Creating Your Own Web Page
Kimberly C. Walls, Nov. 2, 1996
Last revised July 27, 1998
1. Basic HTML and
World Wide Web concepts
a.
What is HTML?
HTML is an acronym for Hypertext Markup Language. HTML files are plain
text (ASCII) files that have been "marked up" with"tags" which indicate
text formatting and sections of documents (title, paragraph, listing, etc.)
HTML tags also denote "links" to other media files such as text, graphics,
sound, MIDI, digital video, or programs.
It is important to note that HTML files are ASCII files and that the
file names must end with .html or .htm
b. How the
World Wide Web works
Servers
Servers are computers which constantly run an HTTPD (Hypertext Transfer
Protocol Daemon) program that sends HTML files and the files linked to
HTML files across the Internet. The servers send files upon request from
another computerÕs browser program.
Browsers
Browsers are programs that request HTML files (and their linked files)
from Internet HTTPD servers. Popular browsers include Netscape, Internet
Explorer, and Mosaic. When a person wishes to view a file from the Internet,
the browser looks for the correct server and requests the file. If all
goes well, the server sends the information to the computer that is running
the browser. The browser then translates the tags in the HTML files according
to guidelines preset in the browser program (parsing) and displays the
results. Since each browser may be set up differently, (for example, to
use a certain font for a certain type of link) an HTML file will not always
be displayed identically.
URLs
URLs (Uniform Resource Locator) are addresses of information available
on the Internet. Requests for Internet information are initiated by looking
for a URL. The first part of the URL indicates the type of server. A request
for information from a HTTPD server begins with http://. A request
for information from a Gopher server begins with gopher://. A request
for information from an FTP server begins with ftp://. A request
for information from a WAIS server begins with wais://.
A Telnet session is requested with telnet:// and a TN3270 session is
requested with tn3270://
The next part of the URL denotes which computer runs the server. For
example, the URL http://www.auburn.edu requests information from
the HTTPD server program on the computer (host) named www.auburn.edu.
The third portion of an URL denotes the name of the file requested. The
URL http://www.auburn.edu/~wallski/index.html requests a file named
index.html in the ~wallski directory on the computer www.auburn.edu
from its HTTPD server.