When you first go to a web site, you probably don't know the name of the initial web page. But if you type an address (URL) such as into your web browser, the server at " will be smart enough to return the "home page".
Every web site has a page called the "home page". A web server will display your home page when a URL request arrives with just a domain name and no other file information. The default name for the home page may vary between web servers, but usually a server begins by looking for a file named "index.html" or "index.htm" in the root directory.
If "index.html" is not present, most web servers will have a list of several different filenames that are acceptable as the home page. The server will search for each default filename in order of importance. As soon as a matching file is found, that file will be used to display the home page. So if you have "home.html", "default.html" and "index.html" in your website root directory, the "index.html" file will most likely be at the top of the list of files to be used as an acceptable home page.
File Encoding
All of your HTML files are text files that can be created and edited in a normal text editor. However, when you save your text file, it's important to select a specific type of "encoding". The encoding of a file refers to the way the text characters are stored by the computer. Encoding happens all the time. It is a process that converts information into a way that can be stored in memory.
When your eyes see a beautiful bird, your brain converts that information into chemical and electrical signals. Those signals are stored in your memory to be retrieved at another time. In the case of computers, the text you write on the screen needs to be converted into something the computer understands and can store in its memory. For HTML files you should use an encoding called "UTF-8".
UTF-8 Encoding
Modern spoken languages are made up of different characters. In English, we use the alphabet, which includes 26 letters from A to Z. Russians use a form of the Cyrillic alphabet, with 33 characters, and Asian languages use many different characters and symbols in their expressions. A computer needs to be able to translate all of these characters into the simple binary 1 and 0 digits that a computer can understand.
UTF-8 is one popular way to encode just about any character from any written language into a series of 1's and 0's that can be stored on a computer. A UTF-8 file can contain any mixture of characters from English, Russian, Korean, Spanish, and other languages.
Finding and Launching your Text Editor
You are going to be using simple text editors to create and save your HTML files. On Windows the default text editor is Notepad, and on Mac OS you will be using TextEdit.
To find and run Notepad on Windows, click on your Windows "Start" menu, then scroll down the list of all programs to find the "Windows Accessories" folder. The Notepad application will be listed inside that folder. You can also click in the Windows "Search" bar and begin typing "Notepad" to find the app installed on your computer. You may want to right-click on the Notepad link and select "Pin to Start" or "Pin to taskbar" for easy daily access.
On Mac OS, you can launch TextEdit by clicking on the TextEdit icon in your Dock area. If not present in your Dock, you can launch Finder and go to the Applications folder. TextEdit will be in your list of apps. You may want to place TextEdit on your Dock for easy daily access.
1. What is a "home page" on a web site?
2. How does a web server determine the correct "home page" for a web site?
3. What is file encoding? Why is it important?
4. What is UTF-8 encoding? Why is it used for HTML files?
1. A "home page" on a website is the main page that is displayed when a user first visits the website. It serves as the starting point for navigation and provides an overview or introduction to the website's content.
2. A web server determines the correct "home page" for a website by looking for a specific file in the root directory of the website. The default name for the home page file is usually "index.html" or "index.htm". If this file is found, it will be displayed as the home page. If not, the web server may have a list of other acceptable filenames that it will search for in a specific order to find the appropriate home page.
3. File encoding refers to the way that text characters are stored by a computer. It is important because different languages and character sets require different encoding methods. The chosen encoding determines how the characters are represented and can affect how the text is displayed and interpreted by computers and web browsers.
4. UTF-8 encoding is a popular encoding method that can represent characters from any written language using a series of 1's and 0's. It is used for HTML files because HTML can include content in various languages and character sets. UTF-8 allows for the inclusion of different characters and symbols from different languages without any encoding issues or character limitations.
1. A "home page" on a website is the main page that is displayed when a user first visits the website. It acts as an entry point to the website and typically contains important information and navigation links to other pages on the site.
2. A web server determines the correct "home page" for a website by looking for a specific file in the root directory of the website. The default name for the home page may vary, but commonly the server looks for a file named "index.html" or "index.htm". If that file is found, it is displayed as the home page. If not, the server may have a list of several different filenames that are acceptable as the home page, and it will search for each file in order of importance until a matching file is found.
3. File encoding refers to the way text characters are stored by a computer. It is important because different languages and characters require different encoding methods to be properly represented and interpreted by computer systems. Choosing the correct file encoding ensures that the text in the file is displayed and processed correctly.
4. UTF-8 encoding is a popular method used to encode characters from any written language into a series of binary digits (1s and 0s) that can be understood and stored by computers. UTF-8 allows for the representation of a wide range of characters from different languages and symbols. It is used for HTML files because HTML can contain text in various languages, and UTF-8 ensures that the characters are displayed accurately regardless of the language used.