Vermont Educational Telecommunications Consortium

Creating HTML Files (Web Documents)

Web documents are created by inserting special tags into plain text documents and naming the resulting files with the extension .html. You can create these files using any word processor, text editor, or even special HTML editing programs.

To use a word processor or text editor, simply type the text and tags on the same screen.

HTML tags are enclosed in angle brackets (<>). Generally, a tag by itself in the brackets signifies the beginning of a particular feature, while the tag ending that feature is preceded by a slash. For example, typing the following line of text and tag:

These <i> words are in italics </i>.

would result in a sentence that looks like this:

These words are in italics.

As you type your HTML files:

type the tags in as you are typing your document, add them after the document is typed, or use your HTML editing buttons if you are using a special HTML editing program.
type the tags in upper case, lower case, or mixed case.
save your file frequently. You may give the document any name as long as it ends with the extension .html (ex: story.html, mypage.html). Since DOS file naming conventions do not allow you to use more than three letters after the dot, you will need to name your files .htm if you are using a DOS or Windows word processor or text editor. These files may be renamed .html once they have been moved to the server.
remember to save the file as a plain text file when you are done, if you are using a word processor to create the file .
remember to save the file as an HTML file (Save As: HTML), if you are using a word processor with an HTML editing feature, like WordPerfect 3.5 for Macintosh or Word 6.0 for Windows .
if you have created the file with pico, the text editor on the server, or a special HTML editing program (like Netscape Gold) you will not need to save it as a text file--it saves all files that way automatically.

The official list of the basic set of tags and how to insert them can be found in the document A Beginner's Guide to HTML.

Here is a sample .html document. Feel free to copy and edit it:


<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Greenberg-VETC My first HTML file</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<h1>Welcome to my page!</h1>
<h2>My name is Hope Greenberg</h2>

I am building a web site at the  <A HREF=http://www.vetc.vsc.edu/>VETC</A>.<P>

Here are some other Web places you might like to visit:<P>
<A HREF=http://www.uvm.edu/>The University of Vermont</A><P>

<A HREF=telnet://luis.uvm.edu/>LUIS: UVM's online library catalog</A><P>



<hr>

<h6>Created and copyright by Hope Greenberg, 
<a href=mailto:hag@moose.uvm.edu>hag@moose.uvm.edu</A>. 
Last updated: 6/18/1996. 
</BODY>

Go to the next step in the Web Publishing CYCLE or to the beginning of any these tutorials:

© Vermont Educational Telecommunications Consortium, Inc.
E-mail: webmaster@vetc.vsc.edu

Updated by: Hope Greenberg
July 10, 1996.