Hi I read your request with interest. There are a few basic rules about HTML and I have only learnt from trial and error. Some browsers are more forgiving over others and Internet Explorer is far from perfect. When you design a page you should test it by opening it up in a few different browsers and you will be surprised that the effect you were seeking is not always the same in each browser. Some html editors allow for easy testing by giving you this option but if you are doing html the hard way - you can still open it different ways to see the results.
I use Front Page these days but have used Cutehtml and Arachnophilia
https://www.arachnoid.com/arachnophilia
(freebies although I am not sure about Cutehtml now). Do a search in google and I am sure you could find a good free editor.
I find tables needing font defined per cell but that is where CSS handles it better (saving typing), if you dont want to use an editor.

I will include a few links that may help with html learners.
https://archive.ncsa.uiuc.edu/General...PrimerAll.html

https://www.idocs.com/tags/

Good luck!
Regards,
Jeff