HTML Introduction
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HTML is the standard markup language for creating Web pages.
What is HTML?
HTML stands for Hyper Text Markup Language
HTML is the standard markup language for creating Web pages
HTML describes the structure of a Web page
HTML consists of a series of elements
HTML elements tell the browser how to display the content
HTML elements label pieces of content such as "this is a heading", "this is
a paragraph", "this is a link", etc.
A Simple HTML Document
Example
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>Page Title</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>My First Heading</h1>
<p>My first paragraph.</p>
</body>
</html>
Try it Yourself »
Example Explained
The <!DOCTYPE html> declaration defines that this document is an HTML5
document
The <html> element is the root element of an HTML page
The <head> element contains meta information about the HTML page
The <title> element specifies a title for the HTML page (which is shown in
the browser's title bar or in the page's tab)
The <body> element defines the document's body, and is a container for all
the visible contents, such as headings, paragraphs, images, hyperlinks,
tables, lists, etc.
The <h1> element defines a large heading
The <p> element defines a paragraph
What is an HTML Element?
An HTML element is defined by a start tag, some content, and an end tag:
<tagname> Content goes here... </tagname>
The HTML element is everything from the start tag to the end tag:
<h1>My First Heading</h1>
<p>My first paragraph.</p>
Start tag Element content End tag
<h1> My First Heading </h1>
<p> My first paragraph. </p>
<br> none none
Note: Some HTML elements have no content (like the <br> element). These
elements are called empty elements. Empty elements do not have an end tag!
Web Browsers
The purpose of a web browser (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari) is to read HTML
documents and display them correctly.
A browser does not display the HTML tags, but uses them to determine how to
display the document:
HTML Page Structure
Below is a visualization of an HTML page structure:
<html>
<head>
<title>Page title</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>This is a heading</h1>
<p>This is a paragraph.</p>
<p>This is another paragraph.</p>
</body>
</html>
HTML Editors
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A simple text editor is all you need to learn HTML.
Learn HTML Using Notepad or TextEdit
Web pages can be created and modified by using professional HTML editors.
However, for learning HTML we recommend a simple text editor like Notepad
(PC) or TextEdit (Mac).
We believe that using a simple text editor is a good way to learn HTML.
Follow the steps below to create your first web page with Notepad or TextEdit.
Step 1: Open Notepad (PC)
Windows 8 or later:
Open the Start Screen (the window symbol at the bottom left on your screen).
Type Notepad.
Windows 7 or earlier:
Open Start > Programs > Accessories > Notepad
Step 1: Open TextEdit (Mac)
Open Finder > Applications > TextEdit
Also change some preferences to get the application to save files
correctly. In Preferences > Format > choose "Plain Text"
Then under "Open and Save", check the box that says "Display HTML files as
HTML code instead of formatted text".
Then open a new document to place the code.
Step 2: Write Some HTML
Write or copy the following HTML code into Notepad:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<body>
<h1>My First Heading</h1>
<p>My first paragraph.</p>
</body>
</html>
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Step 3: Save the HTML Page
Save the file on your computer. Select File > Save as in the Notepad menu.
Name the file "[Link]" and set the encoding to UTF-8 (which is the
preferred encoding for HTML files).
Tip: You can use either .htm or .html as file extension. There is no difference; it
is up to you.
Step 4: View the HTML Page in Your
Browser
Open the saved HTML file in your favorite browser (double click on the file, or
right-click - and choose "Open with").
The result will look much like this:
W3Schools Online Editor - "Try it
Yourself"
With our free online editor, you can edit the HTML code and view the result in
your browser.
It is the perfect tool when you want to test code fast. It also has color coding
and the ability to save and share code with others:
Example
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>Page Title</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>This is a Heading</h1>
<p>This is a paragraph.</p>
</body>
</html>
HTML Basic Examples
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In this chapter we will show some basic HTML examples.
Don't worry if we use tags you have not learned about yet.
HTML Documents
All HTML documents must start with a document type declaration: <!DOCTYPE
html>.
The HTML document itself begins with <html> and ends with </html>.
The visible part of the HTML document is between <body> and </body>.
Example
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<body>
<h1>My First Heading</h1>
<p>My first paragraph.</p>
</body>
</html>
Try it Yourself »
The <!DOCTYPE> Declaration
The <!DOCTYPE> declaration represents the document type, and helps browsers to
display web pages correctly.
