Wow this page looks plain huh?

Nevertheless, I'm breaking a rule I set. This page uses HTML you haven't yet learned. Now I'm sticking to what you will learn in lesson one or so, but still, just so you know I already broke a big rule and it's only lesson ZERO! What we need to do here is important so I need to make sure you could at least understand it though.

In your browser, there is a neat function you need to learn if you haven't already discovered it. If you know how to view web page source, you are welcome to move on to lesson one with the link above after reading just one more paragraph. Otherwise we need to get you to try it once.

The importance of viewsource to learning can't be stressed enough. Seeing behind the wizard's curtain is the best way to find out what's really going on. Try it on every page in this tutorial and any page you come across that does something you want to learn. Part of the lessons to follow will cover getting the most out of viewsource! How to read what you are looking at is the critical trick to learning. If I set you on the right track at all you be showing me a thing or two in only weeks.

In Netscape's Navigator -- pretty much every version -- it is hiding in the View menu of the browsers' menu bar. It has the name "Page Source". Now, another handier way to get it is to type a CTRL-U. Another trick in the newer Navigator versions is to right click -- (click-hold on Macs) -- and select "View Page Source". The only tricky thing with that last option is that sometimes it says "View Frame Source", and in that case it shows you what you want and the main "Page Source" from the "View" menu gives you something else. Don't worry about that for now, just get used to right-clicking or click-holding by trying it on this page. We'll cover the frames issue in the later lessons.

In Microsoft's Internet Explorer -- pretty much very version -- it is hiding in the same place as in Netscape's Navigator, the "View" menu. The only difference is that it is named "Source". In the right-click menu (also click-hold on Macs) it is named just "View Source" and you'll find that it works pretty much like Netscape's. When Frames occur you'll find that the menu names don't change like Netscape's do, but that the same effects occur, the menu item shows the frame document and the right-click or click-hold shows the actual page source.

Other browsers should be pretty much the same. Look out for editors since they will do all kinds of editing things to confuse the casual viewer, or page info buttons since they usually tell you about the page without actually showing it to you.

If you have both browsers you will notice that MSIE loads the page into a text document and feeds it to Notepad for viewing while Netscape Navigator has a built-in viewer that colors the html separately from the text. If you have both I recommend you do your learning in Netscape Navigator since this feature rocks.

REVIEW SUMMARY

* Viewsource is how to expand your lessons

* In Netscape Navigator it's called from Menu "VIEW", item "Page source"

* In Microsoft Internet Explorer it's called from Menu "VIEW", item "Source"

* Right clicking in either brings up a menu that has "View Source"

* The Apple Macintosh really needs a second mouse button because click-hold sucks. Now, head back to the Main tutorial page or move on to Lesson 1.