h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

It feels a little strange to be the first person writing here, but I suppose that
just means I'm special.
I joined yesterday, and added a few brief and pointless lines to my home page
and did three journal entries. Here's some advice for those of you who happen to drop
in here before experimenting with your own pages:
HTML code can be used to pretty up your home page, and is necessary if you want
line beaks. You probably worked that out already.
When I started my first journal entry, I assumed that the same was true for the
journal. And it is. However, if you preview your journal entry
before submitting it, the HTML code is revealed in all its geeky glory, which led me
to believe that for some reason the journal shouldn't
be HTML formatted. So I took out all the code, leaving just the text. The results
were ugly, sad and pitiful. All those lonely little sentences,
missing their <p>'s and <b>'s, huddling up together to share their
misery. Don't go that way. Ignore the journal preview, and leave in the
HTML code. Unfortunately, journal entries can't be edited (I think), so you may want
to preview your entries properly by creating them in a file and looking at them in a
browser.

Another point: it's probably a good idea to use strictly correct HTML code. Use
closing tags for paragraphs and list items, that sort of thing. A friend of mine (it's really worth visiting his
site. Trust me. Go there.) added lists without <li>'s and they went
weird. Freaky-cool weird, but still weird.

Now if this sits here forever without helping anyone, I shall be sad.

- Alys

Don't use HTML when discussing things in a forum.
Just on your page and journal. Not in the forum. Not.

Don't use HTML when discussing things in a forum.
Just on your page and journal. Not in the forum. Not.



- Alys

Don't use fake html tags to express emotions, EVEN in places where REAL html tags are ignored!

These inconsistencies are a trifle annoying.

Alys, you're doing pretty good here
I guess that should help the new one quite a lot

*grins at Aly* ... You remind me -very- much of a little mouse who had just arrived.. oh.. many weeks ago now.

Little hints:

Use HTML ONLY on your homepage. Not in journal or forum entries (a journal entry is just a special forum, after all).

You can use html tags, but if you preview first, that's when they can get all mucked up. Be brave! Go ahead and Post Message.

For forum and journal entries, just type out a paragraph as you want it, leaving the editor to do the word-wrapping. If you hit the key each time you reach the end of a line your formatting will get all mucked up. When you've finished a paragraph, -then- hit the key and you'll get your line break.. I generally hit it twice between paragraphs, to get that blank line.

(Oh, this method also works quite well if you're using the plain text type when editing a homepage.)

If you use the GuideML, then yes, you definitely have to close all tags, even if in normal html you don't have to close that particular type. (Such as the or tag.) There -is- a shortcut method:



(Notice the / at the end, just before the closing angle bracket? That's the trick. )

I don't know if you need to be so careful when using the HTML type for pages, since I was lucky enough to be quite comfortable with GuideML before they put those other options in, but it surely wouldn't hurt. I doubt the shortcut would work there, but who knows?

Hmm... have I missed anything? Well.. if you have any questions, feel free to ask.

'Nonnie

Oh.. I did forget something. One (well, two) more note on using GuideML. Alway.. ALWAYS put any qualifiers in double quote marks. Like align="center" or size="0" or whatever. I know it's not always necessary in standard HTML, but it is for XML which is what GuideML is.

Second, be sure all opening and closing tags are in -matching case- ... and , not and ; and , not and .

'Nonnie