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18. The basics of HTML

HTML is to the internet what the alphabet is to writing: it is both a set of characters giving indications on the meaning of content and a specific logic for the classification of content. The code is therefore very useful for improving the referencing of articles.

Definition of the HTML code

HTML code is a form of meta language that gives indications of functionality attached to the content of an article. It is composed of tags, an opening tag that specifies the order to be applied and a closing tag that indicates the end of the order. For example, a link placed on a piece of text is defined by this tag:

<a href= »XXXX XXXXXX » target= »_blank »>XXXXXXX XXXXXXX</a>

The first part indicates the URL address (href, the reference) to which the clickable phrase (target blank, the target) will direct you.

The main tags to know

Several tags refer to basic typographical codes:

<strong> or <b> (for bold) indicates bold text

<i> or <em> indicates italic text

<p> indicates the start of a paragraph and </p> indicates the end, with an indentation in the line following that paragraph

<center> allows you to centre text or an image on the screen

This tag allows you to insert an image in .jpg format together with its credit:

<img src= »/files/XXXX XXXXX.jpg » title= »CREDIT » alt= »CREDIT »>

More complex tags allow you to insert sound, photos and videos. For example, the embedded code that sharing platforms allow you to copy and paste into your own content is also an HTML tag.