Compose tips

input formats:
  • Filtered HTML:

    • Allowed HTML tags: <a> <em> <strong> <b> <i> <u> <cite> <code> <ul> <ol> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd> <blockquote> <br> <hr> <h3> <h4> <h5> <h6>

      This site allows HTML content. While learning all of HTML may feel intimidating, learning how to use a very small number of the most basic HTML "tags" is very easy. This table provides examples for each tag that is enabled on this site.

      For more information see W3C's HTML Specifications or use your favorite search engine to find other sites that explain HTML.

      Tag DescriptionYou TypeYou Get
      Anchors are used to make links to other pages.<a href="http://cyberlaw.stanford.edu">Stanford Center for Internet and Society</a>Stanford Center for Internet and Society
      Emphasized<em>Emphasized</em>Emphasized
      Strong<strong>Strong</strong>Strong
      Bolded<b>Bolded</b>Bolded
      Italicized<i>Italicized</i>Italicized
      Underlined<u>Underlined</u>Underlined
      Cited<cite>Cited</cite>Cited
      Coded text used to show programming source code<code>Coded</code>Coded
      Unordered list - use the <li> to begin each list item<ul> <li>First item</li> <li>Second item</li> </ul>
      • First item
      • Second item
      Ordered list - use the <li> to begin each list item<ol> <li>First item</li> <li>Second item</li> </ol>
      1. First item
      2. Second item
      Definition lists are similar to other HTML lists. <dl> begins the definition list, <dt> begins the definition term and <dd> begins the definition description.<dl> <dt>First term</dt> <dd>First definition</dd> <dt>Second term</dt> <dd>Second definition</dd> </dl>
      First term
      First definition
      Second term
      Second definition
      Block quoted<blockquote>Block quoted</blockquote>
      Block quoted
      By default line break tags are automatically added, so use this tag to add additional ones. Use of this tag is different because it is not used with an open/close pair like all the others. Use the extra " /" inside the tag to maintain XHTML 1.0 compatibilityText with <br />line breakText with
      line break
      No help provided for tag hr.
      Header<h3>Subtitle three</h3>

      Subtitle three
      Header<h4>Subtitle four</h4>

      Subtitle four
      Header<h5>Subtitle five</h5>
      Subtitle five
      Header<h6>Subtitle six</h6>
      Subtitle six

      Most unusual characters can be directly entered without any problems.

      If you do encounter problems, try using HTML character entities. A common example looks like &amp; for an ampersand & character. For a full list of entities see HTML's entities page. Some of the available characters include:

      Character DescriptionYou TypeYou Get
      Ampersand&amp;&
      Greater than&gt;>
      Less than&lt;<
      Quotation mark&quot;"
    • Lines and paragraphs are automatically recognized. The <br /> line break, <p> paragraph and </p> close paragraph tags are inserted automatically. If paragraphs are not recognized simply add a couple blank lines.
    • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Textile markup:
    • Lines and paragraphs are automatically recognized. The <br /> line break, <p> paragraph and </p> close paragraph tags are inserted automatically. If paragraphs are not recognized simply add a couple blank lines.