Comments (0)

By russell, August 8, 2009 5:30 pm

How to Learn HTML
Steps
1. HTML reads left to right. First, you have to understand tags. Tags are placed at the beginning of whatever you want to change. If you wanted to make a word bold, you’d put a tag at the beginning of the word, and at the end.
2. Tags begin with a less-than sign: . What goes inside the is the tag. Learning HTML is learning the tag to perform whatever you want to do. Usually, the tag at the end has a / before the greater sign. For example: Hello
- Every tag should begin with an opening and closing tag. If a tag only does not specifically use a closing tag [such as or , which will you see below], then the tag should end with a slash inside of the tag. Thus, the previous tags would be written as and , respectively.
- The tag for a paragraph is .
- The tag for bold is or .
- The tag for italics is or .
- In HTML, the tag must be placed around the code.
- The tag for a break (skip in the line, hitting to hitting “enter” on the keyboard) is .
- The tag is always around the text.
3. By now, you can write HTML using tags. But what if you want more? Here’s some more codes:
To insert images:
To resize images: (size is adjustable)
Linking images:
4. There are many websites that explain HTML more in-depth. Some good sites are Funky-Chickens.com and
HtmlCodeTutorial.com.
5.Every HTML page start with and end with . It will tell the server that it is a html page. Within the tag, the page consist of head and body section. The head section allows us to specify the title. The body section is the content of the html page.
6. Now that we have tags down, let’s see what we can make with the knowledge:
My Title Goes Here
I like to write a lot of HTML!
Tags are so much fun. You can do it, too!
Tips
If you’re getting serious with HTML, buy Dreamweaver or Microsoft Frontpage. It teaches you codes and all. Both of them are WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get) editor. Their functions is very similar to word processor. It will be easy to get started with the 2 softwares. If you don’t wish to spend money on the html software, there are some free html editors for you to test out. One of them is Nvu, WYSIWYG editor, this software is very similar to Dreamweaver and Microsoft FrontPage.
Things You’ll Need
A word processor, such as Microsoft Word, Notepad or BBEdit.

Comments (0)

By russell,

Open up notepad on your computer. This is the only software you will need to begin learning html.

A quick explanation of tags

Due to this article being hosted online I cant actual show you a tag as the webpage you are reading would make it invisible Tags begin with a “” symbol. For the purpose of this artical I will replace these with the “[” and “]” symbols. Remember to always use the arrows though as the square brackets WILL NOT WORK.

A tag is a piece of html code used for formatting. You wont need to know much about them for now (they will be covered in another article), for now you just need to know that to add a tag you write

“[tagname] insert what you want formatted here[/tagname]”

The “[/tagname]” part stops all following text/other content from being formatted in the same way.

This, as I said, isnt very important for now.

What comes first?…

Well you cant get much more to the point than that. “[html]” comes first. Every html document starts with it and ends with the tag “[/html]”.

Easy right? so what we have so far is a text document that reads;

[html]

[/html]

Now save your document as “index.html” and open it up in a browser. A large blank white page appears.

Now lets fill in that blank space…

Everything that makes up your webpage goes inbetween the “[html][/html]” tags. But the actual text or content goes between two other tags, “[body][/body]”. Notice how tags must have a beginning and an end, the end is shown by the / character. Type this new tag into your text document…

[html]

[body]Put your message here[/body]

[/html]

Now type in a message in between the “[body]” tags. It can be whatever you want. Any message you can think of. It should be placed to replace “Put your message here” in the example above.

Save to index.html again like before and open it in your browser. You should now see a white screen with your message displayed in the top left corner.

What to do next…

If you like you can now upload this file to a webhost, many free ones are available if you search the internet. An then you will have a website for yourself… Well… not really. Its just one page after-all. We will cover how to add more pages and better content to your website in another artical. For now, play around with this and be proud that you are on your way to learning html.

Comments (0)

