Learning HTML
Lesson 3 -- Text Formating: Bold <B>, Italics <I>, and Typewriter Text <TT>

In your text editor, enter the text below and save it as "sample3.html" on your floppy disk. Then return to Netscape and load the file.

There are two types of text formatting.  The first is called
Physical Styling.  Some people argue that <I>Logical Styling</I>
is better.  Howeverthe simplicity of Physical Styling
is sometimes preferable.<P>
 
There are three types of Physical Styles:<BR>
The first is <B>Bold</B><BR>
The next is <I>Italics</I><BR>
And the third is <TT>Typewriter Text</TT><P>
 
You can combine physical styles.  Be sure to <B><I>close in
opposite order that you opened</I></B> so they are properly
<TT><B>NESTED</B></TT>.

What am I supposed to see? sample3.html

HTML tags consist of a left angle bracket (<), followed by the tag name and closed by a right angle bracket (>). Tags are usually paired, e.g. <B> and </B>. The ending tag looks just like the starting tag except a slash (/) precedes the text within the brackets. A common exception to the pairing rule is the <P> & <BR> tags.

• <B> indicates where to start bold formatting, </B> indicates the bold text is complete.
• <I> and </I> tags turn on and off Italics.
• Finally, <TT> and </TT> tags turn on and off Typewriter Text (used for code).

When using multiple tags, for example, to produce text which is <B><I>bold AND italic</I></B>, you should close the tags in the OPPOSITE order you opened them. This way the tags wrap around one another and one does not interfere with the function of the other.

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Last Update: August 25, 1999
Contact: ISU Extension Training Team (eittrain@iastate.edu)