The average website includes several different HTML pages. For instance, a home page, an about page, and a contact page would all have separate HTML files.
HTML documents are files that end with a .html or .htm extension. A web browser reads the HTML file and renders its content so that internet users can view it.
All HTML pages have a series of HTML elements, consisting of a set of tags and attributes. HTML elements are the building blocks of a web page. A tag tells the web browser where an element begins and ends, whereas an attribute describes the characteristics of an element.
The three main parts of an element are:
- Opening tag – used to state where an element starts to take effect. The tag is wrapped with opening and closing angle brackets. For example, use the start tag <title> to create a paragraph.
- Content – this is the output that other users see.
- Closing tag – the same as the opening tag, but with a forward slash before the element name. For example, </title> to end a paragraph.
Another attribute, the HTML class, is most important for development and programming. The class attribute adds style information that can work on different elements with the same class value.
For example, we will use the same style for a heading <h1> and a paragraph <p>. The style includes background color, text color, border, margin, and padding, under the class. test. To achieve the same style between <h1> and <p>, add class=”test” after each start tag:
Most elements have an opening and a closing tag, but some elements do not need closing tags to work, such as empty elements. These elements do not use an end tag because they do not have content:
This image tag has two attributes – an src attribute, the image path, and an alt attribute, the descriptive text. However, it does not have content nor an end tag.
Lastly, every HTML document must start with a <!DOCTYPE> declaration to inform the web browser about the document type. With HTML5, the doctype HTML public declaration will be:
