The online advertising and its use in the World Wide Web

4. The use of metaphor in on-line advertising

This study of metaphor in on-line advertising examined commercial web sites that promote goods or services on the Internet's World Wide Web. Fourteen such web sites were observed and content analyzed according to the coding manual developed through literature reviews and web site observations. These web sites were sampled for their high consumer traffic and popularity.

The purpose of this chapter is to provide advertisers and marketers useful information when developing an Internet presence. By exploring the current uses of metaphor in on-line advertising, advertisers can gain a greater understanding of their competitor's efforts and thus produce more effective web presentations for their own corporation. After introducing terminology related to metaphors on the Internet's World Wide Web, the research study investigates the way advertisers use metaphors to actively involve consumers in on-line messages. Based on the findings, implications for further study of on-line advertising are also examined. [22]

4.1 The Study of Metaphor in Advertising

Metaphor has been used in artistic and literary expression for centuries and continues to be a form of expression used in popular culture at the end of the twentieth century. Advertising, a form of corporate expression, is not exempt from metaphorical usage since it so intertwines artistic images and literary phrases. As the age of information and electronic media is upon us, advertising has penetrated these realms as well, taking with it creative ways to give meaning and message to products and services. Metaphor is just one of the ways of expressing concepts that companies are utilizing in their web sites on the Internet's World Wide Web. The current study seeks to identify and describe the common types of metaphors used by corporations in their commercial web sites. [7, p.25]

4.1.1 What is metaphor in the on-line world

Since the current study deals with metaphors of the on-line world, a definition of metaphor from the Internet can help define the topic of study. According to The Metaphor Home Page, metaphor can be defined as "any structured juxtaposition of two conceptual domains. Metaphor thus encompasses language, cinema, theatre, music, and even dance, etc., in fact any domain that one can sensibly describe in a structured semantic form". To interpret this definition for purposes of the paper, a metaphor is an unusual pairing of two elements that creates a new meaning that neither element had alone, thus creating a whole new conceptual expression.

For example, in the verbal metaphor illustratively used by Max Black, MAN IS WOLF, the reader is asked to think of the man in terms of the barbaric and beastly nature of a wolf. Man can be seen as possessing some of the qualities of a wolf, but not all of them. The transference of properties is relative to the context and one cannot assume that man is exactly the same as a wolf, but somehow similar. The context should make apparent which qualities the sender of the metaphor wishes the audience to transfer to the primary subject, man. If framed in a business context, perhaps the man could be viewed as cunning, whereas in a dating situation, MAN IS WOLF could evoke images of a wolf scouting for prey.

Whatever the metaphor, two elements, or subjects, are unusually paired so that one subject is conceived in terms of the second. The metaphor may be presented in images, or may even require the addition of words to convey its meaning. Regardless, some properties or characteristics of the secondary subject are transferred to the first and a whole new concept formed. The slight tension of the pairing will increase the viewer/reader's need to reconcile the juxtaposition and result in the comprehension of the metaphor. The viewer/reader will understand the pairing of the two subjects in a new and completely different light than if the two subjects were presented independently. The need to reconcile this tension may require more active involvement from the viewer/reader.

Thus, metaphor has implications for advertising, as active audiences are highly desirable and interpret the advertising message in a more meaningful and personal way. When more time is spent reading, viewing, and interpreting a message, the meaning is more internalized. Therefore, advertising seeks to involve the consumer so that he or she will internalize the message that product X is the best for cleaning carpets, etc. Web advertising also attempts to draw in the viewer/reader to spend more time with the message. The inherent fast-paced nature of Internet surfing can leave a consumer's mind cluttered with many messages and products vying for attention. If a consumer could interact with the advertising message, such as clicking the mouse button on an advertisement's words or images, the message has a higher likelihood of being more internally processed. The more time the consumer spends with the advertisement, the better for the advertiser.

The on-line metaphors under examination for the purposes of this study will primarily be concerned with language (written text), visual images (photos, hand or computer drawn images, video, or digital animation), and the combination of the two.

Thus an advertisement containing words, visual images, or both will be considered in exploring metaphor. With this in mind, metaphors have been classified to distinguish differences in the usage of metaphor in advertising (Forceville). In this study of metaphor usage in on-line advertising, three types of metaphor, drawn from Forceville's work, have been defined as follows. Verbal metaphors are textual written language used to convey meaning of the first subject. Pictorial metaphors use images for the first element, without words or any text accompanying the visual image. A combination of images and words as the primary subject will result in a verbo-pictorial metaphor being observed. Some verbopictorial metaphors may require both the image and the text to support each other for clear understanding while others may not need the assistance of the other to be understood, but both may still be presented for greater clarity. Regardless, if the first subject contains both words and images, it shall be considered a verbo-pictorial metaphor.