It must only appear once, at the top of the page (before any HTML tags).
The <!DOCTYPE> declaration is not case sensitive.
The <!DOCTYPE> declaration for HTML5 is:
<!DOCTYPE html>
HTML Headings
HTML headings are defined with the <h1> to <h6> tags.
<h1> defines the most important heading. <h6> defines the least important
heading:
Example
<h1>This is heading 1</h1>
<h2>This is heading 2</h2>
<h3>This is heading 3</h3>
Try it Yourself »
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HTML Paragraphs
HTML paragraphs are defined with the <p> tag:
Example
<p>This is a paragraph.</p>
<p>This is another paragraph.</p>
Try it Yourself »
HTML Links
HTML links are defined with the <a> tag:
Example
<a href="[Link] is a link</a>
Try it Yourself »
The link's destination is specified in the href attribute.
Attributes are used to provide additional information about HTML elements.
You will learn more about attributes in a later chapter.
HTML Images
HTML images are defined with the <img> tag.
The source file (src), alternative text (alt), width, and height are provided as
attributes:
Example
<img src="[Link]" alt="[Link]" width="104" height="14
2">
Try it Yourself »
How to View HTML Source
Have you ever seen a Web page and wondered "Hey! How did they do that?"
View HTML Source Code:
Click CTRL + U in an HTML page, or right-click on the page and select "View
Page Source". This will open a new tab containing the HTML source code of the
page.
Inspect an HTML Element:
Right-click on an element (or a blank area), and choose "Inspect" to see what
elements are made up of (you will see both the HTML and the CSS). You can also
edit the HTML or CSS on-the-fly in the Elements or Styles panel that opens.
HTML Elements
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An HTML element is defined by a start tag, some content, and an end tag.
HTML Elements
The HTML element is everything from the start tag to the end tag:
<tagname>Content goes here...</tagname>
Examples of some HTML elements:
<h1>My First Heading</h1>
<p>My first paragraph.</p>
Start tag Element content End tag
<h1> My First Heading </h1>
<p> My first paragraph. </p>
<br> none none
Note: Some HTML elements have no content (like the <br> element). These
elements are called empty elements. Empty elements do not have an end tag!
Nested HTML Elements
HTML elements can be nested (this means that elements can contain other
elements).
All HTML documents consist of nested HTML elements.
The following example contains four HTML elements
(<html>, <body>, <h1> and <p>):
Example
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<body>
<h1>My First Heading</h1>
<p>My first paragraph.</p>
</body>
</html>
Try it Yourself »
Example Explained
The <html> element is the root element and it defines the whole HTML
document.
It has a start tag <html> and an end tag </html>.
Then, inside the <html> element there is a <body> element:
<body>
<h1>My First Heading</h1>
<p>My first paragraph.</p>
</body>
The <body> element defines the document's body.
It has a start tag <body> and an end tag </body>.
Then, inside the <body> element there are two other elements: <h1> and <p>:
<h1>My First Heading</h1>
<p>My first paragraph.</p>
The <h1> element defines a heading.
It has a start tag <h1> and an end tag </h1>:
<h1>My First Heading</h1>
The <p> element defines a paragraph.
It has a start tag <p> and an end tag </p>:
<p>My first paragraph.</p>
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Never Skip the End Tag
Some HTML elements will display correctly, even if you forget the end tag:
Example
<html>
<body>
<p>This is a paragraph
<p>This is a paragraph
</body>
</html>
Try it Yourself »
However, never rely on this! Unexpected results and errors may occur
if you forget the end tag!
Empty HTML Elements
HTML elements with no content are called empty elements.
The <br> tag defines a line break, and is an empty element without a closing
tag:
Example
<p>This is a <br> paragraph with a line break.</p>
Try it Yourself »
HTML is Not Case Sensitive
HTML tags are not case sensitive: <P> means the same as <p>.
The HTML standard does not require lowercase tags, but
W3C recommends lowercase in HTML, and demands lowercase for stricter
document types like XHTML.
At W3Schools we always use lowercase tag names.
HTML Tag Reference
W3Schools' tag reference contains additional information about these tags and
their attributes.
Tag Description
<html> Defines the root of an HTML document
<body> Defines the document's body
<h1> to <h6> Defines HTML headings
