What is the HTML code, and where do I find it?

So many times I have been asked the question...

Q. What is the HTML code, and where do I find it?

(I know, sounds like a dumb question right? I get asked
more than you might think!)

A:
In order to understand how an html file is set up, you
should take a look at what's behind the web browser.

Double-click on one of your index.html files, which will
be your home page in your host html directory.
Now, under the view menu select view
source. You should now see a text file loaded with a lot of
greater than and less than signs.

Under the edit menu, select all and open a WordPad
(or other text editor) file and paste the text.

These signs are known as "brackets," and the information
contained between them is called a "tag." Html tags send
instructions to the web browser, telling them where to place
the information on the page and how to format the information.

Take a look at the very beginning of the file, where you
will see the opening html tag, it looks like .

Now, take a look at the very last line of the file and you
will see the companion closing html tag, . Did you
notice the difference?

The difference between opening and closing tags is the
presence of a backslash ("/") before the actual tag, and
after the first bracket. Generally, if you take a look
through the html file, you will notice that most tags have
both an opening and a closing tag.

Tags of this sort are known as "containers," and it is
extremely important to know where to start and end your
container tags.

This introduction barely touches the surface of what's inside
your html file, however you now have an idea of how to find
the html code for a webpage and what is contained within
the file. More lessons to follow.

P.S. Check out the HTML Video on right side of this page.