For example, you can find a pictorial metaphor that uses only visual images to convey the meaning of the primary subject. The musical notes with the sound waves radiating from the stems implies someone is hearing or listening to music. There is found beside certain musical compact discs for sale at the Music Boulevard web site. This pictorial metaphor indicates that, when clicked with the mouse, music will play. This image is only located beside those CD's that have audio available for listening on-line.

An example of a verbal metaphor can be found at http://www.marthastewart.com. The words, "Guest Book Sign-In," are completely textual and have no accompanying images of any kind. This phrase, as the primary subject, leads the web surfer to actually sign-in and make comments as one would do in the real world. This virtual guest book is a prime example of a verbal metaphor on-line.

Lastly, verbo-pictorial metaphors combine both text and images in the primarysubject that work collectively to aid the viewer. The Virtual Vineyards web site, locatedat http://www.virtualvin.com, displays an example of this type of metaphor. The Wine Shop is just one of the many departments in the on-line store of Virtual Vineyards, presented by a bottle and glass of wine paired with the words, "Shop for Wine." The web surfer uses the mouse to click upon this primary subject and is swept away to the wine shop. The combination of the verbal and visual elements clarifies the meaning of this virtual shopping experience. [8, p.20-27]

4.1.2 Objectives of the use of metaphors in advertising

There are four primary objectives of this research.

First, the study seeks to develop a coding method for metaphor to be used in a content analysis of corporate web sites. Classifications of metaphor will be set forth in a hierarchical fashion that will help the researcher to clearly identify a metaphor and to distinguish one type of metaphor from another. These classifications will be developed from both literature and observation.

Secondly, the study will collect data from the observation of commercial web sites, as defined earlier. Metaphors from these web sites will be thoroughly explored and examined.

Third, the observed metaphors will be coded and counted according to the codebook developed through achievement of the first objective of the study. The sample will provide information on the frequency of certain types of metaphors and help to identify the most commonly used types of metaphor. Metaphors used in shopping and non-shopping sites will be compared and contrasted to examine differences and influences on group membership. Coding and analyzing the collected data will be done through the computer program SPSS, Statistical Program for Social Sciences.

Lastly, with the knowledge from the research results, any significant findings will be presented and differences among the two groups, shopping and non-shopping web sites, will be discussed. The conclusions will make suggestions for the application of metaphor in online advertising and its further uses. The results should answer the following questions:

1). What is the most common type of metaphor used in on-line advertising in 1998?

2). Is there a difference between metaphor usage in shopping versus non-shopping web sites?

3). What are the influencing factors that account for these differences? [23]

4.2 Metaphor in on-line advertising

In observing metaphors in on-line advertising, key terminology must be defined to clearly identify metaphors within a limited framework. The current study's framework is metaphors in on-line advertising. Advertising on the World Wide Web can take several forms, from commercial web sites designed specifically for promotional purposes to banner ads, small banner-shaped areas used for ad space as in traditional media. However, this study is focusing on commercial web sites that advertise, promote, and market goods and services. The Internet's World Wide Web was used to view these commercial web sites, which are web presentations that contain several pages usually arranged in a hierarchy. The starting page is commonly referred to as the home page, containing many hyperlinks. These links, when text, are usually blue in color and underlined as well. When a mouse is used to click on these hyperlinks, the web surfer loads another web page, either contained within the same web presentation or another page from a separate web presentation.

Commercial web sites will be defined as web presentations that market, promote, and/or sell goods or services for a sponsoring corporation. The web address of the home page will usually end in ".com," meaning commercial. Most web addresses, or also contain the corporation's name, as in http://www.gap.com/, an example of the web address for the clothing company, The Gap. Two types of commercial web sites will be examined, shopping and non-shopping sites. The web sites that actually sell products or services via the Internet will be classified as shopping sites. Other web sites that simply promote goods and services not for sale on-line but for sale only in tradition retail outlets will be classified as non-shopping sites. [31, p.38-40]

4.2.1 Visual metaphors in advertising

Visual metaphor scholars, often unhappy with the literary perspective, have begun to develop theories of their own. As discussed earlier, Indurkhya's studies attempt to "develop unifying accounts of metaphor that can apply to verbal and nonverbal contexts". Indurkhya's semantic transference uses new terminology that could apply to both verbal and nonverbal metaphors, both in description and explanation of the function of metaphors. Van Noppen summarizes Indurkhya's theory: "Metaphor is the description of a target domain in terms of a source domain; a transfer from one domain to another, characterized by different functions which condition the interpretation of metaphoric utterances". He is considered one of the few authors developing a new context that is not strictly literary, but one that is cross-categorizeable to verbal and nonverbal metaphor analysis. Also, some of Black's basic tenants are still at work, especially those of transference or mapping features of one `subject' onto the other. The interaction of the two elements or `domains' is still the key to understanding how metaphor works.

