TEXT FORMATTING
Those of wewe who have written soapbox makala before may have seen the guide that fanpop provides for formatting text. But maybe you've never written a soapbox makala au never noticed the key, and have been wondering how some users manage to make their text zaidi interesting. With these tags, wewe can:
* boldface your text
* put your text in italics
* underline your text
* have your text point to a different URL link
Soapbox authors can also use tags to embed pictures into the bodies of their articles. But what not many users realize is that all of these tags - with the exception of the image embedding - can be used in other places on Fanpop.
HOW TO FORMAT YOUR TEXT
If wewe are familiar with hypertext markup language (HTML), the tags will seem pretty familiar to you. Let's assume for a moment that you're not familiar with HTML tags, though.
In order to format any of the text wewe type on Fanpop, wewe need to include a start tag at the beginning of the text wewe want to look different, and then put a close tag at the end of the text wewe want to look that way.
For example, in regular HTML, there is a thing called the "blink" tag (which is very annoying and should never be used in a serious web page - I offer it here only as an example). Simply put, any text marked with a blink tag (in normal HTML) will blink on and off, like a fluorescent light when the power is first applied. In HTML and the fanpop markup tags alike, wewe apply tags like this:
1) wewe type a special symbol to indicate to the system that a tag is starting. In HTML, this tag is the < au "bracket" symbol. On Fanpop, it is the [ au "square bracket" symbol.
2) Then wewe type the name of the tag. In our example, the word "blink" is the name of the blink tag. On Fanpop, wewe have the following basic tags:
b
i
u
3) After the name of the tag, wewe insert the opposite bracket symbol: > in HTML, ] on Fanpop.
These tags indicate where the formatting should start, so wewe place it to the left of the first word wewe want formatted in that way.
Thus, the text <blink> in an HTML file would indicate where the text should start blinking. But now that you've put in the start tag, how do wewe put in the end tag, which tells the system where to stop that text formatting? Like this:
A) wewe type the same sort of bracket: < in HTML, [ on Fanpop.
B) wewe indicate that the tag is a close tag kwa using the mbele slash key: /
C) wewe insert the name of the tag just like in the start tag.
D) wewe close with the opposite bracket: > in HTML, ] on Fanpop.
The close tag should come immediately after the text wewe want to format, so that the start tag and close tag enclose the text wewe want to format.
If wewe wanted the text to say "This is blinking!" in HTML, for instance, wewe would write:
<blink>This is blinking!</blink>
If wewe want to write an explanation of your low rating on a picture ("Sorry, but this pic is really dull!"), wewe could write it like this:
Sorry, but this pic is [i]really dull[/i]!
...which would look like this:
Sorry, but this pic is really dull!
au wewe could write it like this:
Sorry, but this pic is [u]really[/u] [b]dull[/b]!
...which would look like this:
Sorry, but this pic is really dull!
INSERTING UNIFORM RESOURCE LOCATORS (URLs)
Those are what I call the three "basic" text formatting tags:
boldface
italics
underline
But, as I mentioned earlier, wewe can also embed URLs into your text. The tag name is "url", and the tags work the same way, except that wewe also need to provide the actual URL of the site to which wewe want to link. wewe then put this link in the start tag with an "equals" sign. The close tag is unaffected.
For example, if wewe wanted to link to the Neverending Story foramu game on Fanpop, wewe would take the link link and put it in the start tag, to read like this:
[url=http://www.fanpop.com/spots/writing/forum/post/2421], then type the text wewe wanted to be that link, then the close tag: [/url]. In that way, wewe could write something about link and continue on without cluttering up the post with a long URL.
People know that they can click on links, and will do so if they're curious. Note to users seeing these hyperlinks, though: if wewe have any reason to be suspicious of a link that someone has posted, most browsers will let wewe see the URL without clicking on the link, but just hovering the panya, kipanya cursor over the link. Then wewe can read the URL and judge whether it feels salama au not. Some viungo (www.spamspamspamittyspam.com?counter) are going to seem suspect, and so wewe shouldn't click on them.
Three things of interest for placing these viungo on Fanpop:
i) The URL should be absolute. This means that wewe should include the link at the beginning. This may not be necessary for all browsers, but it is good practice for people using older browsers, who would be unable to resolve a link like "fanpop.com" over "http://www.fanpop.com"
ii) In case it isn't obvious, the URL can be any URL, not just a fanpop one. That way, wewe can point to link.
iii) If wewe want to reference a particular passage from a particular thread of a particular forum, wewe can link to the aliyopewa page of that forum. For instance, wewe could point to link, which is just the juu page of that forum, leaving the user to read through multiple pages to get at the end au any page in between, au wewe could point to link, if wewe wanted to reference, say, link's mention of Mrs. Doubtfire (or anything else on that page).
The way wewe do it is simple: just insert /, then the number of the page, then a # and then "comments" after the URL of the base foramu thread. In the example above, we started with link's movie titles game: link.
Then, to point to page 4 of the thread, we added /4#comments to the end of that, making link as the URL to point to page four of that thread.
Finally, I should note that, if wewe don't want to substitute text for some obscure URL, wewe can still just type the URL, and fanpop will recognize it as an URL and will format that text for wewe as a link (see the link and www, above: a link that points nowhere - my apologies to any users who actually clicked on that!)
WHERE wewe CAN USE TAGS
All this is well and good, but where can wewe use these tags on Fanpop? The most obvious place is in soapbox makala like this one. But, wewe can also use these tags in any maoni box on the site, which includes foramu thread postings, responses to foramu threads, and maoni on videos, links, images, picks, and articles. Basically, if the content is already there and wewe want to post a comment, wewe can do it with tags.
WHERE wewe CAN'T USE TAGS
wewe can't use these tags in the titles au descriptions of anything wewe add to Fanpop: links, articles, videos, images, maswali au their picks. Basically, if wewe are adding content to the site, wewe cannot format the name au the description of the content with tags. wewe can take some comfort in the fact that wewe can immediately maoni on your addition, and in that maoni wewe can use tags, though.
A WORD OF CAUTION/BEST PRACTICE
So, now wewe know how to format your text to be zaidi interesting, and carry greater emphasis than just putting *asterisks around words*! But realize that too much emphasis can quickly get to be annoying, much like the <blink> tag I mentioned earlier: use that on an HTML page these days, and wewe will get pilloried. Much like TYPING IN ALL nyara FOR EXTENDED PERIODS, using too much boldface, italics au underlining only annoys people, so use these items with moderation. Two final things to keep in mind:
a) Remember to always use a close tag to stop whatever text formatting wewe start (if wewe don't, the entire contents of your posting will be formatted for emphasis after the start tag)
and
b) Try to stick to a conservative ratio of emphatic au formatted text to regular text, like no zaidi than 10% of what wewe write should be formatted as bold/italic/underlined, au linked to a different URL. Doing otherwise will likely get wewe reported kwa your fellow fanpop users.
With all that said, enjoy!
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Here's viungo to other parts of the guide for your quick reference:
* link
* 1: link
* 2: link.
* 3: link
* 4: Picks: this is the generic name both for the kura ya maoni maswali that wewe see on the site and for the majibu wewe can pick to that question. Papa has created a link.
* 5: link
* 6: link
* 7: link
wewe may also want to see:
* link feature
* link
cadley@livejournal
