TEXT FORMATTING
Those of bạn who have written soapbox các bài viết before may have seen the guide that fanpop provides for formatting text. But maybe you've never written a soapbox bài viết hoặc never noticed the key, and have been wondering how some users manage to make their text thêm interesting. With these tags, bạn 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 tag to embed pictures into the bodies of their articles. But what not many users realize is that all of these tag - with the exception of the image embedding - can be used in other places on Fanpop.
HOW TO FORMAT YOUR TEXT
If bạn are familiar with hypertext markup language (HTML), the tag 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 bạn type on Fanpop, bạn need to include a start tag at the beginning of the text bạn want to look different, and then put a close tag at the end of the text bạn 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 tag alike, bạn apply tag like this:
1) bạn type a special symbol to indicate to the system that a tag is starting. In HTML, this tag is the < hoặc "bracket" symbol. On Fanpop, it is the [ hoặc "square bracket" symbol.
2) Then bạn type the name of the tag. In our example, the word "blink" is the name of the blink tag. On Fanpop, bạn have the following basic tags:
b
i
u
3) After the name of the tag, bạn insert the opposite bracket symbol: > in HTML, ] on Fanpop.
These tag indicate where the formatting should start, so bạn place it to the left of the first word bạn 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 bạn put in the end tag, which tells the system where to stop that text formatting? Like this:
A) bạn type the same sort of bracket: < in HTML, [ on Fanpop.
B) bạn indicate that the tag is a close tag bởi using the phía trước, chuyển tiếp Slash key: /
C) bạn insert the name of the tag just like in the start tag.
D) bạn close with the opposite bracket: > in HTML, ] on Fanpop.
The close tag should come immediately after the text bạn want to format, so that the start tag and close tag enclose the text bạn want to format.
If bạn wanted the text to say "This is blinking!" in HTML, for instance, bạn would write:
<blink>This is blinking!</blink>
If bạn want to write an explanation of your low rating on a picture ("Sorry, but this pic is really dull!"), bạn 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!
hoặc bạn 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, bạn can also embed URLs into your text. The tag name is "url", and the tag work the same way, except that bạn also need to provide the actual url of the site to which bạn want to link. bạn then put this link in the start tag with an "equals" sign. The close tag is unaffected.
For example, if bạn wanted to link to the Neverending Story diễn đàn game on Fanpop, bạn 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 bạn wanted to be that link, then the close tag: [/url]. In that way, bạn 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 bạn have any reason to be suspicious of a link that someone has posted, most browsers will let bạn see the url without clicking on the link, but just hovering the chuột cursor over the link. Then bạn can read the url and judge whether it feels an toàn, két an toàn hoặc not. Some đường dẫn (www.spamspamspamittyspam.com?counter) are going to seem suspect, and so bạn shouldn't click on them.
Three things of interest for placing these đường dẫn on Fanpop:
i) The url should be absolute. This means that bạn 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, bạn can point to link.
iii) If bạn want to reference a particular passage from a particular thread of a particular forum, bạn can link to the được trao page of that forum. For instance, bạn could point to link, which is just the hàng đầu, đầu trang page of that forum, leaving the user to read through multiple pages to get at the end hoặc any page in between, hoặc bạn could point to link, if bạn wanted to reference, say, link's mention of Mrs. Doubtfire (or anything else on that page).
The way bạn do it is simple: just insert /, then the number of the page, then a # and then "comments" after the url of the base diễn đàn 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 bạn don't want to substitute text for some obscure URL, bạn can still just type the URL, and fanpop will recognize it as an url and will format that text for bạn 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 bạn CAN USE TAGS
All this is well and good, but where can bạn use these tag on Fanpop? The most obvious place is in soapbox các bài viết like this one. But, bạn can also use these tag in any bình luận box on the site, which includes diễn đàn thread postings, responses to diễn đàn threads, and các bình luận on videos, links, images, picks, and articles. Basically, if the content is already there and bạn want to post a comment, bạn can do it with tags.
WHERE bạn CAN'T USE TAGS
bạn can't use these tag in the titles hoặc descriptions of anything bạn add to Fanpop: links, articles, videos, images, các câu hỏi hoặc their picks. Basically, if bạn are adding content to the site, bạn cannot format the name hoặc the mô tả of the content with tags. bạn can take some comfort in the fact that bạn can immediately bình luận on your addition, and in that bình luận bạn can use tags, though.
A WORD OF CAUTION/BEST PRACTICE
So, now bạn know how to format your text to be thêm 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 bạn will get pilloried. Much like TYPING IN ALL huy hiệu FOR EXTENDED PERIODS, using too much boldface, italics hoặc 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 bạn start (if bạn 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 hoặc formatted text to regular text, like no thêm than 10% of what bạn write should be formatted as bold/italic/underlined, hoặc linked to a different URL. Doing otherwise will likely get bạn reported bởi your fellow fanpop users.
With all that said, enjoy!
*******************************
Here's đường dẫn 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 phiếu bầu các câu hỏi that bạn see on the site and for the các câu trả lời bạn can pick to that question. Papa has created a link.
* 5: link
* 6: link
* 7: link
bạn may also want to see:
* link feature
* link
I'm human, and it's part of the human condition to avoid change. So I admit I get a little irritated when stuff on fanpop changes. I still haven't got used to the differences between the tìm kiếm bars on the site, for instance - every ngày I scratch my head, wondering why I get no results when I look for "Fanpop Users", until I realize that I was looking within the link instead of through the whole site (someday I'll get used to this. 
Someday soon, I hope, as I was one of the users who requested the feature!). Similarly, back in August 2008, I found myself...
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I hate it when this crap happens