By russell, August 7, 2009 12:05 pm

Auctions on eBay are inherently boring, with nothing more than black text on a white background, and maybe a few photographs of the item in question. Sellers can get lost in a sea of boring auctions, as buyers skip from item to item with nothing really sticking out in their mind. For stay-at-home moms running their own home business from eBay, using HTML is a cheap and easy way to give their auctions a little burst of life.
HTML stands for hypertext markup language, which is the “language” of the internet. Every single website you visit using HTML to work. There are many different things you can do with HTML, and additional languages that work in conjunction with HTML to make some presentations that really pop online. HTML in and of itself, however, is not hard to learn. There are a few basic tags that you can use over and over again to spice up your auction pages, and it won’t cost you but a few minutes of your time to do it.
The best way to learn basic HTML is by surfing the web. Thousands of websites online offer free tutorials on the basics of HTML. Find one that focuses strictly on HTML for eBay, and you’ll find everything you need to know about working with HTML on eBay. Basic tags, like bold and italic, can help you build a better auction. You can also find codes for changing font and background colors, adding in your own images, and creating links so that buyers can e-mail you directly from your auction, or visit your website.
If you want to do more with your auction than what HTML offers, then the next step is to do some research on CSS. CSS stands for cascading style sheets, and gives you more control over the look of your auction. CSS isn’t much harder to learn than HTML, but it lets you change your link behavior, scrollbar, cursor, and even add a background image to your auction. Be sure to adhere to the rules of eBay, however; CSS generally applies styles to the entire webpage, and eBay requires than any style changes made may only apply to your auction.
Once you have gotten a grasp for the basics of HTML and CSS, you can go as far as making your own auction templates. Design an auction template that you would like to use for all of your auctions, and then you can simply copy and paste your auction information into the template every time you list a new item. This can save you time, and give your auctions a more uniform and professional look.
If you are having trouble working out the kinks with your auction’s template, you can always visit eBay’s forums, right on their website. There is a section dedicated entirely to helping sellers set up their own customized auction templates, and they are more than willing to help you figure out what you’re trying to do, for free. As you work with HTML more and learn how to appropriately apply it, you’ll soon become a master of it yourself, and then you may find yourself helping others who are just starting out as well.

Comments (0)

By russell,

OK So you’ve decided it’s time to send an HTML newsletter to your email list but you’re not quite sure where to start? No Problem, we’ve all been there. I tried and tested many times before I created my first successful html newsletter.

Creating an HTML Newsletter is very similar to creating a webpage, with some minor twists on the old rules.

Now if you already know how to create a webpage then you won’t have any problems. But if you’re not sure, then you can always use a WYSIWYG – What You See Is What You Get HTML editors such as Microsoft Frontpage or Adobe Dreamweaver. Or you can skip all those steps and just download a newsletter template, and add your text.

The only real difference between a newsletter and a regular webpage is how it’s designed and how its sent.

Let’s Get Started.

1) Remove everything before the open (body) tag, and everything after the close (/body) tag. Then get rid of the body tags themselves. There should be (html) tag, (head) tag, (title) tag, (metatags), and no css stylesheets. The only remaining html code will be what you originally found BETWEEN your open (body) (/body) and close body tags – Tables, images, text, links etx.

2) No more javascripts – Email providers don’t allow javascript in their email and they will disable it. So if you have any javascript within your newsletter then get rid of it.

3) No Flash, No DHTML, No Web Forms – Most if not all of time they will not work so your newsletter will be better off if you don’t include them.

4) No more ads – Actually you can have ads, but just not the popular Google Adsense Ads. Google’s Adsense uses javascript and javascript won’t work in the newsletter. You can however find link exchanges, or other advertisers that use plain links for their ads, and include those in your newsletter. These ads, banners, and text links will work just fine.

5) No More CSS – Often designers will use CSS for a webpage’s layout, but in the case of an html newsletter it would be better to use tables, instead of writing lines and lines of inline css code. You can set padding, background color, and lots of other table properties, just as you can with CSS. Remember keep it simple.

6) If you must use CSS then get inline – Since you can’t import style sheets to style and format your html content you will need to use inline CSS which includes all of the css properties in line. EX: style=”background: white; color: black;”

7) Images – When adding images on a webpage we would normally use urls such as image1.jpg, but with a newsletter you’ll have to enter the complete or the absolute url.

Tip: Make sure to set your images’ border to 0 so that it will show up seamlessly inside your newsletter.

The first link in the email should be a link to the online version of your html newsletter. Even if you have option for html or text newsletter, it’s a good idea to include a link to your online version at the top of the newsletter.

9) Include an unsubscribe / remove me link at the end of your email, and text for compliance with canspam laws. If you don’t have an unsubscribe button then your newsletter could be seen as spam and you don’t want your subscribers thinking they have no way to unsubscribe. If you have more then one newsletter then include a link such as Manage my subscription or a link that takes them directly to their online account. Placing this link will allow your users access to their account and allow them to manage their subscriptions. Who knows maybe they’ll subscribe to more newsletters.

10) Test, test, and retest on major email providers (Hotmail, Yahoo, Gmail). You may notice that with that the new MSN Windows Live Mail Beta the text in your newsletters will be centered. Don’t rely on defaults to left align your text, use the left align button on your editor to align them when needed.

