When to hand-code HTML

You may be asking at this point why you should go to so much trouble writing HTML when the editor will do it for you. Resizing images is one example of why it is handy to know a little about how HTML works. You can do some resizing with an editor that gives you handles on the edges of images, but specifying the size commands in pixels puts you in complete control.

Netscape and Internet Explorer allow you to size images in pixels and to build space around your images. Sometimes an image is slightly too big for the space, and being able to squeeze it by a few pixels lets you get it exactly right. Sometimes images appear jammed up against text. The HSPACE and VSPACE attributes leave some blank space around the image. For example, if you want five pixels of blank space around the top, bottom, and sides of an image, you can insert these attributes:

Knowing HTML allows you to tweak your page.Another reason it's handy to know some HTML is that editors don't always do everything you want them to do. For example, you might want to include a link that sends mail to your email address. Most Web page editors can do this for you, but Composer does not have this feature. So Rachel Jones might include a tag to make it easy to send her mail: Send mail to:

Composer allows you to insert HTML tags with the command HTML Tag on the Insert menu.

Still another reason you should know HTML is that editors try to do things for you that you don't necessarily want done. Sometimes you'll find that the spacing seems way off, and often the problem is that the editor has forced in extra space with the command:

When you think extra space that you don't want has been added, you can open the file and delete it. Of course you can add space, too. There are many more HTML commands; once you know how some work, you can figure out ones you haven't seen before.