Even literary theorists recognize that metaphors do not require language to transfer meaning from one subject to another. Kittay writes, " In exploring metaphor as a phenomenon of language, I do not mean to claim that metaphor is found only in language nor that metaphor is merely linguistic. We can have metaphor in dance, in painting, in music, in film, or in any other expressive medium".

Rudolf Arnheim, in his studies of visual perception, finds metaphor in the expressive medium of visual art. In his discussion of symbolism in art, he recognizes that metaphor unites "practically disparate objects" and "derives from and relies on the universal and spontaneous way of approaching the world of experience".

The metaphorical communication has become a part of how meaning is conveyed in our messages to one another. Metaphor, even in art, has passed down meaning from generation to generation and thus developed a socially accepted norm of metaphorical expression.

Leiss, Kline, and Jhally have used metaphor to study social communication in advertising. They suggest that metaphors in advertisements have become a powerful and commonly used strategy. "Metaphor is the very heart of the basic communication form used in advertising". Many other researchers share this view as they seek to explain the effects of metaphor use in advertising.

The study of metaphor in advertising has been used to gain insight about consumer behavior. Zaltman's Metaphor Elicitation Technique (ZMET) was a research tool developed to define and describe the metaphors that drive consumer behavior with implications for copy testing. Metaphors are relevant to the study of advertising because metaphors are "laden with symbols and imagery that might be used creatively in implementing decisions that will animate or bring appropriate reasoning processes and mental models to life.

Stern also is an advocate of studying symbolism along with metaphor in advertising. Stern believes that advertising is a metaphorical art, much like poetry. She is more interested in verbo-pictorial metaphors (in Forceville's terms) than strictly verbal metaphors since "words alone cannot convey the burden of meaning". Print, television, and even the Internet's World Wide Web may be more appropriate media as they are not limited to verbal communication. Stern's work, although concerned with visual metaphors, still concerns the integration of verbal elements.

Charles Forceville tries to look at previous metaphor literature in hopes of developing a theory of pictorial metaphor in advertising, but notes that most of the literature on metaphor is primarily on verbal metaphors (Forceville, 4). Forceville uses the cognitive perspective from Black's interaction theory and extends that to what he calls a pictorial theory of metaphor in advertising. "Metaphor occurs first of all on the level of cognition, and can manifest itself on the pictorial as well as the verbal level - and possibly in yet other ways". Forceville has done content analyses of advertisements to locate four distinct types of pictorial metaphors in advertising: (1) Pictorial metaphors with one pictorially present term, (2) Pictorial metaphors with two pictorially present terms, (3) Pictorial similes, and (4) Verbo-pictorial metaphors.

Homer and Kahle propose a social adaptation explanation of visual metaphors, where "problems are solved by rearranging what we have always known….combined in such a way as to evoke something else". Socially accepted norms are rearranged by juxtaposing two elements that interact and create tension. Homer & Kahle specifically studied surrealistic images, but their definition of surrealistic content is related to metaphor and can be discussed along with metaphor studies. Similar to metaphor, they describe the effects of surrealism: "By juxtaposing unrelated objects, they revealed unexpected affinities between different objects". They investigated the effects of metaphor use on persuasion, finding that ads incorporating surrealistic content produced greater recall and purchase intent than other more traditional advertisements.

Similarly, Fazio, Zanna, and Cooper have found that direct experience may affect attitude formation by altering the way in which the available information is processed (Fazio et al, 51). Since metaphors in consumer advertising require the consumer to become more actively involved and experience one thing in terms of another, advertising using metaphors may affect attitude formation towards a product or brand. At the very least, the active involvement stimulated by metaphors will alter the way in which the information is processed. [14]

4.2.2 Virtual metaphors of the Web

Metaphors are one way to promote interactivity. Computer design of a graphical user interface was first to utilize metaphors to encourage interactivity of the computer user. With a Macintosh windows operating system and a mouse, early computer users pointed and clicked to interacted with their virtual world. Tim Rohrer speaks of `virtual' metaphors in computer interface design, such as the virtual desktop of the Apple Macintosh OS. "In the DESKTOP metaphor, the computer screen is a virtual `desktop' with electronic `folders,' `documents,' `disk icons' and a `trash can' which are patterned after the physical objects in the physical office".

