- Posted by lio on October 5, 2008
Backgrounds
The <body> tag has two attributes where you can specify backgrounds. The background can be a color or an image.
Bgcolor
The bgcolor attribute specifies a background-color for an HTML page. The value of this attribute can be a hexadecimal number, an RGB value, or a color name:
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<body bgcolor="#000000">
<body bgcolor="rgb(0,0,0)">
<body bgcolor="black">
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The lines above all set the background-color to black.
Background
The background attribute specifies a background-image for an HTML page. The value of this attribute is the URL of the image you want to use. If the image is smaller than the browser window, the image will repeat itself until it fills the entire browser window.
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<body background="clouds.gif">
<body background="http://www.w3schools.com/clouds.gif">
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The URL can be relative (as in the first line above) or absolute (as in the second line above).
Note: If you want to use a background image, you should keep in mind:
- Will the background image increase the loading time too much?
- Will the background image look good with other images on the page?
- Will the background image look good with the text colors on the page?
- Will the background image look good when it is repeated on the page?
- Will the background image take away the focus from the text?
Basic Notes - Useful Tips
The bgcolor, background, and the text attributes in the <body> tag are deprecated in the latest versions of HTML (HTML 4 and XHTML). The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has removed these attributes from its recommendations.
Style sheets (CSS) should be used instead (to define the layout and display properties of HTML elements).
Computer Joke
Support: "Type dir, space, a, colon."
Customer: "With a space after 'space'?"
- Posted by lio on October 5, 2008
The Image Tag and the Src Attribute
In HTML, images are defined with the <img> tag.
The <img> tag is empty, which means that it contains attributes only and it has no closing tag.
To display an image on a page, you need to use the src attribute. Src stands for "source". The value of the src attribute is the URL of the image you want to display on your page.
The syntax of defining an image:
The URL points to the location where the image is stored. An image named "boat.gif" located in the directory "images" on "www.w3schools.com" has the URL: http://www.w3schools.com/images/boat.gif.
The browser puts the image where the image tag occurs in the document. If you put an image tag between two paragraphs, the browser shows the first paragraph, then the image, and then the second paragraph.
The Alt Attribute
The alt attribute is used to define an "alternate text" for an image. The value of the alt attribute is an author-defined text:
<img src="boat.gif" alt="Big Boat">
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The "alt" attribute tells the reader what he or she is missing on a page if the browser can't load images. The browser will then display the alternate text instead of the image. It is a good practice to include the "alt" attribute for each image on a page, to improve the display and usefulness of your document for people who have text-only browsers.
Basic Notes - Useful Tips
If an HTML file contains ten images - eleven files are required to display the page right. Loading images take time, so my best advice is: Use images carefully.
Image Tags
| Tag |
Description |
| <img> |
Defines an image |
| <map> |
Defines an image map |
| <area> |
Defines a clickable area inside an image map |
- Posted by lio on October 5, 2008
Forms
A form is an area that can contain form elements.
Form elements are elements that allow the user to enter information (like text fields, textarea fields, drop-down menus, radio buttons, checkboxes, etc.) in a form.
A form is defined with the <form> tag.
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<form>
<input>
<input>
</form>
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Input
The most used form tag is the <input> tag. The type of input is specified with the type attribute. The most commonly used input types are explained below.
Text Fields
Text fields are used when you want the user to type letters, numbers, etc. in a form.
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<form>
First name: <input type="text" name="firstname">
<br>
Last name: <input type="text" name="lastname">
</form>
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How it looks in a browser:
First name:
Last name:
Note that the form itself is not visible. Also note that in most browsers, the width of the text field is 20 characters by default.
Radio Buttons
Radio Buttons are used when you want the user to select one of a limited number of choices.
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<form>
<input type="radio" name="sex" value="male"> Male
<br>
<input type="radio" name="sex" value="female"> Female
</form>
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How it looks in a browser:
Male
Female
Note that only one option can be chosen.
Checkboxes
Checkboxes are used when you want the user to select one or more options of a limited number of choices.
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<form>
I have a bike:
<input type="checkbox" name="vehicle" value="Bike">
<br>
I have a car:
<input type="checkbox" name="vehicle" value="Car">
<br>
I have an airplane:
<input type="checkbox" name="vehicle" value="Airplane">
</form>
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How it looks in a browser:
I have a bike:
I have a car:
I have an airplane:
The Form's Action Attribute and the Submit Button
When the user clicks on the "Submit" button, the content of the form is sent to another file. The form's action attribute defines the name of the file to send the content to. The file defined in the action attribute usually does something with the received input.
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<form name="input" action="html_form_action.asp" method="get">
Username: <input type="text" name="user">
<input type="submit" value="Submit">
</form>
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How it looks in a browser:
Username:
If you type some characters in the text field above, and click the "Submit" button, you will send your input to a page called "html_form_action.asp". That page will show you the received input.
Form Tags
| Tag |
Description |
| <form> |
Defines a form for user input |
| <input> |
Defines an input field |
| <textarea> |
Defines a text-area (a multi-line text input control) |
| <label> |
Defines a label to a control |
| <fieldset> |
Defines a fieldset |
| <legend> |
Defines a caption for a fieldset |
| <select> |
Defines a selectable list (a drop-down box) |
| <optgroup> |
Defines an option group |
| <option> |
Defines an option in the drop-down box |
| <button> |
Defines a push button |
| <isindex> |
Deprecated. Use <input> instead |