HTML is the most widely used markup language on the Internet. Internet pages transmit their content in the form of HTML to your browser, which reads and implements the syntax. In addition, HTML contains information for the style, the formatting or the Search engine optimization SEO.

Why HTML?

HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) is a so-called markup language that determines the content and form of digital documents. Besides HTML, there are other markup languages such as XML or Ajax. The markup languages are constantly being developed and updated to newer versions. The first HTML version appeared in 1992, after the markup language had been proposed three years earlier.

When using the Internet, a variety of different output devices are used: screens do not have uniform dimensions and the browser window can be enlarged or reduced. Nevertheless, an Internet page should always display the content in such a way that it can be easily recognized. For this reason it is not advisable to fix individual page elements absolutely. In this context, HTML plays an important role in the formatting of texts or in the arrangement of image and video files on an Internet page.

More generally speaking, HTML mediates between the particular web page and your web browser. The language contains characters, special characters, formatting, links, metadata, and much more. Metadata are HTML components that you do not see in the normal view of your browser. Nevertheless, they are essential for the function of a website and contribute for example to search engine optimization.

The basic structure: HTML brackets

HTML makes use of parentheses (like many markup and programming languages) to structure the syntax. HTML parentheses follow the same principle as the parentheses in the previous sentence: an opening parenthesis marks the beginning of a unit, while a closing parenthesis marks the end. Unlike normal punctuation marks, HTML brackets define what exactly happens to the text between them.

For example, if you want to underline a text part, use the syntax "text" (without spaces in the square brackets). If this syntax is on a web page, your browser can read it and automatically converts it to an underlined word.

However, HTML is not only used to format text within a web page. Instead, HTML organizes the entire document.

Head and body of HTML documents

At the beginning a virtual document defines to the browser which markup language it uses. With HTML5, this is done first with the specification "" and then with the bracket "" (also here and for all following HTML specifications: without spaces between the square brackets). "" is a bracket that opens and closes only at the very end of the document. It is important that you specify the correct document type definition. Versions before HTML5 use a more detailed definition instead of "".

This is followed by the header of the document with the syntax "". The HTML header includes metadata, page title, scripts and other components. Only after all specifications of the title the bracket of the HTML header closes with "".

Only then write the HTML body, which is marked with "". The body of a document makes up the main part of a web page. It provides space for text, picturesvideo files and other elements. After all desired content is inserted into the syntax, close the HTML body with the bracket "".

The digital document ends with the syntax "", which indicates the end of the HTML text.

Common HTML elements

(Syntax without spaces between the square brackets OR without spaces after the "&"!)

- Title:
- bold text: text or text
- italic text: text or text
- underlined text: text
- Link: Link description
- 1st order heading:

heading

- 2nd order heading: Subordinate heading
- Paragraph:

This text fills the whole paragraph.

This is the second paragraph.

- At sign (@): & #64; or & commat;
- Right arrow: & #8594; or & rarr;
- Left arrow: & #8592; or & larr
- Arrow up: & #8593; or & uarr;
- Arrow down: & #8595; or & darr
- Heart symbol: & #9829; or & hearts;