HTML made Simple - common problems

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<< STUDY SKILLS << COMPUTING << INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY HTML - common problems 1. Everybody runs into technical problems when they first create Web pages. Don't feel bad about it. Just learn from your mistakes. 2. The most common problems are caused by small details and the need for complete accuracy. 3. Filenames must be spelled accurately. They should not contain any spaces, and some keyboard characters - such as /, &, and @ - are not allowed. [These are reserved for transmitting data over the Web.] 4. It is safest to use all lower-case letters. Some computers will treat filename.htm and Filename.htm as different files. 5. Tags must be opened and closed rigorously. If you type the following, it will not work: <B>Put this in bold<B> This is because the tag has not been properly closed with </B>. 6. The same would happen if you were to miss one of the angled brackets - <B>Put this in bold /B>. 7. HTML code must be completely accurate. The following examples all contain mistakes: <A HREF="filename.htm>filename</A> <BODY BGCOLOUR="AQUA"> <FONT SIZE ="5">some text here</FONT> 8. In the first example, one double quote mark is missing; in the second the spelling is incorrect; and in the third, there is a space. The correct codes are: <A HREF="filename.htm">filename</A> <BODY BGCOLOR="AQUA"> <FONT SIZE="5">some text here</FONT> 9. Missing items It is very easy to omit a small element of code - especially if you are keying it in manually. For instance if you typed - <A HREF="filename.htm"filename</A> - this would not show up on the screen. In fact nothing you typed after it would appear. That's because the angled bracket is missing after the file name. 10. Bad syntax Tags must be opened and closed in the correct sequence. The following is an example of incorrect 'nesting' of tags. <FONT SIZE=5><B>big and bold</FONT></B> This is the correct sequence: <FONT SIZE=5><B>big and bold</B></FONT> Common complaints! "I've just made some changes to my web page, but when I reload it in the browser, it looks exactly the same as before." Answer One reason could be that you forgot to save the changes to your page. Go to the HTML document in your editor and SAVE before viewing it. "I've put a word in BOLD for effect, but now all the rest of the document is showing in bold." Answer You've probably forgotten to switch off the BOLD tag. Look for where the <B> tag starts, then check that it ends </B> immediately after the selected word. "All the text in my document is showing up in a huge bold font size." Answer You've probably forgotten to switch off the HEADING tag. Look for where the <H1> tag starts, then check that it ends </H1> immediately after the heading. "I've added a graphic, but it's not showing in my browser. There's a funny-looking square showing instead." Answer Your browser cannot find the graphic. It puts the 'broken icon' there instead. Make sure the full path is correct in every detail. <IMG SRC="graphics/filename.gif"> "I've done that - and it's still not showing!" Answer Make sure that the file is a .gif file and not a .jpg file - or vice versa. And check that the file extension is the same as the one in the name of the graphic file itself. " Yes, I've done that as well - and it's still not showing! HELP!" Answer Make sure that the file is located in the correct directory [or folder]. If you have a /GRAPHICS folder for your .gif and .jpg files, make sure the file is in there - and not hidden amongst your .htm files. "I've added a new page, but it's not showing in my browser. There's a message saying - 'Unable to find the file or directory'. What does this mean?" Answer Your browser cannot find the page. Check that the path is showing the same name that you gave the page. Check that your use of letter case is the same in filename and path. [That's one reason why it's better not to use capital letters in filenames.]

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HTML - common problems