TEXT FORMATTING
Those of あなた who have written soapbox 記事 before may have seen the guide that ファンポップ provides for formatting text. But maybe you've never written a soapbox 記事 または never noticed the key, and have been wondering how some users manage to make their text もっと見る interesting. With these tags, あなた 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 タグ to embed pictures into the bodies of their articles. But what not many users realize is that all of these タグ - with the exception of the image embedding - can be used in other places on Fanpop.
HOW TO FORMAT YOUR TEXT
If あなた are familiar with hypertext markup language (HTML), the タグ 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 あなた type on Fanpop, あなた need to include a start tag at the beginning of the text あなた want to look different, and then put a close tag at the end of the text あなた 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 ファンポップ markup タグ alike, あなた apply タグ like this:
1) あなた type a special symbol to indicate to the system that a tag is starting. In HTML, this tag is the < または "bracket" symbol. On Fanpop, it is the [ または "square bracket" symbol.
2) Then あなた type the name of the tag. In our example, the word "blink" is the name of the blink tag. On Fanpop, あなた have the following basic tags:
b
i
u
3) After the name of the tag, あなた insert the opposite bracket symbol: > in HTML, ] on Fanpop.
These タグ indicate where the formatting should start, so あなた place it to the left of the first word あなた 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 あなた put in the end tag, which tells the system where to stop that text formatting? Like this:
A) あなた type the same sort of bracket: < in HTML, [ on Fanpop.
B) あなた indicate that the tag is a close tag によって using the フォワード, 前進, 楽しみにして スラッシュ key: /
C) あなた insert the name of the tag just like in the start tag.
D) あなた close with the opposite bracket: > in HTML, ] on Fanpop.
The close tag should come immediately after the text あなた want to format, so that the start tag and close tag enclose the text あなた want to format.
If あなた wanted the text to say "This is blinking!" in HTML, for instance, あなた would write:
<blink>This is blinking!</blink>
If あなた want to write an explanation of your low rating on a picture ("Sorry, but this pic is really dull!"), あなた 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!
または あなた 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, あなた can also embed URLs into your text. The tag name is "url", and the タグ work the same way, except that あなた also need to provide the actual URL of the site to which あなた want to link. あなた then put this link in the start tag with an "equals" sign. The close tag is unaffected.
For example, if あなた wanted to link to the Neverending Story フォーラ game on Fanpop, あなた 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 あなた wanted to be that link, then the close tag: [/url]. In that way, あなた 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 あなた have any reason to be suspicious of a link that someone has posted, most browsers will let あなた see the URL without clicking on the link, but just hovering the マウス cursor over the link. Then あなた can read the URL and judge whether it feels 安全, 安全です または not. Some リンク (www.spamspamspamittyspam.com?counter) are going to seem suspect, and so あなた shouldn't click on them.
Three things of interest for placing these リンク on Fanpop:
i) The URL should be absolute. This means that あなた 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 ファンポップ one. That way, あなた can point to link.
iii) If あなた want to reference a particular passage from a particular thread of a particular forum, あなた can link to the 与えられた page of that forum. For instance, あなた could point to link, which is just the 上, ページのトップへ page of that forum, leaving the user to read through multiple pages to get at the end または any page in between, または あなた could point to link, if あなた wanted to reference, say, link's mention of Mrs. Doubtfire (or anything else on that page).
The way あなた do it is simple: just insert /, then the number of the page, then a # and then "comments" after the URL of the base フォーラ 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 あなた don't want to substitute text for some obscure URL, あなた can still just type the URL, and ファンポップ will recognize it as an URL and will format that text for あなた 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 あなた CAN USE TAGS
All this is well and good, but where can あなた use these タグ on Fanpop? The most obvious place is in soapbox 記事 like this one. But, あなた can also use these タグ in any コメント box on the site, which includes フォーラ thread postings, responses to フォーラ threads, and コメント on videos, links, images, picks, and articles. Basically, if the content is already there and あなた want to post a comment, あなた can do it with tags.
WHERE あなた CAN'T USE TAGS
あなた can't use these タグ in the titles または descriptions of anything あなた add to Fanpop: links, articles, videos, images, 質問 または their picks. Basically, if あなた are adding content to the site, あなた cannot format the name または the 説明 of the content with tags. あなた can take some comfort in the fact that あなた can immediately コメント on your addition, and in that コメント あなた can use tags, though.
A WORD OF CAUTION/BEST PRACTICE
So, now あなた know how to format your text to be もっと見る 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 あなた will get pilloried. Much like TYPING IN ALL バッジ FOR EXTENDED PERIODS, using too much boldface, italics または 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 あなた start (if あなた 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 または formatted text to regular text, like no もっと見る than 10% of what あなた write should be formatted as bold/italic/underlined, または linked to a different URL. Doing otherwise will likely get あなた reported によって your fellow ファンポップ users.
With all that said, enjoy!
*******************************
Here's リンク 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 アンケート 質問 that あなた see on the site and for the 回答 あなた can pick to that question. Papa has created a link.
* 5: link
* 6: link
* 7: link
あなた may also want to see:
* link feature
* link
