Document setup, text, links, and resource boundaries.
Document identity
Start with parsing mode, encoding, titles, and the viewport.
- HTML elements by purpose: a practical reference
- HTML document skeleton: declare language, encoding, and a real title
- HTML doctype: keep the browser in standards mode
- HTML parsing: void elements and repaired markup
- HTML title and metadata: distinguish document identity from page copy
- HTML meta description: write a page summary from actual content
- HTML viewport metadata: let a mobile layout use device width
- HTML site icon: identify a document in browser UI
- HTML color-scheme metadata: declare supported UI schemes separately from browser chrome
Readable text and code
Choose text structures that retain their meaning without visual treatment.
- HTML headings and paragraphs: expose a readable outline without styling tricks
- HTML lists: choose ordered, unordered, or term-description structure
- HTML inline text: emphasis, importance, code, and abbreviations
- HTML pre and code: preserve source layout without hiding the meaning
- HTML character references: escape data before inserting it into markup
- HTML global attributes: keep id, class, and data-* jobs separate
- HTML ordered-list numbering: keep source order and displayed rank aligned
Links and resource boundaries
Understand navigation, download behavior, URL resolution, and resource hints.
- HTML anchors: use href for navigation and stable fragment targets
- HTML links in a new tab: preserve context without hiding the action
- HTML download links: distinguish a file transfer from page navigation
- HTML base: change how every relative URL resolves
- HTML link referrer policy: control what a navigation reveals
- HTML alternate language links: identify equivalent page versions
- HTML resource hints: preload only a known critical asset
- HTML print stylesheet: declare a separate rendering context
- HTML subresource integrity: bind a stylesheet to the bytes you reviewed
Common Mistakes
Each lesson explains a browser contract. An illustrative asset or endpoint is not a deployed service until its owner supplies and verifies it.