During my previous newsletter tests some of the special characters in my newsletter rendered oddly in Yahoo, so make sure to find the character codes for those special characters, and then paste them directly into your html.

For ex: this ‘ apostrophe will turn into ‘ This will allow the text to display properly. For more character codes scroll all the way down or google “Special Character Codes”

11) Before you send your email make sure to set the email’s content-type as HTML, so that it can display as an Html newsletter, or it will just show up as plain HTML code.

12) Get Online – Before you get started make sure to upload those pictures and your original HTML newsletter to your hosting account so that your subscribers can visit your newsletter online.

That’s it. Happy HTML emailing!

Comments (0)

By russell, August 4, 2009 5:33 am

What Is HTML?

HTML or Hypertext Markup Language, is the predominant language in which most Internet web pages are based.  HTML accomplishes a number of tasks via a web page, including describing the structure of text based information to be displayed within the page (font sizes, text colors and formats, etc.), providing a means for the user to interact with the site via web forms, and embedding images and other types media for display to the user.

When an HTML page is provided to a user’s web browser over the Internet, the web browser will “translate” the HTML code into the format that will be displayed to the user.HTML is written in the form of labels (known as tags).  Each tag includes an “open” tag and a “close” tag, and the text that is contained within the opening and closing tags.  For example, text can be made bold by using the and tag pair, so that the following HTML code will display the bold text word “Hello” in the user’s web browser.HelloHTML pages can also incorporate or embed the code for one or more “scripting languages”, including JavaScript, PHP, CGI, and ASP.Net.

What Can HTML Do for Me?

HTML provides the basic structure for your website, so it’s the foundation for your business getting its message to customers and potential customers.  When you understand the basic principles of HTML, you can begin to format your web pages to have a more unique and in- house appearance.  Brand recognition is important in business, and a little HTML coding can change a template style web page into something that is unique and recognizable.  In addition to displaying advertising copy, pictures, brochures and the like, you can also:

· Provide users with a feedback form to submit basic information to you through the website.· Generate an email· Offer a Guestbook

How Do I Learn HTML?

As you might suspect, there is a seemingly endless supply of web-based tutorials and instructional materials for learning about HTML.  There are a number of Internet-based tutorials to get you started, and to instruct you on any particular detail or HTML feature that you’re interested in.

Another way to “learn” HTML is simply to create you website using a web-authoring program, and examine the HTML code behind it.  We’ll talk about a few of the leading web-authoring programs later in this article.

Do I Need To Learn It?

Strictly speaking, you don’t need to become an HTML expert to build and administer your businesses website.  Many of the most popular tools for website construction include powerful capabilities (including many that most websites may never utilize).  As an added benefit, some of these programs are available at no cost.

Since the HTML that serves as the backbone of a website is basically just text, any text editor (including Microsoft’s Notepad) can be used to create a website.  Even though writing HTML code directly in a text editor can eventually help you to better understand what’s going on “under the hood”, spending the time necessary to become a hardcore HTML coder might simply not be an option.

In contrast, there are also popular programs that make it much easier to create your website layout and design through graphical user interface.  These programs do the heavy lifting, and will automatically assemble the HTML code based on the design you make.

Dreamweaver

Adobe’s Dreamweaver is one of the leading commercial web design software packages available today.  Dreamweaver has a reputation within in the web design community as being very rich in features, and one that generates very “clean” or more standards-compliant code.  (This means that, in theory, the Dreamweaver code should run more predictably on a broader range of web browsers.)  Dreamweaver also has strong support for CSS, JavaScript, XML, and a variety of other functionalities that are commonly used on “higher end” websites.  In addition, Dreamweaver has tight integration with Adobe’s other design programs, including Photoshop and Flash.  This can be a time-saver if you are using (or decide to use) those other programs.

On the other hand, Dreamweaver is expensive, compared to other commercial options.  In addition, many feel that because there are so many features and functions available in the program, it can be intimidating for new users and designers.

Expression Web

Microsoft’s Expression Web (the successor to the venerable FrontPage software) is Microsoft’s web authoring tool and is considered to be one of the leading web design tool available today.

Expression Web has many (if not most) of the same tools as are available in Dreamweaver, and boasts strong integration with Microsoft’s other design and infrastructure products, such as Visual Studio, SharePoint, and the Office suite of products.  In addition, Expression Web’s menu structures and look-and-feel will be familiar to users of other Microsoft Office products, which can make it easier for those already accustomed to Microsoft products.

Note, however, that the source code that Expression Web generates is sometimes not as clean as that created by Dreamweaver (or coded directly into HTML using a simple text editor), so this may result in some problems (or at least some additional time required) if you decide to use Dreamweaver to modify a page that was created in Expression Web.  In addition, some page elements (such as tables) can require additional work if created in one program and then edited in another.

