Fun2come is right. I haven't look at your source, but here is a quick and simple breakdown of the HTML code:
The <a> tag defines a hyperlink, which is used to link from one page to another. The most important attribute of the <a> element is the href attribute, which indicates the link’s destination.
So you start the link code by opening it with the <a href=
Next you need the link destination: "http://www.eccie.net/showthread.php?t=630890"
NOTE: this text needs to be surrounded by quote marks as indicated above. Then you simple close the link destination with the > symbol.
Next you will notice the same
http://www.eccie.net/showthread.php?t=630890 followed by </a>. The </a> is simply stating that you are closing the code for the destination link. The wording before the </a> and after the destination link that ends with > can actually say anything, like CLICK HERE. Then when it displays the HTML it will be a link that reads CLICK HERE but it will take you to the page when you click on it.
The <br> tag inserts a single line break or <br> tag is an empty tag which means that it has no end tag.
I know, my techie brain can be boring sometimes, but Monica Austin likes that. :-)