In the late twentieth century, metaphors in the on-line world are combining ideas from literary and pictorial metaphors, as well as those from early computer interface design, into virtual metaphors. Many graphic icons use symbolism, pictographs, and other elements from semiotics along with linguistic metaphor in hopes of catching the eye of a Web surfer. On-line metaphors are often images, while others are text, and still others combine both text and images. These computerized metaphors present the viewer with a semblance of the actual physical world on their computer screen. For example, Security First Network Bank, the first financial services institution to offer full-service banking on the Internet, uses on-line metaphors. "The company uses the graphic metaphor of a conventional bank to communicate and interact with potential and existing customers, including an electronic inquiries desk, electronic brochures for general information, and electronic tellers to deal with routine transactions".

On-line metaphors should entice the computer user to interact with the icons or images in a way that is intuitive. These images should represent closely their real-world counterparts and if performing a function, they should be clear as to what function it is they perform. Rohrer agrees with this assumption, first presented by Collins, when he states that "metaphors are most intuitive to users when they are fairly literal". As a marketer, the goal is to have consumers become more interactive with your message and your products. Thus leading to purchases and eventually repeat purchases. The more intuitive this process is, the more likely the advertiser can convert the casual web surfer to a loyal customer. To accomplish this goal on-line, the web site should hold the visitor's attention, be readable, and be visually appealing as well as inform.

On-line users, especially on-line shoppers, actively seek interaction with this virtual world to perform functions such as browsing a catalogue or ordering merchandise much like they would in the real world. Metaphors provide a quick, easy way to present information to on-line consumers that also allow interaction. On screen images and words entice web surfers to click and interact with these metaphors in ways similar to their real world interactions, such as traditional advertising and in-store displays. [14]

4.3 Methodology of the metaphor usage

The purpose of this chapter is to operationalize several key terms not yet clearly defined and to present the methodology of the research study at hand. Determination of the sample and sample size will also be explained. Methods examined will be those for coding, collection, and analysis of the data utilized throughout the research study.

4.3.1 Metaphor key terms definitions

Definitions of metaphor and the various types studied through this research are summarized below.

- Metaphor: an unusual pairing of two elements that creates tension when one element transfers meaning to another, thus creating a new concept different from what one element would have without the other;

- Pictorial metaphor: a metaphor as defined above where the first element, or subject, is an image rather than words;

- Verbal metaphor: a metaphor as defined above where the primary subject is presented in language rather than images;

- Verbo-Pictorial metaphor: a metaphor as defined above where the first element is presented in language and images; the text and images need not be dependent upon the other for understanding, but they may be supportive of one another.

4.3.2 Data Collection Methods

To compare commercial web sites on the Internet, high volume sites were needed. Therefore, a judgmental sample was utilized in order to study the highest-traffic commercial sites on the Internet's World Wide Web. PC Magazine on-line has identified the top 100 web sites by traffic in five categories: Commerce, Computing, Entertainment, News & Views, and Reference. The commerce category was employed in this study since this collection of web sites contains corporations selling a good or service via their on-line presence, usually with their web address ending in ".com," meaning commercial. The Top 26 commercial web sites, as identified by PC Magazine on-line's September 2008 edition, were viewed and sampled for metaphors. Web sites that operated on individual persons placing classified ads to sell products or auction products were omitted from the sample since they did not meet the requirement of being a corporation promoting or selling a good or service. Web sites were first divided into either "shopping" or "non-shopping" categories. The shopping sites were defined as corporate web sites that not only promoted goods and services on-line, but also offered viewers the opportunity to purchase their products. Non-shopping sites often promoted and marketed the corporation's products, but there was no on-line selling of items, leaving the consumer to make their purchases in traditional retail outlets or elsewhere. With fewer non-shopping sites, it was necessary to identify the top non-shopping sites first and to select the same number of shopping sites for comparison. September's top commerce sites contained seven nonshopping sites and therefore the top seven shopping sites were also chosen for comparison. The top fourteen of these commercial sites, with the exclusion of the classified and auction sites, were selected as the two independent samples. Sites were examined thoroughly, starting with the home page, and all potential metaphors explored. All images were viewed and all text read to look for potential pairings of subjects that created tension. All links were followed to the best of the ability of the researcher, leading to numerous sub-pages of the web site. [25]

4.3.3 Data Coding Examples.

The coding method of the five-level hierarchy described above was used to properly identify and classify the multiple metaphors found in these fourteen web sites.

The fourteen web sites used in the coding process are as follows in order of observation and case number (1-14): www.amazon.com, www.bigstar.com, www.comparenet.com, www.etrade.com, www.marthastewart.com, www.aa.com, http://carpoint.msn.com, http://expedia.msn.com, http://homeadvisor.msn.com, http://investor.msn.com, www.musicblvd.com, www.necx.com, www.quicken.com, and www.stockmaster.com. These fourteen cases were input into the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and first coded by type, where Type 1 is a shopping site and Type 2 a non-shopping site. Next, metaphors on each corporate web site were counted as they fit into the categories defined above. The total number of metaphors fitting each subclassification was input into the computer program.

