Getting to the points of your HTML web page

Text makes up the majority of most web page’s content but large chunks of text can make the average user reluctant to read the whole article as they want to receive their information in short sharp pieces. If you do have a lot of text content a great way to break it up is by using bullet points or numbers list.

Bullet Point List

To start a bullet points list the tag used is <ul>. This indents the position where the bullet point begins but doesn’t display the bullet point. This is done with the tag <li>, this tells the web browser when a bullet point should be inserted. Onces <ul> is in place insert the text that you want positioned next to your bullet point. When you have finished close the tag with </li>, that will finish your first bullet point.

Continue to insert as many bullet points as you want by adding additional <li> tags underneath but remember to close each one. Once you have finished all your bullet points close the list with </ul> which is the closing tag for the original opening tag <ul>.

<ul>

<li>Bullet Point</li>

<li>Bullet Point 2</li>

</ul>

Numbered Points List

If you want a numbered list instead of a bullet point list, you copy the same process but instead of using <ul> you will replace it with the <ol> tag looking like:

<ol>

<li>Numbered Point 1</li>

<li>Numbered Point 2</li>

</ol>

The Image below shows how this is done within the coding.

Click to enlarge

<br>eaking a HTML web page

So you can now group sections of text in paragraphs but what if you just want to have two different sentences on two different lines.

In a word document you would simply press the enter key but in the last post “introducing p, b and i to your list of html tags” you can see that clear space in html coding does nothing once opened in an internet browser.

Thats where the <br> tag comes in, it stands for line break and does exactly that, it breaks portions of text up and moves them onto different lines. This is a standalone piece of code meaning there is no end tag (so you dont need to put </br> ). You can also use it multiple times in a row to create greater space between content.

The screen shot below demonstrates the use of this. In green you can see it used to break a line of text putting it on two separate lines. Where in red it has been used multiple times to create even more space between text.

Click image to enlarge

HTML; the language of the digital world

In todays society the chosen method used for communicating information is the Internet. Everything from news articles, social media, shopping, videos, music and so much more is available on the web making it such a convenient piece of technology as its able to perform multiple tasks tailored to an individuals wants and needs. Every website on the Internet whatever its purpose has been created using HTML coding (HyperText Markup Language) with its role being to info your computer what the display should look like for each site. It is the visual products exchanged over the global network of computers.

A visual representation of the Internet pathways

Why would you want to learn HTML?

The Internet is a growing resource of which we are using increasingly in everyday life. It is the most common language in the world but most people are unaware it’s even there. Understanding this language enough for you to create your own digital tools is something that will open up opportunities for you when using this technology. HTML gives you the power to create any personal website with your own customised look. It will also increase your employability as knowledge of HTML is a desired skill in this day and age.

There is much that could be said about HTML but if you have read the “About” page you will know I don’t have a vast amount of knowledge on this topic, but I intend to learn. So if you are ready , Let’s get to it.