TEXT FORMATTING
Those of आप who have written soapbox लेखाए before may have seen the guide that फैन्पॉप provides for formatting text. But maybe you've never written a soapbox लेख या never noticed the key, and have been wondering how some users manage to make their text और interesting. With these tags, आप can:
* boldface your text
* put your text in italics
* underline your text
* have your text point to a different यू. आर्. एल link
Soapbox authors can also use टॅग्स to embed pictures into the bodies of their articles. But what not many users realize is that all of these टॅग्स - with the exception of the image embedding - can be used in other places on Fanpop.
HOW TO FORMAT YOUR TEXT
If आप are familiar with hypertext markup language (HTML), the टॅग्स 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 आप type on Fanpop, आप need to include a start tag at the beginning of the text आप want to look different, and then put a close tag at the end of the text आप 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 फैन्पॉप markup टॅग्स alike, आप apply टॅग्स like this:
1) आप type a special symbol to indicate to the system that a tag is starting. In HTML, this tag is the < या "bracket" symbol. On Fanpop, it is the [ या "square bracket" symbol.
2) Then आप type the name of the tag. In our example, the word "blink" is the name of the blink tag. On Fanpop, आप have the following basic tags:
b
i
u
3) After the name of the tag, आप insert the opposite bracket symbol: > in HTML, ] on Fanpop.
These टॅग्स indicate where the formatting should start, so आप place it to the left of the first word आप 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 आप put in the end tag, which tells the system where to stop that text formatting? Like this:
A) आप type the same sort of bracket: < in HTML, [ on Fanpop.
B) आप indicate that the tag is a close tag द्वारा using the आगे स्लैश key: /
C) आप insert the name of the tag just like in the start tag.
D) आप close with the opposite bracket: > in HTML, ] on Fanpop.
The close tag should come immediately after the text आप want to format, so that the start tag and close tag enclose the text आप want to format.
If आप wanted the text to say "This is blinking!" in HTML, for instance, आप would write:
<blink>This is blinking!</blink>
If आप want to write an explanation of your low rating on a picture ("Sorry, but this pic is really dull!"), आप 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!
या आप 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, आप can also embed URLs into your text. The tag name is "url", and the टॅग्स work the same way, except that आप also need to provide the actual यू. आर्. एल of the site to which आप want to link. आप then put this link in the start tag with an "equals" sign. The close tag is unaffected.
For example, if आप wanted to link to the Neverending Story मंच game on Fanpop, आप 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 आप wanted to be that link, then the close tag: [/url]. In that way, आप 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 आप have any reason to be suspicious of a link that someone has posted, most browsers will let आप see the यू. आर्. एल without clicking on the link, but just hovering the माउस cursor over the link. Then आप can read the यू. आर्. एल and judge whether it feels सुरक्षित या not. Some लिंक्स (www.spamspamspamittyspam.com?counter) are going to seem suspect, and so आप shouldn't click on them.
Three things of interest for placing these लिंक्स on Fanpop:
i) The यू. आर्. एल should be absolute. This means that आप 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 यू. आर्. एल can be any URL, not just a फैन्पॉप one. That way, आप can point to link.
iii) If आप want to reference a particular passage from a particular thread of a particular forum, आप can link to the दिया page of that forum. For instance, आप could point to link, which is just the चोटी, शीर्ष page of that forum, leaving the user to read through multiple pages to get at the end या any page in between, या आप could point to link, if आप wanted to reference, say, link's mention of Mrs. Doubtfire (or anything else on that page).
The way आप do it is simple: just insert /, then the number of the page, then a # and then "comments" after the यू. आर्. एल of the base मंच 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 यू. आर्. एल to point to page four of that thread.
Finally, I should note that, if आप don't want to substitute text for some obscure URL, आप can still just type the URL, and फैन्पॉप will recognize it as an यू. आर्. एल and will format that text for आप 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 आप CAN USE TAGS
All this is well and good, but where can आप use these टॅग्स on Fanpop? The most obvious place is in soapbox लेखाए like this one. But, आप can also use these टॅग्स in any टिप्पणी दे box on the site, which includes मंच thread postings, responses to मंच threads, and टिप्पणियाँ on videos, links, images, picks, and articles. Basically, if the content is already there and आप want to post a comment, आप can do it with tags.
WHERE आप CAN'T USE TAGS
आप can't use these टॅग्स in the titles या descriptions of anything आप add to Fanpop: links, articles, videos, images, सवालों या their picks. Basically, if आप are adding content to the site, आप cannot format the name या the विवरण of the content with tags. आप can take some comfort in the fact that आप can immediately टिप्पणी दे on your addition, and in that टिप्पणी दे आप can use tags, though.
A WORD OF CAUTION/BEST PRACTICE
So, now आप know how to format your text to be और 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 आप will get pilloried. Much like TYPING IN ALL कैप्स FOR EXTENDED PERIODS, using too much boldface, italics या 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 आप start (if आप 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 या formatted text to regular text, like no और than 10% of what आप write should be formatted as bold/italic/underlined, या linked to a different URL. Doing otherwise will likely get आप reported द्वारा your fellow फैन्पॉप users.
With all that said, enjoy!
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Here's लिंक्स 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 मतदान सवालों that आप see on the site and for the जवाब आप can pick to that question. Papa has created a link.
* 5: link
* 6: link
* 7: link
आप may also want to see:
* link feature
* link