Pictorial metaphors found were counted as the second variable input into SPSS. An example of a pictorial metaphor can be found at www.amazon.com. The pictorial icon image, , presents a shopping cart, but no accompanying words for the viewer to read. Thus, the web viewer must look at this virtual shopping cart and pair this image with their mental idea of a real-world shopping cart. The image is clickable and leads the web surfer to the contents of the virtual shopping basket in this on-line store. Therefore, the image is coded as a pictorial, clickable, working, virtual metaphor because the graphic image, when clicked, leads the viewer to the second subject of the metaphor, the contents of the shopping cart of the on-line consumer.

Verbal metaphors were also found in the web sites. To use a similar example, www.bigstar.com also allows viewers to purchase items on-line and put items in a shopping basket. However, no image is used to denote such a metaphor. Only words convey this virtual shopping basket, as shown on the web site by this clickable phrase, Shopping Basket. The text-only shopping basket was coded as a verbal metaphor that is clickable, working, and virtual since the act of clicking on the phrase leads the consumer to view the contents of the on-line shopping basket.

In the same vein of shopping, a verbo-pictorial example was found at www.marthastewart.com, depicting the verbo-pictorial metaphor . The image of a basket paired with the words, "view basket," aids the web surfer to comprehend the metaphor. When clicked, this green rectangle allows the web surfer to view the contents of their shopping basket in the Martha Stewart on-line store. This verbo-pictorial metaphor was thus coded as clickable, working, and virtual as well.

Non-clickable metaphors were found where the first subject of the metaphor was not linked to another web page and thus was not a clickable image or phrase. When the mouse was pointed at the object or phrase, the pointer did not become the "hand" icon that denotes a hyperlink in the body of the web page. Therefore, when the image or phrase was clicked upon, nothing happened. An example of this is found at www.bigstar.com, where the pictorial metaphor, , is non-clickable, but still denotes the "BigStar's Big 10" movie choices.

Non-working metaphors were also identified where, when clicked upon, did not lead the web surfer to the second subject of the metaphor. On occasion, clicking on the first subject of the metaphor did load another web page, but produced a confusing and unrelated web page that did not provide the viewer with the second subject of the metaphor. For example, the verbo-pictorial metaphor, symbolic for e-mail, used at www.amazon.com, is shown as . Clicking on this combination of words and images does not lead the viewer to read or check his mail or e-mail, but only to fill out a form to request book reviews via e-mail from the Amazon book company. The clickable image does not present the web surfer with the second subject of the metaphor, and is thus coded non-working.

Classifications or groupings of online metaphors that arose such as entryways, directional, and searching were also observed. A searching example was located at http://investor.msn.com. When clicking on the hyperlink text, Finder, the web surfer loaded a page that would allow them to search a database of over 16,000 stocks and funds. This metaphor's first subject was clickable text, which was coded as a verbal metaphor. However, when the second subject appears on the linked web page, a graphic image is paired with the word "Finder": . This image of binoculars represents the web surfer looking for information or details about the stocks and funds available at http://investor.msn.com. However, it is still a verbal metaphor since the primary subject was only text and no image accompanied it. This metaphor was classified as a searching type of verbal, clickable, working metaphor. [26]

II. Presentation of the sport discourse and football commentaries in the English and Ukrainian languages on a Web-site

1. General organization of a web-site

The web is becoming an integral part of our working world. You cannot spit anymore these days without hitting a URL. In a very short time span, the web has revolutionized the way we access information, education, business, entertainment. It has created industries where there were none before.

Being able to develop information on the web might be a job skill, a class requirement, a business necessity, or a personal interest. Unlike any other previous medium, the ability to "write" HTML allows you to potentially connect with millions of other people, as your own self-publisher.

The website (alternatively, Web site or web site) is a collection of Web pages, images, videos and other digital assets that is hosted on one or several Web server(s), usually accessible via the Internet (cell phone or a LAN also).A Web page is a document, typically written in HTML, that is almost always accessible via HTTP, a protocol that transfers information from the Web server to display in the user's Web browser. All publicly accessible websites are seen collectively as constituting the "World Wide Web" (www).

The pages of websites can usually be accessed from a common root URL called the homepage, and usually reside on the same physical server. The URLs of the pages organize them into a hierarchy, although the hyperlinks between them control how the reader perceives the overall structure and how the traffic flows between the different parts of the sites.

Some websites require a subscription to access some or all of their content. Examples of subscription sites include many business sites, parts of many news sites, academic journal sites, gaming sites, message boards, Web-based e-mail, services, social networking website, and sites providing real-time stock market data Organized by function a website may be: a personal, commercial, government, non-profit organization website.

