<font>**Text Formatting FAQ**</font>

The most frequently asked questions about text formatting are answered. Also, [[TextFormattingRules]] contains the complete TWiki shorthand system on one quick reference page.

%TOC%

> ----
>
> ### <a name="How_do_I_make_a_separator_"> How do I make a separator? </a>
>
> Create a separator - a horizontal rule - by entering three dashes at the beginning of a blank line: `---`. You can enter more than three if you like, for a more visible separator in edit mode: <br />`--------------`
>
> ----
>
> ### <a name="How_do_I_create_a_heading_"> How do I create a heading? </a>
>
> You can create six sizes of headings - &lt;h1&gt;...&lt;h6&gt; in HTML - by typing, from the beginning of a line, three dashes (-), from one to six plus signs (+), a space, and your heading text. The FAQ questions on this page are created with: `---+++ Have a question?`.
>
> * You can insert a nested table of contents, generated from headings, by placing <code>%TOC%</code> wherever you like on a page (see %TWIKIWEB%.TWikiVariables for more <code>%TOC%</code> options).
>
> ----
>
> <a name="TextEnclosed"></a>
>
> ### <a name="Text_enclosed_in_angle_brackets_"> Text enclosed in angle brackets like &lt;filename&gt; is not displayed. How can I show it as it is? </a>
>
> TWiki interprets text as HTML, and the '&lt;' and '&gt;' characters define where HTML commands start and end. Text _inside_ angle brackets is treated as HTML, and ignored if it doesn't actually do anything - either way, the brackets and its contents are not displayed.
>
> If you want to display angle brackets, enter them as HTML codes instead of typing them in directly:
>
> * `&lt;` = `<`<br />`&gt;` = `>`
>
> * **_You enter:_** `(a &gt; 0)`
>     **_Result:_** `(a > 0)`
>
> ----
>
> ### <a name="Some_words_appear_highlighted_wi"> Some words appear highlighted, with a "?" link at the end. How can I prevent that? </a>
>
> A question mark after a word is a link to a topic that doesn't yet exist - click it to create the new page. This is a TWiki feature - typing a [[MeaningfulTitle]] in a comment is an invitation for someone else to add a new branch to the topic.
>
> To prevent auto-linking - say you want to enter a word like JavaScript (the proper spelling!) - prefix the [[WikiStyleWord]] with the special TWiki HTML tag `<nop>`:
>
> * `<nop>WikiStyleWord` displays as WikiStyleWord
>
> ----
>
> ### <a name="How_can_I_write_fixed_font_text_"> How can I write fixed font text? </a>
>
> The quickest way is to enclose the text in equal signs:
>
> * **_You enter:_** <code>Proportional text, =fixed font=, proportional again.</code>
>     **_Result:_** Proportional text, `fixed font`, proportional again.
>
> ----
>
> ### <a name="Text_I_enter_gets_wrapped_around"> Text I enter gets wrapped around. How can I keep the formatting as it is? </a>
>
> TWiki interprets text as HTML, so you can use the `preformatted` HTML option to keep the new line of text as is. Enclose the text in &lt;pre&gt; &lt;/pre&gt;, or in TWiki's own &lt;verbatim&gt; &lt;/verbatim&gt; tag:
>
>     This text will keep its format as it is:
>     <verbatim>
>       Unit     Price   Qty  Cost
>       -------  ------  ---  ------
>       aaa       12.00    3   36.00
>     </verbatim>
>
> The `pre` tag is standard HTML; `verbatim` is a special TWiki tag that forces text to fixed font mode, and also prevents other tags and TWiki shortcuts from being expanded.
>
> ----
>
> ### <a name="How_do_I_create_tables_"> How do I create tables? </a>
>
> There are three possibilities:
>
> 1. Use Wiki rule with "|" vertical bars.
> 2. Use HTML tables with &lt;table&gt;, &lt;tr&gt;, &lt;td&gt; tags.
> 3. Use preformatted text with &lt;verbatim&gt; tags.
>
> **1\. Use Wiki rule with "|" vertical bars**
>
> * Example text: <br />`| cell A1 | cell B1 | cell C1 |`<br />`| cell A2 | cell B2 | cell C2 |`
> * Example output: <table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0">
>   <tr>
>     <td> cell A1 </td>
>     <td> cell B1 </td>
>     <td> cell C1 </td>
>   </tr>
>   <tr>
>     <td> cell A2 </td>
>     <td> cell B2 </td>
>     <td> cell C2 </td>
>   </tr>
> </table>
>
> **2\. Use HTML tables with &lt;table&gt;, &lt;tr&gt;, &lt;td&gt; tags**
>
> This is a manual process using HTML commands.
>
> **_You enter:_**
>
>     <table border="1">
>       <tr>
>         <th> Head A  </th> <th> Head B  </th>
>       </tr><tr>
>         <td> Cell A2 </td> <td> Cell B2 </td>
>       </tr><tr>
>         <td> Cell A3 </td> <td> Cell B3 </td>
>       </tr>
>     </table>
>
> **_Result:_**
>
> <table border="1">
>   <tr>
>     <th> Head A </th>
>     <th> Head B </th>
>   </tr>
>   <tr>
>     <td> Cell A2 </td>
>     <td> Cell B2 </td>
>   </tr>
>   <tr>
>     <td> Cell A3 </td>
>     <td> Cell B3 </td>
>   </tr>
> </table>
>
> **3\. Use preformatted text with &lt;verbatim&gt; tags**
