Advanced HTML Topics

An HTML document can be more than just grey background and text. Adding a background texture can add zip to a home page. Web authors can make their own backgrounds with a simple paint program such as the one that comes with Windows. These images can be inserted by most HTML editors with a click of a button. Displaying image is similar to displaying wallpaper used in Windows. An image used for backgrounds is generally a small graphic which is tiled to make one large picture. If the image appears irratic when joined, take a look at the link to the Making Seemless Images. A large number of precreated images can be located at The Icon and Texture Page. For design hints try this page.

The previous web site also has numerous icons. Icons are another way to make a web page more pleasing to the eye. Examples of different kinds of icons are exhibited at the beginning of each paragraph. Icons can also be used to create backgrounds. Icons used as backgrounds can be harsh to look at because a viewer may have a hard time distinguishing the foreground lettering from the background. While icons are pleasing, they may also have a negative effect if too many are used on a web page. Graphics take time to download, and viewers become impatient with long download times and go to other pages.

Text also does not have to be just black. Predefining the color of the text in the BODY statement can make the text virtually any color. The secret is to know the hexadecimal representation of the colors. This site gives all the color codes available already converted to hexidecimal. More in depth topics on color can be found at Poynton's Color FAQ. Once again for those who don't want to bother with color theory, many HTML editors allow you select color from a color chart

Counters keep track of the number of times your home page is visited. An example of a counter is found at the bottom of this page. While counters are not easily created, many counter software packages exist and many vendors are willing to create counters for a slight fee. You can also add a clock to your home page. For a listing of different counters, take a look at Web Page Access Counters and Trackers. A note of caution, most counters will not operate without acces to the servers the web page is located on.

Animation is another way to give movement to a web page. Creating animation is not difficult. All that is needed is a series of GIFs, each picture being slightly different from the previous . Motion is created by showing the various images in sequence at a given location as illustrated in the image at the start of this paragraph. This is but a brief summary. To learn more about Animation on the WWW click here. There are GIF animation editors available.

Also available to enlighten a web page are audio files. Most web sites have audio of songs which play over and over repeatedly. A browser usually has an application associated with it to play the sound as a user accesses the page. A word of warning though, the sound may become annoying to a user after a few minutes of listening. If the browser is able, it most often has controls to turn off the sound at will of the viewer.