It could be the work of an individual, a business or other organization and is typically dedicated to some particular topic or purpose. Any website can contain a hyperlink to any other website, so the distinction between individual sites, as perceived by the user, may sometimes be blurred [2].

A website is hosted on a computer system known as a web server, also called an HTTP server, and these terms can also refer to the software that runs on these system and that retrieves and delivers the Web pages in response to requests from the website users. Apache is the most commonly used Web server software (according to Netcraft statistics) and Microsoft's Internet Information Server (IIS) is also commonly used.

Websites are written in, or dynamically converted to, HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) and are accessed using a software program called a Web browser, also known as a HTTP client. Web pages can be viewed or otherwise accessed from a range of computer-based and Internet-enabled devices of various sizes, including desktop computers, laptop computers, PDAs and cell phones. [1]

2. Introduction to HTML

HTML, an initialism of HyperText Markup Language, is the predominant markup language for Web pages. It provides a means to describe the structure of text-based information in a document -- by denoting certain text as links, headings, paragraphs, lists, and so on -- and to supplement that text with interactive forms, embedded images, and other objects. HTML is written in the form of tags, surrounded by angle brackets. HTML can also describe, to some degree, the appearance and semantics of a document, and can include embedded scripting language code (such as JavaScript) which can affect the behavior of Web browsers and other HTML processors.

In 1980, physicist Tim Berners-Lee, who was an independent contractor at CERN, proposed and prototyped ENQUIRE, a system for CERN researchers to use and share documents. In 1989, Berners-Lee and CERN data systems engineer Robert Cailliau each submitted separate proposals for an Internet-based hypertext system providing similar functionality. The following year, they collaborated on a joint proposal, the WorldWideWeb (W3) project, which was accepted by CERN.

The first publicly available description of HTML was a document called HTML Tags, first mentioned on the Internet by Berners-Lee in late 1991. It describes 22 elements comprising the initial, relatively simple design of HTML. Thirteen of these elements still exist in HTML 4.

Berners-Lee considered HTML to be, at the time, an application of SGML, but it was not formally defined as such until the mid-1993 publication, by the IETF, of the first proposal for an HTML specification: Berners-Lee and Dan Connolly's "Hypertext Markup Language (HTML)" Internet-Draft, which included an SGML Document Type Definition to define the grammar. The draft expired after six months, but was notable for its acknowledgment of the NCSA Mosaic browser's custom tag for embedding in-line images, reflecting the IETF's philosophy of basing standards on successful prototypes. Similarly, Dave Raggett's competing Internet-Draft, "HTML+ (Hypertext Markup Format)", from late 1993, suggested standardizing already-implemented features like tables and fill-out forms.

After the HTML and HTML+ drafts expired in early 1994, the IETF created an HTML Working Group, which in 1995 completed "HTML 2.0", the first HTML specification intended to be treated as a standard against which future implementations should be based. Published as Request for Comments 1866, HTML 2.0 included ideas from the HTML and HTML+ drafts. There was no "HTML 1.0"; the 2.0 designation was intended to distinguish the new edition from previous drafts.

Further development under the auspices of the IETF was stalled by competing interests. Since 1996, the HTML specifications have been maintained, with input from commercial software vendors, by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). However, in 2000, HTML also became an international standard (ISO/IEC 15445:2000). The last HTML specification published by the W3C is the HTML 4.01 Recommendation, published in late 1999. Its issues and errors were last acknowledged by errata published in 2001. [3]

3. Basic HTML elements

In computing, an HTML element indicates structure in an HTML document and a way of hierarchically arranging content. More specifically, an HTML element is an SGML element that meets the requirements of one or more of the HTML Document Type Definitions (DTDs). These elements have properties: both attributes and content, as specified (both allowable and required) according to the appropriate HTML DTD (for example, the HTML 4.01 strict DTD). Elements may represent headings, paragraphs, hypertext links, lists, embedded media, and a variety of other structures.

Syntactically HTML elements are constructed with:

· a start tag marking the beginning of an element

· any number of attributes (and their associated values)

· some amount of content (characters and other elements)

· an end tag

Many HTML elements include attributes in their start tags, defining desired behavior or indicating additional element properties. The end tag is optional for many elements; in a minimal case, an empty element has no content and requires no end tag. There are a few elements that are not part of any official DTDs, yet are supported by some browsers and used by some web pages. Such elements may be ignored or displayed improperly on browsers not supporting them.

Informally, HTML elements are sometimes referred to as "tags" (an example of synecdoche), though many prefer the term tag strictly in reference to the semantic structures delimiting the start and end of an element.

Head elements

<title>…</title>

Define a document title. This element is required in every HTML and XHTML document. Different user agents may make use of the title in different ways. For example:

· Web browsers usually display it in a window's title bar when the window is open, and in the task bar when the window is minimized.

