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Have you ever wanted your images to overlap? more multimedia capabilities? precise down-to-the-pixel positioning? moveable text and graphics? greater user interactivity? Then Dynamic Hypertext Markup Language(DHTML) may fit your needs. DHTML is essentially scripted HTML, especially enhanced when you use cascading style sheets. DHTML is not a new form of HTML. It's any technology that adds dynamic behavior to a static webpage. Theoretically, you could use any add-on language to do that: Java, Active X, VBScript, Perl based CGI, whatever. DHTML is a way of incorporating those languages into an HTML document. The most common language, however, for making your web page more interactive is Javascript. If you have read the Javascript section yet, you may wish to do so before continuing. I would, at this time, recommend using Javascript as the add-on for DHTML as it is reasonably well supported by both browsers.

Like many languages, DHTML uses the Document Object Model(DOM). Essentially, DOM treats your webpage as a series of objects(headlines, paragraghs, images, tables, etc.) You script the webpage to dynamically change an object when the user does something(clicks it, moves mouse over, etc.) One of the advantages of DHTML is that it is client-side. This means that everything you need to run the webpage has been loaded down to the users machine. You do not need to access the web server again. This allows for speedier changes in your page and reduces network congestion. Sounds good, eh?!?

DHTML is becoming more and more popular as browser support increases. Both Mozilla browsers(Firefox, Netscape) and Microsoft's Internet Explorer support slightly different DHTML standards. You can use DHTML successfully in both IE and Mozilla if you follow a few tips. W3Schools has a good section on creating successful DHTML effects. Experiment, try things!! And, of course, our friends at Peachpit Press have a book that can get you started. (Really, I get no money from them, I just like the books.) Also, our recommended web developer sites have good articles/tutorials on DHTML. Browse around those sites using the keyword DHTML. If you are just looking for a cool DHTML effect you can steal, Dynamic Drive has some good ones you can use. Good luck, explore!!
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