Fall 2006 week 3: 09/27

1. TOPICS:
   1. LINK   Ordered Lists;
   2. LINK   Unordered Lists;
   3. LINK   Definition Lists;
   4. LINK   Images;
2. HOMEWORK: LINK   Download this week's homework here:
3. QUESTIONS: Here are some questions to help guide you through this weeks' material:
   • What does the abbreviation XHTML stand for?
   • What is XML?
   • What is the difference between XHTML and conventional HTML?
   • What are some of the standards that should guide the typing of strict XHTML?
   • What does CSS stand for? What is it used for?
   • What is the difference between XHTML and CSS?
   • What is an empty tag? What are some examples of empty tags?
   • What attribute must be used with the <img/> in order to place an image into a web page?
4. INTRODUCE: 
   1. Lists: HTML Lists are used to organize and present categories of information to your readers one point at a time; however, because there many ways to present information, there are a few types of lists to choose from. The code for creating an HTML list, when read by the browser, the will automatically create a list formatted depending on which type is chosen.
      1. Ordered Lists are particular types of lists in which the elements that make up the list must be in a particular order. This order may be numbered or lettered, but whatever the case, the order that the items come is important. To create an ordered list you must use the <ol> tag.     To specify a kind of list, you must use the type attribute, and give it a value of 1 for a numbered list, A for a lettered list with upper case letters, a for a lettered list with lower case letters, i for a numbered list using lower case Roman Numerals, and I for a numbered list using upper case Roman Numerals.     If you wish to start the list with a different number or letter, in addition to the type attribute, you must use the start attribute, and then its value will be whatever number or letter you wish to start.     The heading of the list is indicated by a pair of tags, <lh>list heading</lh>, with the heading typed in between them; and, likewise, each item in the list itself is indicated by a pair of tags, <li>list item</li>, with the text for that item in between them.
      2. Unordered Lists are particular types of lists in which the elements that make up the list are NOT in a particular order. This is a bulleted list organized like a shopping list in which the items listed are randomly placed, indicated by a graphic symbol known as a bullet. To create an unordered list you must use the <ul> tag. To specify the kind of bullet graphic, you must use the type attribute here as well, and give it a value of circle, disk, or square. The heading of the list, is indicated by a pair of tags, <lh>list heading</lh>, with the heading typed in between them; and, likewise, each item in the list itself is indicated by a pair of tags, <li>list item</li>, with the text for that item in between them.
      3. Definition Lists are particular types of lists in which the elements that make it up are terms and their definitions. To create a definition list you must use the <dl> tag. The term to be defined is indicated with a pair of tags,<dt>definition term</dt>, and the definition of that term is noted by another pair of tags, <dd> the definition of the term</dd>.
   2. Images are somewhat more complicated that most of the rest of HTML and four (4) things must be kept in mind:
      1. To place an image inside a web-page, one must use a different kind of tag, an empty tag. As mentioned last week, an empty tag does not come in pairs that surround some text or content that it formats or modifies. Instead, they are singular tags that create the content itself.
      2. On its own, the <img/> tag does nothing, so it must be accompanied by a particular attribute which has the task of noting to the browser which image file will be placed in the web-page. This is the src attribute, the source attribute. Following this attribute, you must type the file/folder path of the particular image you wish to place in the web page as its value.
      3. In order for this image to display in the browser, the files in your folder for this web-page must be well-organized and well placed. Here I will make a note of the importance of file organization to the creation of web-pages. I will start with the example of this particular file I am typing now, this week’s class notes.     I typed this document on my computer in my office and I saved it on my hard disk, the C: drive. Inside my C: drive, I have a folder named classes. Inside of that folder I have another folder named spring07 (I have a different folder for each semester). Inside that folder, I have yet another folder named dma110 (once again, I have a different folder for each of the classes I teach); and finally, inside that folder I have a series of folders named by week—week1, week2, week3, etc. up to week14. As this is the third week of class, I saved this document in the week3 folder, and I named it dma110wk3.doc . The folder hierarchy looks like this—    C://classes/spring06/dma110/week2/dma110wk3.doc    I go through explaining all of that because it addresses the issue of hierarchy. This is known as a folder hierarchy. The most important folder comes first as every-thing else is found inside that folder. In my case, all of my files for all of my classes for all of the terms I’ve taught here are located in my classes folder.     Likewise, when you create a new webpage, it is important to create a separate folder for that web-page. You should then save your HTML document inside that folder. This will be the main folder for the new HTML project. Also inside this main folder should be a series of other folders, a folder for each type of content, for example. One folder for your images probably, another for flash files perhaps, yet another for CSS, and still another possibly for sound/music files. If you are not organized, your web-page will likely not appear properly in the browser when you view it. Some images may not show up, you might duplicate some files accidentally, or some other mistake if everything is not in its proper place.
      4. There are attributes which may be used with the <img/> tag:
         1. src—a required attribute which indicates to the browser which image file is to be displayed in the web-page. The location of the file, followed by the filename, and then the file extension must be typed;
         2. alt—another required attribute but one which displays a small box over the image with some text that you type for the value of the attribute. This is alternative text that will be displayed in the case the image does not show up, or whenever you mouse over the image with your cursor;
         3. width—changes the width of the image in the web-page without changing the actual number of pixels in the image file itself. This attribute is meant primarily to make only minute changes in the width either down or up. For large changes, an image editor, such as PhotoShop, should be used;
         4. height—changes the height of the image in the web-page without changing the actual number of pixels in the image file itself. This attribute is meant primarily to make only minute changes in the height either down or up. For large changes, an image editor, such as PhotoShop, should be used;
         5. border—adds a border around the image with a thickness of the designer’s choice. To be used sparingly as it tends to be over-used and used badly.