A Non-Technical Guide to HTML

HTML is an acronym that stands for HyperText Markup Language.

The name is an apt one; it is a language used to markup the text on the page so a computer, in this case, so a browser can understand it.

This is an important concept but "markup" is a little vague. Think of HTML like a wrapper around words that you want to give meaning or intention to so the computer understands what you mean.

A few examples go a long way with HTML.

Examples of HTML

When you see: 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20500 you would recognize that as an address.

But computer code wouldn't. And why would it? We have to tell it.

But with HTML we can give meaning to it:

<address>1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20500</address>

Now when the browser reads that HTML, it knows your intention. "Hey, this person wants me to know this is specific information and if there are any cool browser tricks I can do with it, I'm welcome to do so."

For example, that address is now something the browser is aware of being specifically called out as a location. If you touch it on a mobile device, it might open Google Maps.

Here is one more example of giving meaning to content on the page: google@gmail.com

That is an email but until we "wrap" it in HTML the browser will just assume it's regular text.

<a href="mailto:google@gmail.com">google@gmail.com</a>

That email is now wrapped with something called an anchor tag, which tells the browser, "Hey! This is an email." The email will now be highlighted and when you click or touch it, it will open your email with that email autopopulated in the "To:" field.

Why does HTML matter to you?

HTML is the foundation of any website or web app. You actually don't need CSS or Javascript (two other core web technologies) to make a simple website.

When someone is talking about CSS or Javascript, it's usually in relation to modifiying HTML. Stlyistically with CSS, or functionally with Javascript.

If you want make copy edits for example or add some new information to a page, learning basic HTML is necessary.

How to read and write HTML

Webpages can do a lot today, but let's keep things simple for now. Imagine you wrote a short blog post in a text editor but since it's a blog post you know it has to be in HTML for the web.

HTML terms in the office

• "You forgot the wrapper."
• "You forgot the closing tag."
• "Change the attribute."
• "The page structure is wrong."