Beginning HTML Questions
When you want to start learning HTML, you probably have a lot of questions. These are some of the most common questions I receive about HTML and basic HTML questions.
- What is HTML?
- What is XHTML?
- I wanted to learn HTML, not XHTML, aren’t they different?
- What is an HTML tag or an HTML element?
- Why do URLs often end with a slash?
- What should I name my HTML file?
- What is the index.html page?
- Why does invalid HTML work?
- How can I turn off the border on linked images?
- Why don’t space characters show on web pages?
- What is an emphasis tag?
- Why won’t my edits show up on my live website?
- How can I control the order of how the images load on a web page?
- How can I Learn HTML?
- How do I get my HTML to the web server?
- Why should I use DIV tags, standards, and validate my HTML?
- Why does my page layout stretch while the site is loading?
- Can I use Word to write my web page?
- What is a Favicon?
Advanced HTML Questions
There are also lots of more difficult questions that people ask.
- Can I use a free SSL certificate for my HTTPs pages?
- What is an affiliate program?
- What is a top-level domain name (TLDN)?
- How do you move the copyright symbol up to slightly above the text?
- How do you override the default link colors?
- How can I create a watermark on a web page?
- What is a DTD?
- How do I indent the first line in my paragraphs?
- Why does my page that I wrote on a Macintosh not work on Windows computers?
- What is SHTML?
- How can I set up automatic pagination in my web pages?
- How do I create a drop-down menu that redirects to a new page when selected?
- How do I set up an access key on my links and form fields?
- Where are favicons displayed?
- Why are requests for favicon.ico in my error log?
- Are favicons a security risk?
- How do you make a sidebar item in an article?
HTML5 Questions
HTML5 is the newest version of HTML and many designers have a lot of questions about it.
- What is HTML5?
- What is HTML5 sectioning content?
- What is local storage and the localstorage attribute in HTML 5?
- Are quotes required around HTML 5 attributes?
- Are HTML 5 tags case sensitive?
- Does HTML 5 use a trailing slash in singleton tags?
- Is there a 3d canvas context?
HTML Tag and Attribute Questions
Tags are what make up the bulk of HTML, and attributes modify those tags. These are some common questions about HTML tags and attributes.
- What is an HTML tag or an HTML element?
- What is a blockquote?
- Why must the ID attribute be unique on each page?
- What is pre-formatted text?
- Is there an HTML space tag?
- What is an HTML heading?
- What is a meta tag?
- Why use Meta tags?
- What is a meta redirect?
- HTML size tag—does it exist?
HTML Tables Questions
HTML tables are a useful tool for displaying tabular data. But they can be challenging to learn how to build, especially from scratch.
- How do you build an HTML table from scratch?
- What do the HTML table attributes colspan and rowspan do?
- How can I include one table inside another?
- How do you use a table to line up images like a jigsaw puzzle?
- Why are there spaces between my images when I set up a jigsaw table?
- How do you change the background color of a table?
- How do I set an image as a background for a table?
- Can you attach a background image to the bottom of a table?
- What’s the difference between
THandTDHTML table tags? - How can I convert an Excel document to an HTML table?
- How can I create a variable-width container without a table?
- Why won’t my table display at all in Netscape?
- Why do my empty cells disappear in Netscape?
HTTP Cookies Questions
HTTP cookies are a way designers can store data from their customers. Here are a couple questions I am often asked.
HTML 4 Frames Questions
HTML frames are no longer part of the HTML5 specification, but many HTML 4.01 developers still use them and have questions about them.
- Why should I use frames rather than CSS or CSS rather than frames?
- How Can I Redesign a Framed Web Site?
- Is there an easy way to open all links in one frame?
- What attributes can a frameset have?
- Why are frames so difficult?
- How can I click a link and have it open in a different frame?
- Should I use a body tag when creating a frameset?
- Why do my frames not work on smaller monitors when they look fine on large ones?
HTML Forms Questions
HTML forms let you ask your readers questions, but they can be tricky to use.
- What is the
FORMtag and how can I use it? - How do I get form data emailed to me?
- Do mailto forms only work if the customer has a POP mail client?
