source for web programming

No, it's a mediocre source. It's just popular. You need to know what you're doing to read between the lines and use it as a somewhat effective reference. For learning, it's actually pretty bad.

Most websites these days don't cover it because its such an old technology. Honestly if your looking for a ground up course read a for dummies book. At least those book writers still understand that not everyone is deciphering C# at a professional level (A computer language nothing you need to know) ...

If you prefer a hands on technique, I would suggest trial and error with an HTML editor. I write custom PHP scripts and I still use AlleycodeHTML editor..If you need a way to actually make pages realistically over just recreating what you have in the editor to a browser, I would suggest WampServer its a bit easier to set up than all the others and does the trick...

Some basic information can be found by simply clicking buttons in the editor filling in the needed information. then you get a hands on feel for using the editor as well as looking at the code. I remember back in "98" when i was learning HTML not knowing how to write a link to a web page now its just like typing my name in a text document. =p

I hope you have luck with your endeavors and if you need any help feel free to PM as I'm new here to and I will most definitely need help learning the language of my choice.

-OriginLab

http://handbook.mediawrox.com

is a great resource. Check it out once you get a hang of the basics :D