Learn HTML

A short, free course for complete beginners. You build one small website as you go, and by the last lesson it's online at a real address that you can share.

No sign-up, nothing to install. Each lesson takes 10 to 15 minutes and explains just what you need, and most have examples you can change right on the page to see what happens.

Lessons

Your first web page · 10 min
What HTML is, writing a page in a plain text editor, and opening it in your browser.
Headings, paragraphs and lists · 10 min
Give your text a structure: headings, paragraphs, lists, bold and italics.
Links and images · 15 min
Link to other sites, show pictures, and the file-name mistakes that break them online.
More pages and folders · 15 min
Grow from one page to a site: a menu, folders, addresses with ../, and why the home page is index.html.
Style it with CSS · 15 min
Colours, fonts and a readable layout that fits phones, in one stylesheet for every page.
One header and footer for every page · 15 min
Write your menu and footer once and include them on every page, with no JavaScript.
A contact form · 15 min
Labels, fields and a send button, and messages emailed to you without any server code.
Put it online · 15 min
Check your site, add a 404 page, upload it, and connect your own domain name.

Start with lesson 1

What you need

A computer with a web browser. A tablet or phone works for reading and trying the examples, but making files is easier on a computer.
A plain text editor. Notepad (Windows) and TextEdit (Mac) are already on your computer; lesson 1 shows how to set them up. Visual Studio Code is a free step up.
No experience. If you can type and save a file, you can do this.

Questions

Is it free? Do I need an account?

Yes, it's free, and you don't need an account to read the lessons or try the examples. You only need one at the end, if you want to put your site online with Pagehaus, and the Free plan is enough.

Do I need to install anything?

No. A plain text editor that came with your computer (Notepad on Windows, TextEdit on a Mac) and a web browser are enough, and most examples can be tried right on the page. An optional free tool helps in lessons 6 to 8.

How long does it take?

About two hours for all eight lessons. Each one takes 10 to 15 minutes and ends with something that works.

Is HTML still worth learning?

Yes. Every website is HTML in the end, whatever made it. Knowing it lets you fix a page an AI assistant or a site builder made, and build a fast, simple site that needs no updates or plugins.

Already know the basics? The guides answer specific questions, and the templates are finished sites you can start from.