We have already covered some basic HTML tags you will use when writing your web page code. Here are a few more that you might find come in handy, when designing your own web page.

Image Tags

In HTML, when you want to call upon an image to be displayed on your web page, you need to use the img tag. This tag tells the browser and web server that you are going to put an image here, and then what follows src= is the direct path to the image in question.

Code: <img src=”http://www.yourdomain.com/yourimage.jpg” />

Horizontal Rule Tags

The horizontal rule is for making a nice separator between sections of your web page. It acts as a single solid line that can be placed anywhere on your web page. It looks like this:

Code: <hr />

List Tags

If you want to format a list of topics on a single page, then the list tags will come in handy. You would start a list with the <ul> tag and end it with the </ul> tag. For each item on the list, you will want to wrap it in the <li> and </li> tags.

Code: <ul> <li>item #1</li> <li>item #2</li> </ul>

Ordered List Tags

If you want to format a list of topics on a single page, and have them numbered, the ordered list tags should be used. You would start a list with the <ol> tag and end it with the </ol> tag. For each item on the list, you will want to wrap it in the <li> and </li> tags.

Code: <ol> <li>item #1</li> <li>item #2</li> </ol>

Link Tags

Links are used to help users go from one page to the next page. The basic link is started with the <a href=”"> tag with the page’s path you want to link to inside the quotation marks. Then you type in the text of the link, and close it out with the </a> tag.

Code: <a href=”http://www.somedomain.com/pageiamlinkingto.html”>This Text is a Link</a>

Facebook Fan Page Come join the fun on the Web Hosting Show Facebook Fan Page!

© Mitch Keeler 2011 | Check out my firefox help site and my tech blog too!

 

When it comes to formatting a web page using HTML code, you can think of it (kind of) in the same way you would look at formatting a document formatted by a word processor. You have your headlines to show you where one section starts and stops. You have your paragraphs to break up blocks of text, and you have line breaks to show where there should be a new line started. Now I am going to show you how to get some of these things done using HTML.

Headline Tags

The main purpose of the headline tags are make the titles stand out on the page, and also tell the browser and visitors where the titles are. You can use <h1></h1> for the main title, then (if needed) <h2></h2> for a secondary title. The bigger the number gets, the smaller or less important the title becomes. Remember to use the headline tags for headings only. It is not a good idea to use them to make text bigger or bolder. Also, search engines look at how your headline tags are used to help index the structure of the content on your web pages.

Code: <h1>This Is My Title</h1>

Paragraph Tags

The paragraph tags are important because they show the start (

) and then end

of where a paragraph should be on your web page. Having a long page with nothing but unformatted text is going to be very hard for the reader to navigate through. You want to break up the web page with the paragraph tags to make the web page your working on more scan-able for the end user.

Code: <p>This will be shown as it’s own paragraph on my web page.</p>

Line Break Tags

What if you don’t want to go to a new paragraph, and instead only want to break of one line and move to the line right under it? That is what the
or
tags are for. You might see either used, however it might be best to start using
to future-proof your web page for browsers in the future (just in case support for
was ever dropped.

Code: I can put this at the end of a line to show where I want it to stop. <br />

Blockquote Tags

When text has been blockquoted, it is often indented a little – in comparison with the other paragraphs around it. So you get white space to the left, and the margins around the text are enlarged a little ‘bit to seperate it from the rest of the text.

Code: <blockquote>This text will be shown as indented on my web page.</blockquote>

Facebook Fan Page Come join the fun on the Web Hosting Show Facebook Fan Page!

© Mitch Keeler 2011 | Check out my firefox help site and my tech blog too!

 

It has been over a year since we launched the Facebook fan page and it has been a real success.  At the current date and time, we have over 500 fans and we keep growing every single day.  Are you missing out on the fun?  All you need to do is head over to our Facebook Fan Page and click on the “Like” button on the top of the website.  Then post your Firefox comments, questions or just say hi to some of the other people who are following the Web Hosting Show on Facebook.

• Join us Today on Facebook!

Facebook Fan Page Come join the fun on the Web Hosting Show Facebook Fan Page!

