Introduction

This is my notes that I'm using to track what I learn. Hopefully you can use this also. Each of the following sections try to cover an area of HTML5. I am not trying to create a complete document. There are already so many sites that cover HTML in-depth. Check out the reference sections for great websites that cover HTML is much greater detail. An important step in learning HTML is learning your tools. I'll list out the tools I'm using. Each person is going to their own likes and dislikes. So explore and try new tools out.

What is HTML?

HTML stands for Hyper Text Mark-up Language. Using tags it is used to describe a page so any browser could read the text file and create a complex layout. HTML 4 has been around a long time and most websites and browsers support it very well. With all the websites wanting to be more have more media, more responsiveness and more functionality; a more advanced version needed to come forward.

At first it looked like XHTML was going to be the replacement. But it didn't give enough new features and it was more strict in the styling of the tags.

HTML 5 is still in flux. Not all the rules and styles have been hammered out. The biggest hurdle is that HTML 5; as with any of the others; is just a standard. Browsers and websites do not need to comply. So what if they don't? Well, then the visitor suffers. It's up to the designers the web developers to attempt to make sense out of the vast standards that all these browsers are holding on to and try to create an experience that will be the same for all visitors, or at least will be an experience they will enjoy.

I will be focusing on HTML 5, but will throw in some tips on how to get the older browsers some love too.

A suggestion I make is that when creating a web site is to use as much elements that are common between 4 and 5. A few elements are considered deprecated and those should be used as rarely as possible.

Site Maps

A site map is an XML file located in the root directory of your site. This file is used by search engines to list your site easier.

Since the file is a simple XML file, it can be easily created by hand in any text editor. A great starting point is to use a sitemap generator to create a file and then you can hand edit it as needed. I'm currently using SiteMapDoc.com

Wikipedia has two articles that should cover most questions, they are Site map and Sitemaps.

By Russ Eby