Quick Guide to HTML

HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) is an ASCII markup language for Internet hypertext. Instructions are written with tags; each tag is set off from the text within angle brackets (<>).

While the tag can be in any case, I suggest uppercase letters so it is easy to spot in a run of text. In Mosaic, use "Document Source" in the File menu to view the HTML format of any document currently in the display window.

HTML documents are saved with the extension .html.

Simple Formatting Commands

Paragraph Break <P> (example...)
Heading Levels <H1>, <H2>, .., <H6> (example...)
Anchors are used to make links from one document to another in hypertext. These are link anchors. Anchors can also be used as a destination for a link. These are destination anchors.
Anchors are marked with a pair of tags. Whats goes between the tags is what the user sees in a browser. See here for examples.
Font changes can be specified:
- Bold text: <B> followed by text to be bolded, followed by </B>
- Italic text: <I> followed by text to be italicized, followed by </I>
- Fixed font text: <CODE> followed by text to be in fixed width font, followed by </CODE>
Preformatted text are enclosed by <PRE> and </PRE> (example...)
Special and extended characters
Bulleted and other lists (example...)
Inline Images (Mosaic only)

For a more complete example, see the NCSA HTML primer at the URL: http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/General/Internet/WWW/HTMLPrimer.html

R. P. C. Rodgers, Lister Hill Center, NLM (May 1994)