© Mitch Keeler 2011 | Check out my firefox help site and my tech blog too!

 

There are several HTML tags that can act as modifiers to how the web page looks visually.

First, let us re-visit the body tags. The body tags are there to tell the browser what part of the document is going to be visible to the end user when viewing the web page. This is marked up in your HTML code by putting a <body> where your web page’s content begins and a </body> tags where it ends.

How to Modify the Body Tag

So, any time you modify the body tags, you will be changing the way the web site is seen. There are several body tag modifiers you can use.

Change the Web Page’s Background Color

You can add bgcolor=”VALUE” (replacing VALUE with the name of the color or the HEX number) to change the background color for a web page.

Code: <body bgcolor=”white”> (this would make the background all white)

Change the Web Page’s Text Color

You can add text=”VALUE” (replacing VALUE with the name of the color or the HEX number) to change the background color for a web page.

Code: <body text=”black”> (this would make the text all black)

Change the Web Page’s Link Color

You can add link=”VALUE” (replacing VALUE with the name of the color or the HEX number) to change the color of links on a web page.

Code: <body link=”blue”> (this would make the links all blue)

Change the Web Page’s Visited Link Color

You can add vlink=”VALUE” (replacing VALUE with the name of the color or the HEX number) to change the color of link that have already been visited on a web page.

Code: <body vlink=”red”> (this would make the visited links red)

Change the Web Page’s Active Link Color

You can add alink=”VALUE” (replacing VALUE with the name of the color or the HEX number) to change the color of an active link.

Code: <body alink=”purple”> (this would make the active link purple)

More Helpful Body Tag Tips

You can use more than one of these at a time. If you wanted to, you could use more than one of these body modifiers at a time. you would just need to remember to put a space in between each body modifier. For example:

<body bgcolor="black" color="white">

This is how you would link more than one together, this would tell the browser to make the background of the web page black and the text on the web page white. There is no limit to the number of these modifiers you can use on the body tag, as long as everything is formatted correctly, the web page should come out the way you want it to.

Only add these modifiers to the opening body tag. It is important to note that you only add these modifiers to the opening tag <body> and not the closing tag </body>.

Where can I find the HTML color or HEX values? You can find these many places. One of the best examples, is on w3school.com’s HTML colors page here:

• http://www.w3schools.com/Html/html_colors.asp

Facebook Fan Page Come join the fun on the Web Hosting Show Facebook Fan Page!

© Mitch Keeler 2011 | Check out my firefox help site and my tech blog too!

 

The navigation section of your web site is one of the most important factors to a web site.

Why? The navigation is what allows you to move from one section of the web site to the next, linking web pages to web pages, and in all making a web site work. Here I hope to explain why web site navigation is important, along with a few other key factors you should remember when creating your web site.

Organize Your Web Pages

You should have a good idea of what your web site is going to be about, and how you are going to create it before you start with any HTML coding. One tool that comes in extremely handy when deciding navigation and how each page links to each idea is mind mapping. You can learn more about that process here:

• Introduction to Mind Maps for Webmasters

As an example let us say you are working on a web site about you, so you have these basic web pages designed and ready to go:

• The Home Page (the first thing people see)
• An About Page (which gives more information about you, like your resume)
• Your Contact Page (might have your e-mail address, or various means of contacting you)
• Projects and Work (examples of the work you have done, or the projects you have worked on)

Now somewhere, you will need to have your web site navigation on each of the pages. This can be done in a number of different ways, but the most popular seems to be across the top. This way people can go to and from different parts of the web site, just by clicking the links you see on the top. I would suggest having them formatted this way:

Home | About Me | Contact Me | My Projects

Each one should link to the related pages above. A clean-cut and uniform navigation system is really a must.

Web Site Navigation Tips

Here are some more tips you should watch out for when it comes to web site navigation:

• Create a site map to help people find exactly what they are looking for quickly.
• There is no problem with highlighting certain pages you think deserve more attention, just make sure they don’t take away from your main web site navigation.
• Be sure to use short and precise words in your links, so people will know exactly what they are getting.