- Can I require that some fields be filled in?
- How do I make a form so it can be submitted by hitting <ENTER>?
Web Design Questions
Web design affects how your pages look. Here are a couple of questions I've gotten related to web design.
CSS Questions
CSS or Cascading Style Sheets are an important way to get your web pages to look nice, but they can be very difficult to learn.
- What is CSS?
- What is a style sheet?
- Is CSS case sensitive?
- How do you comment a CSS document?
- What should I name my CSS style sheet file?
- How do you link an external style sheet?
- How do you stretch a background image in a web page?
- What is the comma for in CSS selectors?
- When should you change a
classto anIDAttribute? - When should you change an
IDto aclassattribute? - Why must the
IDattribute be unique on each page? - What is the point of having an
IDand aclassattribute when they act the same? - Why should you define
IDstyles inline rather than in a CSS file? - How do I use CSS includes to include content on my website?
- What’s the difference between
@importandlinkfor adding CSS? - How does the vertical-align style property work?
- How do you override the default link colors?
- Why don’t my CSS colour styles work?
- What’s the difference between
display: noneandvisibility: hidden? - How do I indent the first line in my paragraphs?
- How do you write a print style sheet?
- What are the generic font families in CSS?
- How can I specify fonts in my web pages?
- What font units are available in CSS?
- How can I create a variable-width container without a table?
- Why won’t text-align make my images align where I want them to?
- How do I indent a lot of text?
- How do I eliminate the margins around my page?
- What is the difference between padding and margins?
- How can I specify background images?
- How do I print with CSS and have the page breaks in the right places?
- What does Cascade mean in Cascading Style Sheets?
- What is a User Style Sheet?
- What is the difference between a user and an author style sheet?
- What does !important mean in CSS?
- What does the asterisk (*) mean in the rows and cols definitions?
- How do you set the height of an element to 100%?
Web Software Questions
There are a lot of different types of software related to web design: browsers, editors, even server software.
- What is Internet Explorer compatibility view?
- Will my new web page editor be able to edit my current website?
- Why do browsers allow duplicated
IDs on the same page - How are Google XML sitemaps different from other XML sitemaps?
- Dreamweaver vs. Drupal vs. WordPress—which is best?
- What is a Dreamweaver behavior?
- What browsers and versions support favicon?
Working as a Web Designer or Freelancer Questions
If you're interested in getting paid to do web design, you may be interested in some of the most frequently asked questions about working as a web designer.
- How can I become a professional webmaster or web developer?
- How much programming does a web designer do?
- What dates are quarterly estimated taxes due for U.S. freelancers?
- What should I charge?
- How do you know if an hourly charge is reasonable for a web design?
- Where do you do web design work?—Is this job limited to local markets?
Web Hosting Questions
Web hosting is where you store your website so that your customers can view it.
- What is web hosting?
- Now that GeoCities is gone—what should I do?
- What do I need to switch design firms?
SEO Questions
SEO or search engine optimization is a technique for making sure that your pages read well for customers but also are readable by search engine spiders.
- What is keyword density?
- How do you optimize a multi-page article for search engines?
- How can you tell if a site is a link farm?
Questions About Web Copyright
Web pages have copyright just like any other creative effort.
- If something doesn’t have a copyright notice, can it be copied?
- I want to build a site like ____, would that violate their copyright?
- Are web designs and HTML protected by copyright?
- How do you move the copyright symbol up to slightly above the text?
About.com Free Classes Questions
I offer several different classes on web design, HTML, CSS, and other aspects of web development.
- What classes are offered on this site?
- Are the classes on this site really free?
- How can I sign up for a class on this site?
- I lost a lesson, can you please resend it to me?
- How can I change my email address in one of the Web Design / HTML Classes?
- Can you please remove me from the class?
XML Questions
XML or eXtensible Markup Language is a language for building back end tools for websites and programs.
- What is XML?
- Should I learn XML?
- What is the point of XML?
- Why do browsers display code when viewing XML?
- How are Google XML sitemaps different from other XML sitemaps?
Questions About This Site
These questions are less about HTML or web design but rather about the About.com and the Web Design/HTML site as a whole.