Nvu

For those who want to create relatively simple websites, without some of the fancy features that are available with Dreamweaver and Expression Web might wish to consider the open source product Nvu.  Nvu has a graphical user interface like Dreamweaver and Expression Web, and is very efficient at making much HTML coding easier and quicker.  As an open source product, Nvu is free of charge, and relatively well supported by its user community.

Web-Based Programs and Templates

Finally, be aware that there are a number of web-based authoring programs (such as Homestead) and template services available.  These options often require very little effort in terms of design and coding, and are generally available at very reasonable prices.  Keep in mind, however, that because most templates are or have been available to other users, you might wind up with a design that is not unique, or doesn’t provide your website with a sufficiently distinct identity.

How to Move Forward

At the end of the day, any web authoring tool is likely to have both have pluses and minuses.  Before committing to license any particular package, take a little time to try any available online or downloadable trial versions of the package.  The key to deciding is to identify your current and future needs, and balance this against your budget for the project.  While choosing a particular tool won’t forever tie you to using that same tool in the future, making a thoughtful decision at the outset can help you to avoid spending time making corrections and adjustments down the road.

In closing, if you’d rather NOT learn HTML or just find it too confusing but still need it to help you with your business you should check out MemberSpeed software solution.

Comments (0)

By russell,

What Is HTML?

HTML or Hypertext Markup Language, is the predominant language in which most Internet web pages are based.  HTML accomplishes a number of tasks via a web page, including describing the structure of text based information to be displayed within the page (font sizes, text colors and formats, etc.), providing a means for the user to interact with the site via web forms, and embedding images and other types media for display to the user.

When an HTML page is provided to a user’s web browser over the Internet, the web browser will “translate” the HTML code into the format that will be displayed to the user.HTML is written in the form of labels (known as tags).  Each tag includes an “open” tag and a “close” tag, and the text that is contained within the opening and closing tags.  For example, text can be made bold by using the and tag pair, so that the following HTML code will display the bold text word “Hello” in the user’s web browser.HelloHTML pages can also incorporate or embed the code for one or more “scripting languages”, including JavaScript, PHP, CGI, and ASP.Net.

What Can HTML Do for Me?

HTML provides the basic structure for your website, so it’s the foundation for your business getting its message to customers and potential customers.  When you understand the basic principles of HTML, you can begin to format your web pages to have a more unique and in- house appearance.  Brand recognition is important in business, and a little HTML coding can change a template style web page into something that is unique and recognizable.  In addition to displaying advertising copy, pictures, brochures and the like, you can also:

· Provide users with a feedback form to submit basic information to you through the website.· Generate an email· Offer a Guestbook

How Do I Learn HTML?

As you might suspect, there is a seemingly endless supply of web-based tutorials and instructional materials for learning about HTML.  There are a number of Internet-based tutorials to get you started, and to instruct you on any particular detail or HTML feature that you’re interested in.

Another way to “learn” HTML is simply to create you website using a web-authoring program, and examine the HTML code behind it.  We’ll talk about a few of the leading web-authoring programs later in this article.

Do I Need To Learn It?

Strictly speaking, you don’t need to become an HTML expert to build and administer your businesses website.  Many of the most popular tools for website construction include powerful capabilities (including many that most websites may never utilize).  As an added benefit, some of these programs are available at no cost.

Since the HTML that serves as the backbone of a website is basically just text, any text editor (including Microsoft’s Notepad) can be used to create a website.  Even though writing HTML code directly in a text editor can eventually help you to better understand what’s going on “under the hood”, spending the time necessary to become a hardcore HTML coder might simply not be an option.

In contrast, there are also popular programs that make it much easier to create your website layout and design through graphical user interface.  These programs do the heavy lifting, and will automatically assemble the HTML code based on the design you make.

Dreamweaver

Adobe’s Dreamweaver is one of the leading commercial web design software packages available today.  Dreamweaver has a reputation within in the web design community as being very rich in features, and one that generates very “clean” or more standards-compliant code.  (This means that, in theory, the Dreamweaver code should run more predictably on a broader range of web browsers.)  Dreamweaver also has strong support for CSS, JavaScript, XML, and a variety of other functionalities that are commonly used on “higher end” websites.  In addition, Dreamweaver has tight integration with Adobe’s other design programs, including Photoshop and Flash.  This can be a time-saver if you are using (or decide to use) those other programs.

