This two-part article looks at how to design and write World Wide Web pages using the HyperText Markup Language (HTML). Most of the discussion is about the current standard, HTML 2.0, but part 2 considers extensions present in the popular Netscape browser and briefly describes the forthcoming HTML 3.0 standard. Most of the examples come from increasingly complex versions of a Web presentation about the British actor Michael Caine.
One important aspect of HTML not discussed is the form mechanism, and the way it can be used for programming with the CGI interface. That topic is dealt with in 'Programming with HTML Forms'.
Part 1 covers the basics of HTML including: paragraphs, character styles, lists (three kinds), address blocks, headings, and types of URLs (e.g. relative and absolute). Suggestions are made about preferred usage and good page design.
Part 2 begins by describing how images can be utilised, leading onto a brief discussion of sound and video. In addition, more complex sorts of links are examined, including anchors between, and within, pages. Many of the Netscape extensions are considered, including centred text, fancier horizontal lines, font sizes, list labels, background and text colours, image positioning, and tables. Emphasis is placed on those features to be supported in HTML 3.0. Part 2 finishes with an overview of the HTML 3.0 proposal, and some other Web developments.
The main examples are: