The most important tags in HTML are tags that define
headings, paragraphs and line breaks.
The best way to learn HTML is to work with examples. We
have created a very nice HTML editor for you. With this editor, you can edit the
HTML source code if you like, and click on a test button to view the result.
Try it Yourself - Examples
A very simple HTML document
This example is a very simple HTML document, with only a minimum of HTML tags.
It demonstrates how the text inside a body element is displayed in the
browser.
Simple paragraphs
This example demonstrates how the text inside paragraph elements is displayed
in the browser.
(You can find more examples at the bottom of this page)
Headings
Headings are defined with the <h1> to <h6> tags. <h1>
defines the largest heading. <h6> defines the smallest heading.
<h1>This is a heading</h1>
<h2>This is a heading</h2>
<h3>This is a heading</h3>
<h4>This is a heading</h4>
<h5>This is a heading</h5>
<h6>This is a heading</h6>
HTML automatically adds
an extra blank line before and after a heading.
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Paragraphs
Paragraphs are defined with the <p> tag.
<p>This is a paragraph</p>
<p>This is another paragraph</p>
HTML automatically adds
an extra blank line before and after a paragraph.
Line Breaks
The <br> tag is used when you want to end a line, but don't want to start a new
paragraph. The <br> tag forces a line break wherever you place it.
<p>This is a paragraph<br>with line breaks</p>
The <br> tag is an empty tag. It has no closing tag.
Comments in HTML
The comment tag is used to insert a comment in the HTML source code. A
comment will be ignored by the browser. You can use comments to explain your
code, which can help you when you edit the source code at a later date.
<!-- This is a comment -->
Note that you need an exclamation point after the opening bracket, but not before the closing bracket.
Basic Notes - Useful Tips
When you write HTML text, you can never be sure how the text is displayed in
another browser. Some people have large computer displays, some have small. The
text will be reformatted every time the user resizes his window. Never try to
format the text in your editor by adding empty lines and spaces to the text.
HTML will truncate the spaces in
your text. Any number of spaces count as one. Some extra information:
In HTML a new
line counts as one space.
Using empty paragraphs <p> to insert blank lines is a bad habit. Use
the <br> tag instead. (But don't use the <br> tag to create lists.
Wait until you have learned about HTML lists.)
You might have noticed that paragraphs can be written without the closing tag
</p>. Don't rely on it. The next version of HTML will not allow you to
skip ANY closing tags.
HTML automatically adds
an extra blank line before and after some elements, like before and after a
paragraph, and before and after a heading.
We use a horizontal rule (the <hr> tag), to separate the sections in our tutorials.
