Frequently Asked Questions

General F.A.Q.

May I download your Visual Tutorials for offline viewing?
May I use your free tutorials to teach a class?
May I put a link on my site that points to VisualTutorials.com?
Why doesn't a new window open when I start a tutorial?
Why doesn't the tutorial start to play in the new window?
Why won't the tutorials play in my non-mainstream browser?
Why won't the tutorials play on my PC that's ten years old?
Why do the tutorials take so long to download on dial-up?

Web Design F.A.Q.

Why use HTML? Can't I just use an authoring program?
Why use Notepad? Can't I use Microsoft® Word instead?
Do tags have to be typed in all lower-case?
Do all tags need a corresponding closing tag?
Do I have to save my page in a folder called web?
Why use the extension .html, and what about .htm?
Can I get the code used to make the example web page?
Can I get a printout of the text in the balloons?
Where can I find a list of HTML tag elements?
Where can I find a list of tag attributes?
Where can I find a list of CSS properties?

General F.A.Q. Answers

#1. May I download your Visual Tutorials for offline viewing?: No! In fact, please do not use any type of offline web browser to download the entire VisualTutorials.com website to your computer. The entire site is very large, and bandwidth is costly. Plus, those browser/bots slow down the performance of the site. You may view the tutorials for free, as long you do so online, and one at a time.
#2. May I use your free tutorials to teach a class?: Absolutely, although you must access the tutorials from this website using an internet connection, and show the tutorials while online. You are not permitted to download the tutorials for offline viewing (see explanation in answer #1 above).
#3. May I put a link on my site that points to VisualTutorials.com?: Sure, we even have some premade link code for you to copy and paste.
#4. Why doesn't a new window open when I start a tutorial?: You need JavaScript to open the special window the tutorials play in. Go Here for more info.
#5. Why doesn't the tutorial start to play in the new window?: You probably need the latest version of Flash or Java. The web design tutorials are done in Flash, all the others are done in Java. You can install either one at their respective websites. Click here for Flash. Click here for Java.
#6. Why won't the tutorials play in my non-mainstream browser?: I don't know. Try Internet Explorer instead.
#7. Why won't the tutorials play on my PC that's ten years old?: Because it's too old. Your computer needs enough memory, and processing speed to play multi-media applications. Most newer computers shouldn't have a problem.
#8. Why do the tutorials take so long to download on dial-up?: Because dial-up connections can be very slow transferring data. The tutorials will usually download quickly using a broadband connection, provided there aren't any other factors that tend to bog down traffic on the Internet.

Web Design F.A.Q. Answers

#1. Why use HTML? Can't I just use an authoring program?: You can, if you own any of those programs. However, you will not learn how to do that with these tutorials. Instead, you will learn how to write web pages from scratch, using a standard program that you should already have installed on your computer. If you want to build a website without having to learn HTML, then I recommend using a hosting service that will provide you with an online site building interface.
#2. Why use Notepad? Can't I use Microsoft® Word instead?: Actually you can use a word processor, but it can be quite a hassle to do so. You see an HTML file can only consist of plain text (ASCII) characters. It needs to be free of all the formatting code that a word processor includes in its document. If you write your HTML in a word processor, then you'll need to save it as Text Only every time you want to save it. If you forget to do this every time, and you probably will, then it won't be saved right.
#3. Do tags have to be typed in all lower-case?: HTML was originally designed to be case-insensitive. Meaning you could use either upper or lower case letters in your HTML tags. However, HTML has evolved into another language called XHTML. In XHTML tags must be typed in lower case letters only. Since you will eventually need to use only lower case letters in your web page tags, you might as well get into that habit now. It could become a huge task having to update all your web pages a few years down the road.
#4. Do all tags need a corresponding closing tag?: Most tags are containers, and need both opening and closing tags to enclose their contents. However, there are certain other tags that are empty, and require no closing tag.
#5. Do I have to save my page in a folder called web?: No, you can name your folder whatever you like, and save it anywhere on your computer. It is a good idea though to keep all your web files in a common folder, and to back it up on a regular basis.
#6. Why use the extension .html, and what about .htm?: The extension .html is what makes your plain text file a web page. It stands for HyperText Markup Language, which is the standard method for creating web pages. If you don't include it, the file will probably be saved with an extension of .txt instead.
If you like, you can drop the "L", and just use .htm for your extension. The shorter version is a remnant from the days when only three letter extensions were allowed on certain systems. Either version should work fine today.
#7. Can I get the code used to make the example web page?: We have placed the web page made in the web design tutorial series online in case you'd like to look at it. To view the HTML code used to create it, just select Source from the View menu. You can also view the style sheet if you like.
#8. Can I get a printout of the text in the balloons?: Here is the manuscript of all textual instructions used in the web design tutorial series. You may print it from your web browser if you like.
#9. Where can I find a list of HTML tag elements?: HTML Elements list.
#10. Where can I find a list of tag attributes?: HTML Attributes list.
#11. Where can I find a list of CSS properties?: CSS properties list.