About HTML

HTML Tutorials

If you are new to creating Web pages and HTML, the HyperText Markup Language that is behind them, check out the online tutorials listed below. You may also want to investigate the Web publishing classes offered by MIT's Information Systems Training Group.

• Raggett's 10 minute Guide to HTML, published by the World Wide Web Consortium
• Electronic Publishing at MIT Using HTML, written by MIT's IS Training and Publications
• Create Your Own Home Page on Athena, written by MIT's IS Training and Publications
• Introduction to HTML a very well-written guide by Ian Graham, U. Toronto

A number of books on HTML are available; check the selections at Quantum Books or The Coop.

HTML Editors and Converters

HTML Editors

In addition to learning to write HTML code, you can also create your pages using WYSIWYG* HTML editing programs like Macromedia Dreamweaver (available for MAC and PC platforms), or HotMetal ( available under Athena). These work like word processing packages. MIT has a site license for Dreamweaver 4, which is the IS-supported and recommended HTML editor for MIT Web pages. You can obtain a copy of Dreamweaver 4 by filling in the online regisration forms linked to from the Dreamweaver at MIT page.

*"What you see is [almost] what you get."

HTML Converters

Converter programs translate documents from their original application format into HTML. These programs can save time when converting word processing, spreadsheet, or other document types to HTML, especially when the alternative is to code the document in HTML by hand. Be aware that, except for the simplest of documents, the results from these conversions can vary greatly, usually with only partial success. After converting a document, you will probably need to do some work on the HTML to get the desired look on the resulting Web pages.

The following are converters commonly used at MIT:

LaTeX and TeX

Two programs are available on Athena for converting LaTeX and TeX files into HTML: latex2html and TtH.

FrameMaker

You can save a FrameMaker document in HTML: from the File menu select Save As; in the Save Document dialog box, go to the Format drop-down list and select HTML; remember to rename the file with a suffix of ".html".

RTF (Rich Text Format)

On Macintosh, Windows, and other systems, word processing files saved as Rich Text Format can be converted to HTML using RTFtoHTML. You can download RTFtoHTML for free.

Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)

In recent versions of Microsoft Office you can save Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or Access documents as HTML: open the document in the appropriate application; go to the File menu; select Save as HTML; remember to rename the file with a suffix of ".html". (In PowerPoint and Access a Wizard will help you create the HTML file.) Dreamweaver 4 has a special tool to clean up MS Word HTML conversions.

Do not link documents in proprietary formats such as Word or Excel, or other word processor or spreadsheet formats, directly to your web pages. Your readers may not have a compatible application installed, which mean they will either have to find some other application to convert the data or it won't be inaccessible to them.

Documents in other formats can sometimes be converted to HTML either by using converters within the original application, or by using external applications. Conversion service bureaus may also be of help.