html and css

What is HTML?

When you write a normal document using a word processor like Microsoft Word/Office, your text is saved in a file with a special format. It is not simply saved as the string of words you typed since the document needs to preserve things like the font you chose, the size of the text, which words are in bold, which italics, and so on. The special format includes not only your words, but all these extra information so that the next time Word opens your document, it can display the document with the exact appearance you created earlier.

In the same way, web pages are simply strings of words put in a special format that web browsers are able to display. While the format of Word documents is simply called "Word format" (or "doc format"), loosely speaking, one might say that web pages are formatted using "HTML". Take the paragraph of text in the box below for example:

his is an example paragraph to illustrate what HTML is, for the purpose of <a href="http://www.thesitewizard.com/html-tutorial/what-is-html.shtml">explaining common terms like HTML, JavaScript and PHP</a>.

Do I Need to Learn HTML to Start My Own Website?

Just as you do not have to know the nitty-gritty of the "doc format" in order to create a document in Microsoft Word, learning HTML is optional for creating websites.

You can simply use a web editor to create your website, the same way you use Word to create a normal document. The web editor allows you to type your text in the usual way, underline your text, make it bold, add pictures, and so on, using an easy-to-use interface. Tutorials for the most-used web editors can be found on thesitewizard.com in the following pages:

• Dreamweaver Tutorial: How to Design a Website with Dreamweaver CS6 — for the commercial Adobe Dreamweaver editor
• How to Design a Website with Dreamweaver CS 5.5 — for the previous version of Adobe Dreamweaver
• How to Design a Website with Dreamweaver CS5 — for an eariler version of Dreamweaver
• How to Create a Website with Dreamweaver CS4 — for the older version of Dreamweaver
• How to Create a Website with Dreamweaver CS3 — for an even older version of Dreamweaver
• How to Design and Publish Your Website with KompoZer — for the free KompoZer editor
• How to Design and Publish Your Website with Nvu — for the free Nvu editor

You should also read How to Make / Create Your Own Website: The Beginner's A-Z Guide because there are other things involved in making your own website besides designing the web pages.

For those who are curious, "HTML" stands for "Hypertext Markup Language". Basically, it's just a means for formatting your document. There's nothing esoteric or fancy about it, just as there's nothing special about the Word format or any other document format.

What is CSS?

Cascading Style Sheets, or CSS, allow you to specify things like the font you want on your page, the size of your text, whether the page is to have 2 columns, whether your text is to be in bold or italics, and so on. In other words, it is the part that lets you control the appearance of your web page.

You may be used to the Microsoft Word "doc" format, where everything from the text you type to the appearance of the document is specified in a single file, transparent to you. On the web, the raw information is specified in HTML and most of the appearance is determined by the CSS.

If you use a web editor like those I mentioned above, you won't have to bother with which parts goes into the HTML portion and which parts goes into the CSS portion. Everything will be taken care of by the editor.

For those who like to know the gory details, you can read my Introduction To Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). However, if you are using a web editor, you don't need that information since the editor does everything for you, so don't worry if that article is too technical. (It wasn't written for the absolute newcomer.)