This is no doubt that navigation plays a huge roll in how successful your web site is and how long they stick around it. If people can not navigate from web page to web page easily, they might grow frustrated and leave the web site all together. So, having a good navigation system means you can keep more visitors both on and returning to your hosted web site.

Facebook Fan Page Come join the fun on the Web Hosting Show Facebook Fan Page!

© Mitch Keeler 2011 | Check out my firefox help site and my tech blog too!

 

When it comes to very basic website design, every website layout has four basic elements that you should learn. These are the HTML tags, the head tags, the title tags and the body tags.  Each one plays an important part in presenting your website data to the public.

Let’s look at this example of some very basic website code and then I’ll tell you about each part:

<html>
<head>
<title>My First Web Site</title>
</head>
<body>
This is my first web site.  I hope you enjoy it!
</body>
</html>

The HTML Tags

The <html> and </html> tags wrapped around the text tells you this is an HTML document. They signify the start of the web page and the end of the web page.

The Head Tags

The <head> and </head> tags wrapped around the title tags tell the web browser this is where you can get specific information about this page, and how it is displayed. The head tags must be at the top of the page, after the first HTML tag.

The Title Tag

The <title> and </title> tags tells the browser that what is in between here is the title for the web page. It will be shown (in most browser) at the top of the menu and on the tab you are browsing from.

The Body Tags

The <body> and </body> tags wrapped around the text tells you this is the “body” of the web page, where the content you want displayed in the browser goes.

Remember to Close Your Tags

You might have noticed that these tags come in pair. One of these tags is used to start the command to the web browser, and the other is used to end or close it. For example, when you use the <title> tag, you are telling the web browser, “Hey, this is the web page’s title here, pay attention!”. Now, you need to tell the web browser that you are done telling it the title of your page page. You use the </title> tag to say, “Ok, done telling you what the title is – move along!”

Facebook Fan Page Come join the fun on the Web Hosting Show Facebook Fan Page!

© Mitch Keeler 2011 | Check out my firefox help site and my tech blog too!

 

Hyper Text Markup Language, or as you know it HTML, is the markup language for most web pages on the Internet.

Now, it is not exactly a language like English or Spanish, which we communicate with verbally. A markup language is a system for editing text in a way that changes how the text looks or how you interact with it. Where you use funny looking code to make one section of text look different than the other, the code in question is not seen by the end user. The server the web page is coming from, and the user’s browser come together to help mesh it together as something that is seen as visually appealing to the end user.

A Simple HTML Example

Here is an example of a web site written in HTML code:

<html>
<body>
<p>This is my first web site.  I hope you enjoy it!</p>
</body>
</html>

Breaking Down the HTML Code

As you can see from the text above, this is a pretty simple example. You have the basic text of the web site, “This is my first web site. I hope you enjoy it!” with several HTML tags wrapped around it. The HTML tags are what give the text commands on how it should be interpreted by the browser.

• The <html> and </html> tags wrapped around the text tells you this is an HTML document.
• The <body> and </body> tags wrapped around the text tells you this is the “body” of the web page, where the content you want displayed in the browser goes.
• The <p> and </p> tags wrapped around the text tells you this should be formatted as a paragraph.

Here are some frequently asked questions somebody might have at this point.

How do you create an HTML file like this one? Best thing to use would be a plain text editor, such as Notepad. The reason for this, is you want the files in question to be saved with no extra markup information included.

How do I save the file as a HTML web page? You will want to save the file with a .html extension at the end. This will tell the web browser that this page is an HTML coded page, and should be read like one. As an example, I saved this file as “test.html”. The “test” name does not matter at this point, it could be anything. We will dive deeper into how to name your HTML files in a later tutorial.

Facebook Fan Page Come join the fun on the Web Hosting Show Facebook Fan Page!

© Mitch Keeler 2011 | Check out my firefox help site and my tech blog too!

