In the example you are now reading the basefont is verdana, size 5, and color white. The background color is the hexadecimal color #b5e300. Pull down the "view" menu in the browser menu, and select "source", to view the html code for this page. Note that I have used <br> and <p> tags to set where page breaks and new paragraphs will occur on the screen.

Anywhere you put a <br> tag, the next text will appear on a new line. Anywhere you put a <p> tag, the next text will appear as the start of a new paragraph.

<!--remember that tags that look like this in the source code, i.e starting with <!-- and ending with -->, do not appear on the screen. They are there to write notes in, for reference while designing the page, and then later editing it. During our tutorials I will be using them to explain the tags, and make comments.-->

When you write up your HTML pay great attention to detail. Forgetting a part of a tag, a < or a > or a " anywhere on the page can make your page an unrecognisable mess, especially once you start using tables. It is best to start writing your code as neatly and as organised as possible from the start, even for really simple pages. This is why I put my <p> and <br> tags on seperate lines, and make lots of comment tags to explain what the tag is. This means that I can find mistakes more easily, and can come back later and change my webpage easily. It also makes it easier to cut and paste code from one page into another.

Remember to save your pages as .html files. Keep all the files for your web page in one folder. These include any gif or jpeg files i.e images you will be using on your web site. Name one and only one of these files index.html. This index.html will be your home page. In order for your page to be available on the world wide web, i.e on the internet, you will need to put your web page on a web server. To do this you will need access to an FTP server, to transfer files from your computer to the web server. Alternatively, do as I have done, and utilise the services of Yahoo geocities, which offers free web hosting for not for profit web pages. Simply cut and paste your HTML code into the yahoo geocities ones, and upload any pictures etc using the simple upload functions offered in the filemanager programs. Click HERE to find out more about yahoo geocities.

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