New 2 HTML - Optimize Your WebTV

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New 2 HTML - Optimize Your WebTV
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The first, and most basic set of codes most WebTV users learn, is how to make a signature (usually called a sig). This can range from something as simple as changing the background and text colors, to something as large, and often more creative than most homepages.

I suggest that you get some paper and a pencil. Most "old timers" have notebooks and scraps of paper with bits of code all over the place, as there will always be something new to learn.

Let's begin

The codes used to create your sig will be placed in what is called the Signature Box. This is a page that will display it's contents to every email or newsgroup post that you make.

Signature Box Location:

Click the Mail key on your keyboard.

Click "Settings" just above the mail list on the right.

Click "Signature." This page is your Signature Box.

While on this page, it is a good idea to save your signature box in your Favorites for easy access. When you begin this adventure, you will be in and out of this area a lot, so make it easy on yourself. It is a great idea to assign your signature box to one of your seven shortcut F-keys for one click access to this often used area. For more information on assigning an F-key, Click Here.

Adding your first code

Let's begin creating your first signature. We will change your mail page and text color with this simple code. All codes will begin with the same tag, which will tell the browser what language the codes will be written in. This tag must be the first thing in your signature box, even a blank space before it will spoil the whole code.

Copy this code exactly as written, don't miss the quotation marks and add a single space only where you see them in the code
<html>
After entering the codes, always click the Done button to save your work.

Congratulations, you have made your first signature. Now go to your email and address it and send it to yourself to see your handy-work.
You can change the colors to what might be your own favorites. In the beginning you will stay with basic color names, but as time goes on you will learn that there are 144 commonly used color names and hundreds of possible colors can be created with HEX codes.

Lets review the codes used, and also what they do in this basic signature.

<html>
The html opening tag tells the browser what code scripting language you will be using. This will always be the first thing on any HTML page, and even a blank space before it can deactivate the entire code set, causing the codes themselves to show on your email page, rather than display what their "action" is to be. There should never be more than one HTML tag.

<body bgcolor="white" text="blue">
The body tag and it's attributes set the colors of the background and text. In later lessons you will learn that there is more that can be done in the body tag, but there should never be more than one completed container for the body.

</body>
These two tags tell the browser that the BODY and HTML codes have ended, therefore nothing should come after these closing tags.

Your First Tools

I will be suggesting tools as we go along. It is a good idea to use one of your Favorites Folders for tools, as keeping things organized now will be a big help later. You can have up to 20 folders, each holding 32 page links. Here are a few tools that will get you started.

Test Bed
This is a great tool to have, as it allows you to enter and test codes.

Color Chart
This chart has the 144 color names supported by all browsers, and will let you test your text on different colored backgrounds.

Printable Color Chart
Here is a large color chart that uses HEX codes. We will discuss HEX codes in later lessons. If you have a printer,
this is a handy chart to print out.

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