 

This has been a project on the back burner for a while that I am finally getting around to creating.  Today I bring to you my newest project, Mitchcraft.  This new YouTube series will follow me as I play the sandbox building and adventure game – Minecraft. I will do my best to keep things as entertaining as possible – but I’ll need your help.  Make sure you subscribe, like and comment on the videos you see.  Giving me feedback on what you do like and don’t like will help me develop a show you want to see.

I think rather than describing it to you, it might be better if I just show you the first episode:

I have been a big fan of others doing these “Let’s Play” type videos for a while.  With my experience with recording the Web Hosting Show podcast, I figured the transition should not be too hard to make.  New updates for Mitchcraft will only be posted on Mitchelaneous.com, so be sure to subscribe there too (if you are not already doing so).  Thank you for your continued support on all of my projects.

Facebook Fan Page Come join the fun on the Web Hosting Show Facebook Fan Page!

© Mitch Keeler 2011 | Check out my firefox help site and my tech blog too!

 

If you need high performance web hosting, the choice you have these days is between dedicated hosting and VPS hosting.  So, which one is a better value?  Which hosting plan type with give you the most bang for your buck?  Well, for the most part – it will come down to your basic hosting needs.  More and more people are turning to these two hosting plan types as their own website grow in popularity so let me break down the basics of why one of these hosting plan types might be better than the other.

So which one of these two web hosting plans gives you the best value?

VPS Hosting Value

VPS is an acronym for virtual private server.  I won’t go too deep into the dictionary definition, but in a nutshell this type of hosting plan is a virtual machine setup on a server.  A web host can run a series of VPS accounts all from the same server (as they do with shared hosting) however, VPS hosting gives you more server resources to work with (such as RAM and CPU power).  If you are just running a series of websites and have no idea how to be a server administrator – VPS is the best upgrade you can make.  You can get the power of a dedicated server environment at a significantly cheaper price.  The drawback with VPS hosting is that you might not be able to do some advanced server side configurations.

Dedicated Hosting Value

A dedicated server or dedicated hosting plan would be you renting an entire server to do the work you need to have done.  Unless you get it fully managed (which will be costly) you will be responsible for keeping all the server side things like the control panel, PHP, MySQL and other things of that nature all updated yourself. If you know how to do all that, this isn’t a problem.  Your average guy on the street might have no clue how to do this so this is already the first drawback for the service.  The advantage to dedicated hosting is that you get to set things up however you see fit.  The window of customization is fully open for you to tweak and configure things to fit your needs.

Overall, I think most people will find that VPS hosting offers more value than a dedicated server hosting package. The one thing it comes down to for me is that you can get the best of both shared hosting and dedicated hosting all wrapped into one package.  You can get the server side things totally managed by the web host, as you would with shared hosting.  VPS hosting also offers you more RAM and CPU usage, which is necessary for any popular website of any type. If you have another opinion though, feel free to share them in the comments.  Would love to hear a viewpoint from the other side of the fence.

Facebook Fan Page Come join the fun on the Web Hosting Show Facebook Fan Page!

© Mitch Keeler 2011 | Check out my firefox help site and my tech blog too!

 

Dear Loyal Listeners,

HELP!

It is your good friend, the web hosting industry’s media rock star, here with a ‘bit of a problem that I hope you can help me with.  You see, the podcast has been on a ‘bit of a hiatus as of late – and I am sorry for that.  However, I have just about run out of ideas and topics.  To me, it seems like I have covered just about everything there is – so I need your help.

Let me know, what new topics would you like to hear talked about on the Web Hosting Show? You suggest it – and I will do it.  It is as simple as that.  This podcast isn’t for me, it isn’t for them, it is for you – so if there is a topic you would like to learn more about, and it has something to do with the web hosting industry, please send it my way.

Even if you have never commented here or left a message on any website before, I want your opinions, your ideas.  Let me know how I can make this resource better for you and I will do it. So how can you send me these ideas? You can either leave them as a comment on this post or use my nifty contact page to send your message along.

Thank you for your support and for your ideas for future episodes of the Web Hosting Show podcast.

- Mitch

Facebook Fan Page Come join the fun on the Web Hosting Show Facebook Fan Page!

© Mitch Keeler 2011 | Check out my firefox help site and my tech blog too!