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Which plug-ins or programs can help in learning HTML

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Which plug-ins or programs can help in learning HTML

Postby FranksView » Sat Apr 12, 2014 5:00 am

Hi,
I'm new here... and beginning to learn HTML5 and CSS3. I use Notepad++ as a basic text editor.

I know there is a way to get a 'source screen' in Firefox that will show the HTML code on the page (in the lower half I think) - and in Chrome as well I believe.

I'm looking for information on how to view the source screens in Firefox and Chrome as a split screen so that I can troubleshoot and manipulate the code for learning purposes as I am creating Web pages.

Also, I believe there are some free Websites where you can upload your HTML and CSS code and generate a mock Website where if there are any coding errors, the errors are highlighted.

Any and all help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Frank
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Re: Which plug-ins or programs can help in learning HTML

Postby JAB Creations » Sat Apr 12, 2014 2:42 pm

Greetings Frank,

In Firefox all you have to do is right-click and then click on "View Source". If you use Firebug for Firefox then you can view the DOM (Document Object Model) in it's "HTML" tab which will also allow you to make changes immediately for testing purposes without having to reload the page.

Learning CSS3 should be considered more of a final touch, if you're just starting to learn CSS in general you really should establish a foundation from CSS level 1. You can read my CSS level 1 tutorial which will save you from using CSS 2 position needlessly (which widely complicates styling when greenhorns try to brute-force with CSS) and then consider CSS3 after you've advanced your understanding properly.

I also recommend using XHTML 1.1 or XHTML 5 in conjunction with Firefox. Simply create an empty "example.xhtml" file on your desktop and open it with Firefox. You'll immediately get an error message which is actually good. When you're advanced like myself the last thing you want to do is waste three days trying to figure out a problem when you're simply missing a quote someplace. I have some [code=http://www.jabcreations.com/web/xhtml/]XHTML tutorials[/code] available that I recommend you read.

Instead of worry about a free web host right now you can actually run all your (X)HTML from your computer. If you really want to learn you can even setup a server on your computer so even without an internet connection you can use a programming language such as PHP and a database such as PostgreSQL even without an internet connection; I recommend XAMPP which I use for local development.

I keep an eye on the forums on pretty much a daily basis so if you have questions I'll answer them when I get the chance.
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Re: Which plug-ins or programs can help in learning HTML

Postby FranksView » Sun Apr 13, 2014 1:36 am

Thanks.. This is great information... especially the Firebug link. That is exactly the type of thing that I am looking for.

As far as the web hosting, there is some other kind of free service that I came across a while ago that is not web hosting.. but instead you are uploading your HTML and CSS code for testing. I'm sorry that I am a bit hazy on how it works. I know that you can test your own code in your own browsers, so I'm not sure of the benefit of these testing sites...

Maybe it will come back to me as I move forward.. but I have some pretty good leads to keep me busy in the meantime...
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Re: Which plug-ins or programs can help in learning HTML

Postby JAB Creations » Sun Apr 13, 2014 10:57 pm

If you want to test code live you probably are thinking about http://jsfiddle.net/. Keep in mind that if you want to learn how to be competent at doing actual code you'll want to avoid frameworks. They're used by people who are in too much of a rush to meet a deadline often though also by lazy programmers who don't know how to do real code and of course sometimes a mix of both. If you learn how to code competently you'll be able to write real code as quick if not quicker than those who rely on frameworks. Usually frameworks are for languages such as JavaScript and PHP.
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Re: Which plug-ins or programs can help in learning HTML

Postby FranksView » Mon Apr 14, 2014 4:10 am

Hello again... I think that jsfiddle is also the type of thing I was looking for. I agree about learning to code properly and I tend to want to dissect things as much as possible in order to build things with a good foundation. I think that this will be a big help when I want to try some troubleshooting and/or getting a feel for how various code works.

Again... thanks for the great info...
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Re: Which plug-ins or programs can help in learning HTML

Postby tazy » Fri Oct 10, 2014 6:57 am

I agree about learning to code properly and I tend to want to dissect things as much as possible in order to build things with a good foundation. I think that this will be a big help when I want to try some troubleshooting and/or getting a feel for how various code works.???
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