This is a very basic web page.
To see its structure, choose View -> Page Source
And a new window will open containing only text. This is the whole HTML
text file, including the text you see in the browser window.
Copy this file, paste it into a text editor, and save it on your hard
drive as "example.htm"
Then, back in your web browser, go to File -> Open... and choose
"example.htm" from your own hard drive.
Aha! Yes, you now have a browser-readable HTML file on your hard drive.
- Create a bunch of these files,
- Organize in directories,
- Link in images,
- and link the files together (and to other websites)
And you will have your own local version of your webiste on your own
hard drive.
The source code of HTML files has a basic anatomy.
First, it says that it is a
public HTML file compliant with the 4.0 standard, in English.
Second, it says html in
brackets, which tells the browser to treat this as the beginning of the
instruction script.
Third is a "head" section,
which includes background information such as the author's name, the
page title, the webpage-authoring software, and general formatting
instructions such as background color (or inage), and default text
styles.
Fourth is the "body" section,
which includes the text that will be displayed in the browser window,
along with commands for formatting, linking in images, and hyperlinks
to other web pages.
Now, open "example.htm" in Composer (by bringing Composer to the front,
and choosing File -> Open File).
Notice on the bottom of the composer window that there are four tabs,
and by default the page opens in 'Normal' editing mode. 'Normal'
mode in Mozilla Composer is a preview mode, in which you can create
pages that look very close to the final product as you create them. In
fact, it will insert all of the HTML commands for you, so you only need
to go in and edit the text file directly if you are doing something
unusual.
Click the third tab and switch to <HTML>Source mode: again you
will see the full text file of the web page. Here you can edit hidden
information, such as the name of the web-page author. In fact, you
could do the exact same thing in a plain text editor such as Notepad.
Click back on Normal, change "Womprats" somewhere on the page, and then
save it. You have just edited your first web page.
back to Introduction
on to Hyperlinks
on to Formatting Web Pages
on to Graphics for the web
on to Organizing and Uploading Web Pages