DevGuru HTML: Helpful Hints

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Here are a few helpful hints and guidelines to get you started:

All HTML tags must be contained between an opening < angle bracket and a closing > angle bracket.
<html>
Some tags have one or more associated attributes and, when they are included with the tag, they dictate additional information on how to implement the tag. The attributes of an element can be specified in any order, but only once each.
Most attributes are composed of a name/value pair separated by an equal sign. Some attributes are composed only of a name and a Boolean value of true is automatically assigned.
<img src="guru.gif" border="5">
It is recommended that all tag and attribute names be in lower case. However, HTML is case insensitive.
All values assign to an attribute should be enclosed between a pair of double quotes.
<form action="NextPage.asp" method="post">
Many HTML tags require a mandatory closing tag, where the closing tag name is preceded by a forward slash. These tags usually require that some content be placed between the opening and closing tag.
<title>Helpful Hints</title>
For some HTML tags, the closing tag is optional. However, it is recommended that you always include the closing tag when it is optional.
<li> The closing tags is optional for the li tag.</li>
A few HTML tags do not have closing tags and therefore you should not include a closing tag.
If there is no closing tag and if you wish to comply with the new XHTML version 1.0 standard, you can include a blank space followed by a forward slash after the tag name.
You should nest HTML tags inside of each other in a logical manner. The first example is correctly coded. Note how the last tag, the i, is closed first and that the first tag, the span is closed last.
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This is bad coding and may not display the desired results on some browsers.
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Some tags cannot be nested inside of themselves. For example, a form tag cannot appear inside a pair of opening and closing form tags. Another example is the a tag since hyperlinks cannot be inside of other hyperlinks.
It is best for beginners to only change one piece of HTML code at a time and to view or test the results of the change, before preceding to the next change.
The appropriate use of the Active Sever Pages (ASP) and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) technologies can aid in creating very spectacular web pages and sites.
If you have ever tried to display HTML code on a web page you will have come across the problem of the browser interpreting your tags as opposed to displaying them. The following knowledge base article addresses this issue. Article 100211