>
> See "Text enclosed..."
>
> ----
>
> ### <a name="Can_I_include_images_on_a_page_"> Can I include images on a page? </a>
>
> Yes. The easiest way is to [[FileAttachment]] a GIF, JPG or PNG file to a topic and then to place it with: <code>%ATTACHURL%/myImage.gif</code>. This works only for the page that the image is attached to.
>
> To place an image on any page, ther are two ways of including inline images.
>
> **1\. Using URL ending in .gif, .jpg, .jpeg, .png**
>
> This is a simple and automatic way of including inline images. Simply write the URL of the image file, this will create the inline image for you. **_NOTE:_** The images must be accessible as a URL.
>
> * **_You enter:_** <code> TWiki %PUBURL%/wikiHome.gif logo.</code><br />**_Result:_** TWiki %PUBURL%/wikiHome.gif logo.
>
> <a name="ImgUpload"></a> You can upload images directly to your server with FTP access. You can also [[FileAttachment]] image files to a topic - you could even create a dedicated image topic, like `ImageLibrary` - and then link to the images directly:
>
> * Attach `pic.gif` to `Someweb.SomeTopic`<br /> Display with <code>%PUBURL%/Someweb/SomeTopic/pic.gif</code>
>
> **2\. Using &lt;img&gt; tag**
>
> This is a manual process where you have more control over the rendering of the image. Use the &lt;img&gt; tag of HTML to include GIF, JPG and PNG files. **Note:** The display of the topic is faster if you include the `WIDTH` and `HEIGHT` parameters that have the actual image size. <http://www.htmlhelp.com/reference/wilbur/special/img.html> has more on inline images.
>
> * **_You enter:_** `TWiki <img src="%PUBURL%/wikiHome.gif" width="46" height="50" border="0" alt="logo" /> logo.`<br />**_Result:_**<br /> TWiki <img src="%PUBURL%/wikiHome.gif" width="46" height="50" alt="logo" /> logo.
>
> ----
>
> ### <a name="Can_I_write_colored_text_"> Can I write colored text? </a>
>
> Sure. The quickest way is to go &lt;font color="colorCode"&gt;colorize&lt;/font&gt; - `font` is an HTML tag that works in any browser, although it's been phased out in the latest HTML specs.
>
> You can also use the up-to-date `style` attribute - ex: `style="color:#ff0000"` - placed in most HTML tags. `span` is an all-purpose choice: "&lt;span style="color:#ff0000"&gt;CoLoR&lt;/span&gt;. Only old (like 3.x IE &amp; NS) browsers have a problem with `style`.
>
> "colorCode" is the _hexadecimal RGB color code_, which is simply Red, Green and Blue values in hex notation (base 16, 0-F). For pure red, the RGB components are 255-0-0 - full red (255), no green or blue. That's FF-0-0 in hex, or <code>"#ff000=" for Web page purposes. For a basic color selection (you can [[StandardColors]] names instead of hex code in the =font</code> tag only):
>
> <table>
>   <tr bgcolor="#e0e0e0">
>     <td><font color="#000000"> <strong>Black:</strong> </font></td>
>     <td><code>"#000000"</code></td>
>     <td><font color="#008000"> <strong>Green:</strong> </font></td>
>     <td><code>"#008000"</code></td>
>     <td><font color="#c0c0c0"> <strong>Silver:</strong> </font></td>
>     <td><code>"#c0c0c0"</code></td>
>     <td><font color="#00ff00"> <strong>Lime:</strong> </font></td>
>     <td><code>"#00ff00"</code></td>
>   </tr>
>   <tr bgcolor="#c0c0c0">
>     <td><font color="#808080"> <strong>Gray:</strong> </font></td>
>     <td><code>"#808080"</code></td>
>     <td><font color="#808000"> <strong>Olive:</strong> </font></td>
>     <td><code>"#808000"</code></td>
>     <td><font color="#ffffff"> <strong>White:</strong> </font></td>
>     <td><code>"#ffffff"</code></td>
>     <td><font color="#ffff00"> <strong>Yellow:</strong> </font></td>
>     <td><code>"#ffff00"</code></td>
>   </tr>
>   <tr bgcolor="#e0e0e0">
>     <td><font color="#800000"> <strong>Maroon:</strong> </font></td>
>     <td><code>"#800000"</code></td>
>     <td><font color="#000080"> <strong>Navy:</strong> </font></td>
>     <td><code>"#000080"</code></td>
>     <td><font color="#ff0000"> <strong>Red:</strong> </font></td>
>     <td><code>"#ff0000"</code></td>
>     <td><font color="#0000ff"> <strong>Blue:</strong> </font></td>
>     <td><code>"#0000ff"</code></td>
>   </tr>
>   <tr bgcolor="#c0c0c0">
>     <td><font color="#800080"> <strong>Purple:</strong> </font></td>
>     <td>="#800080"= </td>
>     <td><font color="#008080"> <strong>Teal:</strong> </font></td>
>     <td><code>"#008080"</code></td>
>     <td><font color="#ff00ff"> <strong>Fuchsia:</strong> </font></td>
>     <td><code>"#ff00ff"</code></td>
>     <td><font color="#00ffff"> <strong>Aqua:</strong> </font></td>
>     <td><code>"#00ffff"</code></td>
>   </tr>
> </table>
>
> * **_You enter:_** ` <font color="#ff0000"> Red color </font> draws attention. `
>     **_Result:_** <font> Red color </font> draws attention.
>
> ----

-- [[PeterThoeny]] - 13 Sep 2001 <br /> -- [[MikeMannix]] - 14 Sep 2001 <br />