· It may become the default filename when saving the page.

· Search engines' Web crawlers may pay particular attention to the words used in the title.

The title element must not contain any nested tags (that is, it cannot contain any other elements). Only one title element is permitted in a document.

<base>

Specifies a base URL for all relative href and other links in the document. Must appear before any element that refers to an external resource. HTML permits only one base element for each document. The base element has attributes, but no contents.

<link>

Specifies links to other documents, such as "previous" and "next" links, or alternate versions.

<script>…</script>

Used to add JavaScript or other scripts to the document. The script code may be typed literally between the script tags or may be given in a separate resource whose URL is specified with the script element's optional src attribute.

<style>…</style>

Specifies a style for the document, usually in the form <style type="text/css">…</style>

<object>…</object>

Used for including generic objects within the document header. Though rarely used within a head element, it could potentially be used to extract foreign data and associate it with the current document.

<meta>

Can be used to specify additional metadata about a document, such as its author, publication date, expiration date, page description, keywords, or other information not provided through the other header elements and attributes. Because of their generic nature, meta elements specify associative key-value pairs.

In the general form, a meta element specifies name and associated content attributes describing aspects of the HTML page. To prevent possible ambiguity, an optional third attribute, scheme, may be supplied to specify a semantic framework that defines the meaning of the key and its value: for example, <meta name="foo" content="bar" scheme="DC">

Inline elements

Inline elements cannot be placed directly inside the body element; they must be wholly nested within block-level elements (see Block elements, below).

General phrase elements

<em>…</em>

Emphasis (conventionally displayed in italics)

<strong>…</strong>

strong emphasis (conventionally displayed bold). An oral user agent may use different voices for emphasis.

<q>…</q>

A quotation containing only inline elements (for quotations containing block level elements see blockquote below).

<cite>…</cite>

A citation. Reference for a quote or statement in the document.

<dfn>…</dfn>

Defining first instance of a term

<abbr>…</abbr>

Contains an abbreviation, like abbr.

<acronym>…</acronym>

Similar to the abbr element, but contains an acronym, like HTML.

Computer code phrase elements

These elements are useful primarily for documenting computer code development and user interaction through differentiation of source code (<code>), source code variables (<var>), user input (<kbd>), and terminal output (<samp>).

<code>…</code>

A code snippet. Conventionally rendered in a monospace font: Code snippet.

<samp>…</samp>

Sample output (from a program or script)

<kbd>…</kbd>

Keyboard - text to be entered by the user

<var>…</var>

Variable

Special inline elements

<del>…</del>

Deleted text. Typically rendered as a strikethrough:

<ins>…</ins>

Inserted text.

Links and anchors

<a>…</a>

Creates an element that becomes a hyperlink with the href (hypertext reference) attribute set to a URL; additionally the attribute title may be set to a hover box text, some informative text about the link:

<ahref="URL"title="additional information">link text</a>

Images and objects

<img>

Includes an image with the src attribute. The required attribute provides alternative text in case the image cannot be displayed. Alt is intended as alternative text, although Microsoft Internet Explorer renders it as a tooltip if no title is given; the title attribute is the tooltip text. It was proposed by Marc Andreessen.

<br> or <br />

Specifies a line-break.

<map>…</map>

Specifies a client-side image map.

<area>

Specifies an area in the map.

<object>…</object>

Includes an object in the page of the type specified by the type attribute. This may be in any MIME-type the Web browser understands, such as an embedded page, code to be handled by a plug-in such as Flash, a Java applet, a sound file, etc.

Span element

<span>…</span>

Creates an inline logical division.

Block elements

Many HTML elements are designed for altering the semantic structure or meaning of a document. Some are block-level, but most are inline and can be included in the normal flow of text.

General block elements <p>…</p>

Creates a paragraph, perhaps the most common block level element. The closing tag is not required in HTML, however is required for XHTML.

<blockquote>…</blockquote>

Contains quoted material when the quotation itself includes block level elements (for instance, quoting several paragraphs).

<hr>

Inserts a horizontal rule.

Headings

<h1>…</h1> <h2>…</h2> <h3>…</h3> <h4>…</h4> <h5>…</h5> <h6>…</h6>

Section headings at different levels. Use <h1> for the highest-level heading (the major sections), <h2> for the next level down (sub-section), <h3> for a level below that, and so on. The lowest level heading is <h6>.

Lists

<dl>…</dl>

Creates a definition list (consisting of definition terms paired with definitions).

<dt>…</dt>

Creates a definition term.

<dd>…</dd>

Creates a definition.

<ol>…</ol> and <ul>…</ul>

Creates an ordered (enumerated) or unordered (bulleted) list.

