Free HTML Tutorial - What you need

There are a few things you need before getting on with HTML. Let me list them out:

• A text editor
• A browser
• A storing device and some storage media
• Your creativity

HTML files are plain text (ASCII) files. They can be made in any text editor of your choice but be sure to save the files in ASCII (plain) text format.

If you are working under the Windows system, I recommend NOTEPAD or WORDPAD. In UNIX based systems, you can either use PICO or the VI-EDITOR. If you planning to work on a more sophisticated editor, just remember to always save the HTML files in ASCII format.
To save a file in Notepad, click on FILE-SAVE AS. A dialogue box pops up. Type in the file name along with .htm or .html extension in "File name:" text field and select 'All Files' in the "Save as type" drop menu.

Okay, so which extension should you use? .htm or .html? It doesn't matter which one you use but once you've made your choice, be sure to stick to it.

To see the results of your HTML files, you need a browser. There are two major browsers in the market, Internet Explorer from Microsoft and Netscape Communicator from Netscape. A good rule of thumb is to test your HTML code in both these browsers. I follow this extensively and ask you to do the same. Your pages should look and function similar in these two browsers. This is called cross-browser compatibility.
You can download the latest versions of Internet Explorer or Netscape Communicator from their respective web-sites.

Most probably you will be using the hard disk to store your files. This is fine, but be sure to keep a copy on a floppy disk / CD-ROM!

For your web pages to look good and be easily navigable you have to plan in advance before taking on any project. This is where your creativity steps in. Take an advice, plan for long, and execute quickly.