learn free - First HTML Page lesson set. Teach Web Design

This is a complete module designed to quickly prepare you for advanced levels.

Hello! My name is Ron Woolley.
Feedback tells me that these lessons have been very successful and are enjoyed by many. So crack the knuckles, get into it, and good luck with your future web adventures.

Start
To succeed, read every paragraph patiently step by step. The free tutorial can be completed on line or off line as described below and do not just cut and paste my code without learning the accompanying details

Setting up appears quite complex at first, but then you will see how quick and easy controlled HTML editing can be. Users experienced in file management will find the process easy. Take note of the comments below about WYSIWYG editors and learning HTML.

OUTCOMES - A thorough understanding of:
1. The most used HTML <Tags>, tag Options, plus the relationships between tags and how they often compliment each other.
2. Included bitmap images and their placement in an HTML page.
3. Fonts and Colour controls.
4. Hyperlinks, local and remote, plus basic methods of server interactivity (scripts).
5. The first steps of complex layout control beyond the basic tags.
6. The ability to create web pages without the opaque assistance of automated software or WYSIWYG utilities.

METHODS:
These lessons are based on a self paced series of exercises that include extensive explanations as the student progresses. Without a lecturers assistance, success relies on the reading, practicing and understanding of those explanations and the allowance for time to do it. Because automated utilities can produce unmanageable problems for the learner, popular 'text entry' based methods are incorporated rapidly advancing the students knowledge, whereas automation will not.

You will need these programs to follow my step by step introduction

A Browser: MS Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator or similar. Preferably it would be best to start with a fairly recent version that is HTML 3.2 compatible, but if you already have a browser installed then try it. For interoperability I still use Explorer 3+ when creating, plus Navigator 3+ and Mosaic 3 for checking.

It would also be preferable to learn and try code that is HTML 2 compliant (very restricted) as many web surfers still use browsers that are "Maverick Extension" challenged! Play with, but do not use seriously, the toys and extensions available in recent browsers - not until you are close to professional level anyway and understand the limitations.

A Simple Text Editor: Windows NotePad or perhaps the Mac Simple text will do fine. The code that you create here must be always saved "as a text file" and with the .htm extension added to the file name. (Macintosh also)

A Nice Clear Desktop: You will be typing, saving, double clicking on your file and dragging windows out of the way continuously so keep the GUI Desktop free of lazy open folders and programs etc..

Do Not Use - WYSIWYG Editors via Netscape, FrontPage, SiteMill etc. until you have a really good knowledge of the HTML coding and Tags. If you go for "easy" first, I guarantee you will definitely find yourself back pedalling on the ol' learning curve later on. Fastest is by using the basic text methods mostly used by professionals. An excellent next step after these lessons would be the use of an assisted text editor like HomeSite by Allaire Corp. - before the use of WYSIWYG.

Preparation

New Folder: Open your Text Editor program and save an empty file as index.htm into a folder (directory) named mysite, then drag a shortcut of this file on to your desktop. If you use windows 3.+, then it might be best to drag the empty file from file manager onto the Desktop or just minimise the file once saved. Macs and Win'95 should not have a problem.

Also drag an Icon (shortcut) of your chosen Text Editor onto the Desktop, or at least make the program readily accessible. Later, dragging the HTML text file onto this icon will automatically open the file for text input. All files created during these lessons must be in the one folder.

You could *print the following pages, or *save them into your computer ( hey! this stuff is copyright ) and disconnect from the ISP to save connection costs. The extended lessons 3 and 4 were to be in Adobe Acrobat format. But excellent responses ( thank you all ) and requests for lessons 3 and 4 have convinced me to get them finished as Web pages. This will still take a little while yet (as of end of June '98). dtp-aus.com is now on a new server.

When you wish to return to the site, if offline, each page has a full URL link back to these pages/site, plus all images are supplied. (I hope you have 'Bookmarked' or 'Favourites' listed www.dtp-aus.com as well !!)

*These pages and graphics can only be used offline by individuals for their own personal use on their own personal computers, and must not be used in any training environment what so ever, whether for monetary gain or not. Redistribution of text and images on this site is illegal unless the user possesses signed written expressed permission from the author, and is a registered user. This site is protected by copyrights - compensation for/corrections of abuse will be pursued.

The "First HTML Page" Tutorials
The method used here, while a little boring at the start, does enhance the learning curve by rapidly coming together as you advance step by step. There is a lot of reading! The explanations and comments are most important. Many technical students these days expect to get to the fun stuff too quickly. First, get to understand how the Tags work. To start, click on a number below. These are large files. Please be patient while they download!
basic tags, colours, lists	images, fonts, colour, links.

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Free Backgrounds & Buttons!	DTP and HTML			"My First Page" HTML lessons
Tutorial Text Search		Perl CGI Scripts	Typography & Layout
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Link to this Site as a www resource So you want to create your first HTML pages? Great, I'm here to help with: A comeplete lesson set.
'Caught' by Systems Management students installing Cam Wiz.

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