On the other hand, Dreamweaver is expensive, compared to other commercial options.  In addition, many feel that because there are so many features and functions available in the program, it can be intimidating for new users and designers.

Expression Web

Microsoft’s Expression Web (the successor to the venerable FrontPage software) is Microsoft’s web authoring tool and is considered to be one of the leading web design tool available today.

Expression Web has many (if not most) of the same tools as are available in Dreamweaver, and boasts strong integration with Microsoft’s other design and infrastructure products, such as Visual Studio, SharePoint, and the Office suite of products.  In addition, Expression Web’s menu structures and look-and-feel will be familiar to users of other Microsoft Office products, which can make it easier for those already accustomed to Microsoft products.

Note, however, that the source code that Expression Web generates is sometimes not as clean as that created by Dreamweaver (or coded directly into HTML using a simple text editor), so this may result in some problems (or at least some additional time required) if you decide to use Dreamweaver to modify a page that was created in Expression Web.  In addition, some page elements (such as tables) can require additional work if created in one program and then edited in another.

Nvu

For those who want to create relatively simple websites, without some of the fancy features that are available with Dreamweaver and Expression Web might wish to consider the open source product Nvu.  Nvu has a graphical user interface like Dreamweaver and Expression Web, and is very efficient at making much HTML coding easier and quicker.  As an open source product, Nvu is free of charge, and relatively well supported by its user community.

Web-Based Programs and Templates

Finally, be aware that there are a number of web-based authoring programs (such as Homestead) and template services available.  These options often require very little effort in terms of design and coding, and are generally available at very reasonable prices.  Keep in mind, however, that because most templates are or have been available to other users, you might wind up with a design that is not unique, or doesn’t provide your website with a sufficiently distinct identity.

How to Move Forward

At the end of the day, any web authoring tool is likely to have both have pluses and minuses.  Before committing to license any particular package, take a little time to try any available online or downloadable trial versions of the package.  The key to deciding is to identify your current and future needs, and balance this against your budget for the project.  While choosing a particular tool won’t forever tie you to using that same tool in the future, making a thoughtful decision at the outset can help you to avoid spending time making corrections and adjustments down the road.

In closing, if you’d rather NOT learn HTML or just find it too confusing but still need it to help you with your business you should check out MemberSpeed software solution.

Comments (0)

By russell,

Everybody should learn HTML. It is a very useful skill to have, and whether you are using it to pimp up your MySpace page or design a website, you will be glad that you took a HTML course. So, what is the best way to learn HTML. There is a variety of free sites online that teach you HTML, but is that the best way?
For a quick answer, let’s have a quick peek into the world of advertising. Advertisers have newspapers, magazines and radio at their disposal and many use both. Each is effective in its own way, one being visual and the other using the voice to get the message across. However, if these relatively inexpensive advertising techniques are so effective, why do those that can afford it go to the sometimes incredible expense of TV advertising? Simple!
TV advertising makes use of both your eyes and your ears, and it has been proved countless times that a combination of aural and visual advertising is considerably more effective than either alone. The same is true of teaching. Whether you teach HTML or children to write, you will find that your pupils will learn much faster and retain what they learn much longer, if you show them and speak to them, than if you simply handed out a book telling them how to read or how to use HTML (did you spot the incongruity there?).
In a nutshell, you will learn HTML quicker if you do so by video than from a book or a web page course of HTML lessons. Although HTML for MySpace might seem a fairly limited application, it nevertheless requires knowledge of formatting text, tables, graphics, hyperlinks and so on; even of special effects such as HTML scrolling, or the ‘marquee’ tag. No less than is needed in learning HTML for a website.
Many wonder why they should learn HTML in the current era of wysiwyg HTML editors, but there is only so much you can do with wysiwyg. It doesn’t properly format your web page for search engines, for example, where most of the important SEO is carried out using html in the ‘HEAD’ section of the page, before the ‘BODY’ that is visible to the eye.
SEO applies just as much to your MySpace page as it does a regular website, and the same is also true of your blog. In order to format your blog behind the scenes, as it were, you have learn HTML and apply that knowledge to the various elements of your blog. The heading, sidebars and other areas can be individually designed and formatted by means of HTML, assuming that it can be formatted in this way. If you are running Wordpress from your own server or web space, for example, you will have access to the HTML that makes your blog what bit is.
A video HTML course will teach you the basics very rapidly, before on to the more detailed frames and CSS formatting, not to mention the special effects that will make your page stand out amongst all the others.
It is pretty obvious, then, that if you want to learn HTML and apply your imagination to your website, blog or MySpace page, you will do so much quicker and easier with a video HTML course than just a written one. Science has proved the fact.