T H E   B A R E   B O N E S   G U I D E   T O   H T M L                

SYMBOLS USED
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URL    URL of an external file (or just file name if in the same directory)
?      arbitrary number (i.e. <H?> means <H1>, <H2>, <H3>, etc.)
%      arbitrary percentage (i.e. <HR WIDTH=%> means <HR WIDTH=50%>, etc.)
***    arbitrary text (i.e. ALT="***" means fill in with text)   
$$$    arbitrary hex triplet (i.e. BGCOLOR="#$$$" means BGCOLOR="#00FF1C", etc.)
|      alternatives (i.e. ALIGN=LEFT|RIGHT|CENTER means pick one of the three)

COMPATABILITY  (Remember that HTML is constantly evolving)
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       (no notation) In the HTML 2.0 spec; should work on all browsers
some   the tag works in some browsers but not in others
N1.0   the tag works only in Netscape Navigator 1.0N and later versions
N1.1   the tag works only in Netscape Navigator 1.1b1 and later versions
3.0    proposed HTML 3.0 tag; may work in some browsers       


GENERAL  (all HTML documents should have these)
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      Document type    <HTML></HTML>      (beginning and end of file)
      Title            <TITLE></TITLE>    (name of the document)   
      Header           <HEAD></HEAD>      (descriptive info, such as title)
      Body             <BODY></BODY>      (bulk of the page)

HARD FORMATTING  (user specifies text appearance)
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      Bold             <B></B>
      Italic           <I></I>
some  Underline        <U></U>
      Typewriter       <TT></TT>          (display in a monospaced font)
N1.0  Blinking         <BLINK></BLINK>    (the most derided tag ever)
   
SOFT FORMATTING  (controlled by the brower's style definitions)
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      Headings         <H?></H?>          (the spec. defines 6 levels)
      Emphasis         <EM></EM>          (usually displayed as italic)
      Strong Emphasis  <STRONG></STRONG>  (usually displayed as bold)
      Preformatted     <PRE></PRE>        (display text as-is)
      Pre/No Tags      <XMP></XMP>        (like PRE but no embedded tags)
      Citation         <CITE></CITE>      (usually italics)
      Code             <CODE></CODE>      (for source code listings)
      Sample Output    <SAMP></SAMP>
      Keyboard Input   <KBD></KBD>
      Variable         <VAR></VAR>
some  Definition       <DFN></DFN>
N1.0  Font Size        <FONT SIZE=?></FONT>       (ranges from 1-7)
N1.0  Base Font Size   <BASEFONT SIZE=?>  (from 1-7; default is 3)

ALIGNMENT
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        Block indent   <BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE>
N1.0    Center         <CENTER></CENTER>  (for both text and images)
3.0     Align text     <P ALIGN=LEFT|CENTER|RIGHT></P>
3.0     Align heading  <H? ALIGN=LEFT|CENTER|RIGHT></H?>

LINKS AND ANCHORS
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      Link something   <A HREF="URL"></A> 
      Define target    <A NAME="***"></A> 
                       <A HREF="URL" NAME="***"></A>     (alternate form)
      Link to target   <A HREF="URL#***"></A>    (If in another document)
                       <A HREF="#***"></A>       (If in current document)

GRAPHICS
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      Display Image    <IMG SRC="URL">   
        Alignment        <IMG SRC="URL" ALIGN=TOP|BOTTOM|MIDDLE>   
N1.0    Alignment        <IMG SRC="URL" ALIGN=LEFT|RIGHT|TEXTTOP|ABSMIDDLE|
                                        BASELINE|ABSBOTTOM>
        Alternate        <IMG SRC="URL" ALT="***"> (if image not displayed)
        Imagemap         <IMG SRC="URL" ISMAP>     (requires a script)
N1.0    Dimensions       <IMG SRC="URL" WIDTH="?" HEIGHT="?">   (in pixels)
N1.0    Border           <IMG SRC="URL" BORDER=?>               (in pixels)
N1.0    Runaround Space  <IMG SRC="URL" HSPACE=? VSPACE=?>      (in pixels)
N1.0    Low-Res Proxy    <IMG SRC="URL" LOWSRC="URL">    

DIVIDERS
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      Paragraph        <P>                (a double return)
      Line Break       <BR>               (a single carriage return)
N1.0    Clear textwrap   <BR CLEAR=LEFT|RIGHT|ALL   
      Horizontal Rule  <HR>
N1.0    Alignment        <HR ALIGN=LEFT|RIGHT|CENTER>
N1.0    Thickness        <HR SIZE=?>      (in pixels)
N1.0    Width            <HR WIDTH=?>     (in pixels)
N1.0    Width Percent    <HR WIDTH=%>     (as a percentage of page width)
N1.0    Solid Line       <HR NOSHADE>     (without the 3D cutout look)      
N1.0  No Break         <NOBR>             (prevents line breaks)
N1.0  Word Break       <WBR>              (where to break a line if needed)  

LISTS   (lists can be nested)
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      Unordered        <UL>               (for bulleted lists)
                       <LI>               (list item; as many as you want)
                       </UL>                

      Ordered          <OL>               (for numbered lists)
                       <LI>               (list item; as many as you want)
                       </OL>

