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Module 1: HTML Basics
Choosing a Text Editor
You can create a web page with any text editor that's on your computer. Since the Hamilton classroom is equipped with PC workstations, we'll be using Notepad, a free text editor that comes with the Windows operating system.
You can also use WordPad; sometimes saving in Notepad causes line breaks to disappear. If working in WordPad, be sure to set your options to working with "text" and not RichText. You should not see a ruler at the top of the window.
What if I'm using a Mac or a PC?
In Windows, you can use a simple text editor such as Notepad or any word processor such as Microsoft Word, Wordperfect, or WordPad. However, if you use a word processor, be sure to save the file as a plain text file. NotePad automatically saves the file as a text file, so you don't have to worry about this.
On a Mac (OS X or earlier), you can use SimpleText as your HTML text editor. SimpleText automatically saves the file as a text file as well.
Contemporary mac users If you do not have SimpleText (you're running a system later than OS X), you can use TextEdit. TextEdit does not automatically open files in text mode. To set this preference: under File > Preferences > New Document, check "Plain Text." Under > Open and Save, check "Ignore rich text commands in HTML files." Now your html files will open as plain text.
Whether your using a PC or a Mac, just be sure to save an HTML document with either the .htm or .html extension. This tells the Web browser that the file you want to view is an HTML document and will translate it accordingly.
Whatever extension you decide to use, stick with it. For example, the LIS WebTeam site uses the .htm extension for all of its web pages.
Want to learn more about commercial (graphic) HTML editors? More »
Next: HTML Tags: Definitions »
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