Months ago I wrote a post “In Praise of Rich Text Format,” a computer format that facilitates transfer of word processing documents from computer to computer, from word processor to word processor. It’s the real universal file format for writers, especially those not entirely ruled by the authority of Microsoft.
HTML, the major file format for the internet, attempts to accomplish an even larger task: transfer of a text document from computer to computer, including both PC’s and MAC’s, via the World Wide Web. It’s an immensely complicated task, a marvel that it works at all.
Many, if not most writers have no idea just what’s involved. But the well-equipped writer must understand at least the general workings of HTML.
The problem to overcome is clear enough. There are PC’s, MAC’s and even Linus operating systems. And they all speak very different languages. Moreover, no two computers are completely identical. Some computers, for example, have the typeface Ariel readily available; others don’t. On top of it all, computers talk with the internet via BROWSERS, the major ones being Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, the open-source favorite Firefox, the upstart Opera and the MAC’s favorite, Safari — and many others. Each browser has its own way of doing things.
HTML attempts to make documents viewable in a predictable form across the vast range of hardware and software options.
The result isn’t necessarily what we would expect. Take this blog, for instance. In the last week, reader feedback prompted me to take a look at how Becoming A Writer Seriously actually looks from computer to computer, from browser to browser, from operating system to operating system. I was amazed at the differences I discovered. I went from computer to computer, calling up the blog in one browser, then another. Even within a single computer, I checked how the blog looked at different screen settings, the 600 x 800 setting preferred by us old-timers with challenged vision, as well as the more expansive setting preferred by game players and graphics nuts. The differences were startling. Different typefaces showed up, in headlines as well as in text. Text size varied dramatically. The blog’s entries and the sidebar showed up quite differently.
But what was most amazing was the fact that the underlying format of HTML was functioning in all of these different settings. The more deeply you become involved in writing, the more important it is to understand how this all works.
Unlike RTF, for instance, HTML calls up not a single typeface, but suggests a series which each computer can choose from, depending on what’s installed on the computer. Moreover, headlines are not individually set. Instead of calling for 18 point Times Roman, HTML will preset in a style sheet a series of headline styles, labelled from <h1> down through <h5> or so. Even type size is determined differently, referring more often to the percentage of size, say 80 percent or 110 percent of a designated headline style. Yes, it’s confusing at first, but once one gets the basic idea, it all falls into place.
As a very fundamental introduction, here’s a video that takes you through the most basic of HTML, where one writes some code to specify type style and size. ”Code” — a mysterious word. Code is simply instruction, invisible to viewers unless they specifically call it up, to each computer about what fonts to use, what size, what spacing, all the ingredient to a page’s design and appearance. The video shows you an example or writing simple code to set a headline and some body text.
The main trick to notice is that each operation is turned on by a piece of code [enclosed by carrot marks] and turned off, using the slash mark, which denotes end of operation. With that understanding in mind, even someone fairly new to HTML can spot the operational “packages,” that is the code directions and the content that is in-between.
In the case of my own blog, last week I was asked to take a look at increasing type size. Now I don’t know a lot about HTML or its offshoots CSS and PHP. But equipped with the knowledge outlined above and some hints from a computer manual, I was able to get under the hood and make some adjustments, which made dramatic changes in the blog’s appearance.
Having that basic understanding can be very, very helpful indeed. So, as a writer, don’t run away from discourse about HTML. Take a look and try to enlarge your understanding about how it works.
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Comment by
Benjamin Eavey
29 Nov 2007
Good post. Some quick corrections, though: it’s a “Mac”, not a “MAC” (Mac = computer, MAC = Media Access Control). Also, it’s “Linux”, not “Linus” (Linus Torvalds is the creator of Linux, which is where the confusion comes from).
A nice little primer for people new to HTML. Good job.
Comment by
Tom Colvin
29 Nov 2007
Thanks, Benjamin. As you can plainly see, I’m a non-tech writer, struggling to learn and share. I’m making progress. I had no idea about the difference between Mac and MAC. The Linux-Linus confusion was just a stupid typo; I know better.
Your comments are much appreciated.
Comment by
Jeremy Osborne
29 Nov 2007
I love how HTML and CSS, when used with a bit of planning and not much more common sense, allow a writer to completely separate content to be displayed from from of display. Today’s HTML tags are virtually semantically correct, too. Besides text, it’s the only content structuring format that I know of that is human readable with little to no training.
Now, styling the HTML pages, that’s for someone more publisher blood than I have in my veins.