N1.0  Bullet Type        <UL TYPE=DISK|CIRCLE|SQUARE>  (for the whole list)
                         <LI TYPE=DISC|CIRCLE|SQUARE>  (this & subsequent
items)                    
N1.0  Outline Type       <OL TYPE=A|a|I|i|1>           (for the whole list)
                         <LI TYPE=A|a|I|i|1>           (this & subsequent items)
N1.0  Starting number    <OL VALUE=?>                  (for the whole list)
                         <LI VALUE=?>                  (this & subsequent items)
                
      Definition       <DL>               (lists of terms and definitions)
                       <DT>               (item being defined)
                       <DD>               (definition)
                       </DL>

      Menu             <MENU>             (for a menu of options)
                       <LI>               (list item; as many as you want)  
                       </MENU>
       
      Directory        <DIR>              (for a directory list of items)   
                       <LI>               (list item; as many as you want)
                       </DIR>

BACKGROUNDS AND COLORS
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N1.1   Bkground Color  <BODY BGCOLOR="#$$$">    (order is red/green/blue)
N1.1   Texture         <BODY BACKGROUND="URL"> 
N1.1   Text Color      <BODY TEXT="#$$$">
N1.1   Link Color      <BODY LINK="#$$$">
N1.1   Visited Link    <BODY VLINK="#$$$">
N1.1   Active Link     <BODY ALINK="#$$$">

SPECIAL CHARACTERS 
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      ASCII code        &#?               (where ? is the ASCII code)
      <                 &LT;
      >                 &GT;
      &                 &AMP;  
      "                 &QUOT;
N1.0  Registered TM     &REG;
N1.0  Copyright         &COPY;
(Complete list at http://www.w3.org/hypertext/WWW/MarkUp/Entities.html)

FORMS  (requires a script on your server)
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      Define Form      <FORM ACTION="URL" METHOD=GET|POST></FORM>      
      Input field      <INPUT TYPE="TEXT|PASSWORD|CHECKBOX|RADIO|
                         SUBMIT|RESET">
        Field name       <INPUT NAME="***">
        Checked?         <INPUT CHECKED>  (checkboxes and radio boxes)      
        Field size       <INPUT SIZE=?>       (in characters)
        Max Length       <INPUT MAXLENGTH=?>  (in characters)
      Selection List   <SELECT></SELECT>
        Name of List     <SELECT NAME="***"></SELECT>
        # of Options     <SELECT SIZE=?></SELECT>
        Multiple Choice  <SELECT MULTIPLE>    (can select more than one)  
      Option           <OPTION>           (items that can be selected)
        Default Option <OPTION SELECTED>
      Input box size   <TEXTAREA ROWS=? COLS=?></TEXTAREA>
        Name of box    <TEXTAREA NAME="***"></TEXTAREA>
        
TABLES
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3.0   Define Table     <TABLE></TABLE>
3.0     Table Border     <TABLE BORDER></TABLE>    (either on or off)
N1.1    Table Border     <TABLE BORDER=?></TABLE>  (you can set the value)
N1.1    Cell Spacing     <TABLE CELLSPACING=?>
N1.1    Cell Padding     <TABLE CELLPADDING=?>
N1.1    Desired width    <TABLE WIDTH=?>           (in pixels)
N1.1    Width percent    <TABLE WIDTH=%>           (percentage of page)
3.0   Table Row        <TR></TR>
3.0     Alignment        <TR ALIGN=LEFT|RIGHT|CENTER
VALIGN=TOP|MIDDLE|BOTTOM>     
3.0   Table Cell       <TD></TD>          (must appear within table rows)
3.0     Alignment        <TD ALIGN=LEFT|RIGHT|CENTER
VALIGN=TOP|MIDDLE|BOTTOM>   
3.0     No linebreaks    <TD NOWRAP>
3.0     Columns to span  <TD COLSPAN=?>
3.0     Rows to span     <TD ROWSPAN=?>
N1.1    Desired width    <TD WIDTH=?>     (in pixels)
N1.1    Width percent    <TD WIDTH=%>     (percentage of table)
3.0   Table Header     <TH></TH>          (same as data, except bold centered)
3.0     Alignment        <TH ALIGN=LEFT|RIGHT|CENTER VALIGN=TOP|MIDDLE|BOTTOM>
3.0     No linebreaks    <TH NOWRAP>
3.0     Columns to span  <TH COLSPAN=?>
3.0     Rows to span     <TH ROWSPAN=?>
N1.1    Desired width    <TH WIDTH=?>     (in pixels)
N1.1    Width percent    <TH WIDTH=%>     (percentage of table)
3.0   Table Caption     <CAPTION></CAPTION>
3.0     Alignment       <CAPTION ALIGN=TOP|BOTTOM>  (above or below table)

MISCELLANEOUS  (generally not necessary for basic page design)
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      Comment          <!-- *** -->      (not displayed by the browser)   
      Author's address <ADDRESS></ADDRESS>
      Searchable       <ISINDEX>          (indicates a searchable index)    
N1.0    Prompt           <ISINDEX PROMPT="***">   (text to prompt input)
      URL of this file <BASE HREF="URL">  (helpful if relative URLs used)   
      Relationship     <LINK REV="***" REL="***" HREF="URL">
      Send search      <A HREF="URL?***"></a>  (use a real question mark) 
      Meta information <META>        (for info not covered by other tags)
      Identifier       <NEXTID>