<li>…</li>

Creates a list item in ordered and unordered lists.

Tables

<table>…</table>

Creates a table

<tr>…</tr>

Creates a row in the table.

<th>…</th>

Creates a table header cell within a row or a column; contents are conventionally displayed bold and centered.

<td>…</td>

Creates a table data cell within a row.

<colgroup>…</colgroup>

Specifies a column group in a table.

<col>

Specifies attributes for an entire column in a table.

<caption>…</caption>

Specifies a caption for the entire table.

<thead>…</thead>

Specifies the header part of a table.

<tbody>…</tbody>

Specifies the main part of a table.

<tfoot>…</tfoot>

Specifies the footer part of a table.

Forms

These elements can be combined into a form or used separately as user-interface controls. Combined with a first-class javascript engine, these controls provide support for rich user interfaces. HTML specifies the elements that make up a form, and the method by which it will be submitted. However, some form of script either server-side or client side must be used to process the user's input once it is submitted.

<formaction="url">…</form>

Creates a form.

<selectname="xyz">…</select>

Create a selection list, from which the user can select a single option. May be rendered as a dropdown list.

<optionvalue="x">

Creates an item in a select list.

<inputtype="checkbox">

Creates a checkbox. Can be checked or unchecked.

<inputtype="radio">

Creates a radio button.

<inputtype="button">

Creates a general-purpose button.

<inputtype="submit">

Creates a submit button.

<inputtype="image">

Creates a button using an image.

<inputtype="reset">

Creates a reset button for resetting the form to default values.

<inputtype="file">

Creates a file select

<inputtype="hidden">

Is not visible in the rendered page, but allows a designer to maintain a copy of something that needs to be submitted to the server as part of the form.

<labelfor="id">…</label>

Creates a label for a form input (e.g. radio button).

<textarearows="8">…</textarea>

Create a multiple-line text area, the size of which is specified by cols and rows attributes. Text in between the tags appears in the text area when the page is loaded.

Other containers

<div>…</div>

Creates a block logical division.

<pre>…</pre>

Creates pre-formatted text.

<address>…</address>

Used to mark up contact information like address for the document or a section of it.

<iframe>…</iframe>

Includes another HTML document in the page.

The <iframe> tag must be closed by </iframe>. Otherwise the content after the <iframe> tag will be taken as alternative text to be displayed when the browser has no iframe support.

Frames

An HTML document may contain a header and a body or a header and a frameset, but not both. For frames the Frames DTD must be used.

<frameset>…</frameset>

Delimit the frameset. The frames layout is given by comma separated lists in the rows and cols attributes.

<frame>…</frame>

Delimit a single frame, or region, within the frameset. A different document linked with the src attribute appears inside.

<noframes>…</noframes>

Contains a normal <body> element with child elements that will appear in web browsers that don't support frames.

Official presentational markup

<b>…</b>

Use boldface type. Equivalent CSS: {font-weight: bold}

<i>…</i>

Use italic type. Equivalent CSS: {font-style: italic}

<big>…</big>

Creates bigger text. Equivalent CSS: {font-size: larger}.

<small>…</small>

Creates smaller text. Equivalent CSS: {font-size: smaller}

<tt>…</tt>

Use a typewriter-like, also known as teletype font. Equivalent CSS: {font-family: monospace} [1, p. 46-55]

4. Main types of HTML editors

An HTML editor is a software application for creating web pages. Although the HTML markup of a web page can be written with any text editor, specialized HTML editors can offer convenience and added functionality. For example, many HTML editors work not only with HTML, but also with related technologies such as CSS, XML and JavaScript or ECMAScript. In some cases they also manage communication with remote web servers via FTP and WebDAV, and version management systems such as CVS or Subversion.

Text editors

Plain text editors may be used to produce webpages.

The following are some commonly used text editors:

· EditPlus · Emacs · gedit · jEdit · Kate · nano · Notepad	· TextEdit · UltraEdit · Crimson Editor · vi (Sun Microsystems) · Vim · Notepad++ · TextMate

Text-based HTML editors

Text-based HTML editors evolved from basic text editors, but include additional tools specifically geared toward handling code.

· Adobe Dreamweaver · Adobe HomeSite · Alleycode HTML Editor · Aptana · Arachnophilia · BBEdit · BestAddress HTML Editor · BlueFish · CoffeeCup HTML Editor · Eclipse with the Web Tools Platform · EditPlus · EmEditor · Evrsoft 1st Page	· HTML-Kit · Microsoft Expression Web · Microsoft Visual Web Developer · Notepad++ · NoteTab · PSPad · Quanta Plus · SCREEM · Siteaid · Smultron · skEdit · TextMate · TextPad · TextWrangler · TopStyle