HTML - What is it?

Don't be afraid of HTML. Its not very complicated and it's simple if you understand the basics.

HTML or HyperText Markup Language is derived from the printing industry of days gone by. When a client needed a printer to set type they would make notes in the margins indicating BOLD or RED or Leave 3 Spaces and so on. Hand written of course, as was the entire page. Since people did not have computers to set type, this form of Markup Language was created so the printer could build the page that the customer wanted.

Today, it is no different. But now the computer builds the pages the way you want it. By using TAGS noted using < (less than) and > (greater than) symbols to surround the command and indicate it should be hidden from the actual text. A web browser reads the HTML, downloads images and assembles the page on the viewers computer using the graphics images and text indicated in the HTML text document.

For example:

Making A Title Bold you would surround the Title with the Bold start tag <b> and end with the bold end tag </b>. So by typing <b>Your Site Title</b> it would be seen on the page as Your Site Title.

Listed below are some basic tags you can use to spice up your pages. You can also use a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor such as FrontPage to build the text or tables and cut and paste the source code into your pages. It makes the process much faster, however if the program does not create 100% compatible code your pages may become blank or incorrect to some viewers. Not all editors are created equal and not all html options are available on all computers. If you want to be safe, don't use HTML unless you are sure you understand it.

If you have to choose use our HTML Editor. It is very basic and easy to use and does not create tags that must be removed or code that will turn the page inside out.

HTML Code Sample Description
<center>Text</center> Text Aligns the text in the center of the page
<b>Text</b> Text  
<i>Text</i> Text  
<ul>Text</ul> Text Underline the text
<font size="+3">Text</font> Text Increase the font size 3 sizes bigger than the default
<font face="comic sans ms">Text</font> Text Changes the font to the specified font type
Text<br>Text2 Text
Text2
Creates a line break, continuing the text on the next line.
<p>Text</p>   Sets the text as its own paragraph

Tags can be combined such as taking the word TITLE and making it bold in comic sams ms font and a size of 7 and centering it in the page.

Example HTML:<center><b><font face="comic sans ms" size="7">TITLE</font></b></center>
Example Shown:
TITLE

There are other tags that define page start and stop, form fields, image locations, lists and tables. The internet is full of information about HTML. If you are interested in using html it is prudent to take some time to study it. We give you the opportunity to include the html in your pages if you choose but it is not essential to building your pages using the bumblebee works system.


Building Tables - how to build tables to divide the webpage and position items and text in any location on the page.