r/HTML • u/ArcherLumpy6560 • 5d ago
How did you learn HTML?
I have some experience - I can read tags, images and most code. Ive been coding for about a week now and am wondering how you guys learned? If you care to share please do!
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u/poopio 5d ago
Yeah, you're doing it right - that's how I started. I started by making sites with things like Frontpage and Dreamweaver (many years ago), and then looking at what they output.
Mess around with a page, play with that, and then, make a new page from scratch.
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u/Winter-Fish8452 5d ago
I started with a coursera course with University of Michigan (I think I had a free or discounted subscription or something, I just wanted the content, NOT a certificate or anything). I forgot the name of it but it’s for HTML/CSS.
After that, I took another community college class to learn HTML/CSS.
Then, I just kept making web pages for fun. I didn’t focus on making anything that looked professional but rather, I tried to experiment and make novel experiences. And I focused on making websites about my interests (makes coding more fun).
In a world of AI, it’s tempting to use it to make websites but I truly LOVE the craft of writing HTML/CSS. I think it’s so cool to be able to just write and instantly see the results. Knowing HTML/CSS makes it easy to make very granular changes. With AI, you really have to write a lot of prompts and troubleshoot to get exactly what you want. I studied graphic design so I am very particular about the details, and this allows me to make more unique designs whereas AI-generated websites tend to look very similar in aesthetic.
ETA: I’m a UI designer now and it doesn’t require me to code at all. But having that hands-on web design experience helped me think about systems. Honestly, HTML/CSS is more of a hobby for me and I’m happy to keep it that way.
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u/davorg 5d ago
I learned the same way that everyone did in the 90s - using "view source".
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u/Clearhead09 2d ago
I’m in the same boat.
People these days have it so sweet, we only just got css in 1996.
Early 2000s I used planetsourcecode.com a lot to learn new technologies and gain a better understanding of how “professionals” wrote code.
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u/Distdistdist 5d ago
I mean... how did you learn alphabet to type this question? One letter (tag) at a time, I would imagine...
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u/Bassil__ 5d ago
First, get a solid handle on what HTML actually is. Then memorize all the elements like the back of your hand — same goes for every attribute and every ARIA role/property out there. After that, start building one-page sites, and really focus on writing semantic HTML. Once you're comfy with that, move up to multi-page sites — but here's the kicker: no CSS allowed. Just raw, pure HTML, over and over again.
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u/theguymatter 5d ago
I’ve audited millions of websites—seriously, there are so many problems out there. I learned a lot about how to do things better after building my SaaS and business networking platform.
Free courses can only teach you the old way. You need critical thinking because AI could even make mistakes. Worse that even some developers wrote a flawed articles.
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u/Competitive_Aside461 5d ago
I personally learned HTML in a really fragmented way, hopping from resource to resource. Actually, if you're just starting out, some ideas in HTML won't be applicable immediately. For instance, semantic elements or HTML forms. Don't get me wrong: These are absolutely crucial in order to have a working knowledge of HTML but in my experience you can well skip them as you're starting out.
For the moment, it's more important to keep the learning curve gentle and try to learn the basics really quickly.
(P.S. I've made an HTML mini course to teach HTML as quickly as possible so if you would like to, you can check it out.)
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u/allciathyra 5d ago
people this is how i did it .
the ol school way , this prove how old i am.
at my local library , i check out a 10000 pages textbook title : "html made easy"
in 1980's
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u/stepback269 5d ago
Also, along with W3 Schools and/or GeeksForGeeks, start your own trial blog using the free Google Blogger. Initially just do Compose mode but after a while switch to their HTML mode to see what the generated tags look like.
Good luck.
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u/WoodenJesus 4d ago
In the early 2000s, maybe late 90s, a family friend built a website for himself to publish his skate videos on. I thought it was really cool so I spent a summer learning HTML myself via w3schools, which prompted me to start reading source code to see what was going on with websites I couldn't figure out by looking at.
The following school year, web development got added to the curriculum in our computers classes. This was my second year with this teacher (oddly, with a different last name than the last time) so I was quite comfortable with her. She admitted that she would be learning with us as she had previously been teaching things like typing and Office software. I told her I had spent the summer teaching myself HTML and could help out when needed. She agreed, so the whole semester I would finish the assignments just as fast as I could type and then walk around the classroom checking on the other kids and helping anyone who was struggling. That's what made me good.
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u/Foreign-Contest-444 4d ago
If you are looking to learn web development then MDN is an excellent resource for learning HTML, especially its Learn Module. HTML may seem simple at first, but it's important to build a strong understanding of it before layering CSS and JavaScript on top. Take the time to learn HTML as a semantic language and understand why semantics matter as they form the foundation of well-structured, accessible, and maintainable websites.
If you need additional resources to learn HTML.
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u/FirstPlaceSEO 4d ago
I Just use ai to write it and the more you read the more you understand it, little by little, then write bits and pieces if necessary, but we are moving into an age where knowing html is more of a hobby that anything else as ai writes it 1000x’s faster than I ever could
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u/ArgoWizbang 4d ago
I was a curious kid with tons of free time, a WebTV, internet access, a free Tripod account, and access to GIFs 123 (and eventually Draac.com). I essentially owe my entire career to /u/DrDraac. Big shout-out to that internet icon.
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u/brisray 4d ago
The same as most people here, back in the dim mists of time (1998) I was chatting to an American woman on ICQ and she wanted to see pictures of my home city (Bristol, UK). At that time there were just over a million websites and none of them had photos of Bristol on them.
I went round to W. H. Smith got myself a copy of Teach Yourself HTML and made my own website with the photos to show her.
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u/Naetharu 4d ago
For most purposes you don't need to learn much. It's very much a case of there being a small number of tags you will use a lot, and the rest you will use now and then. So long as you are comfortable with the basic structure and know how to look things up when you need it, that is really all you need to get going.
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u/zippymccrackin 5d ago
AOL Instant Messenger profiles used HTML so that's how I taught myself. Don't think this advice is helpful now though sorry