Compose tips

input formats:
  • Filtered HTML:
    • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
    • Allowed HTML tags: <a> <em> <strong> <cite> <code> <ul> <ol> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd>

      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="https://www.meganerd.ca/site">Meganerd.Ca </a>Meganerd.Ca
      Emphasized<em>Emphasized</em>Emphasized
      Strong<strong>Strong</strong>Strong
      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

      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.
  • Full HTML:
    • 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.
    • Syntax highlighting of source code can be enabled with the following tags:

      • Generic syntax highlighting tags: "<code>", "<blockcode>".
      • Language specific syntax highlighting tags: "<apt-source>" for Apt sources source code, "<bash>" for Bash source code, "<c>" for C source code, "<cpp>" for C++ source code, "<c-sharp>" for C# source code, "<drupal5>" for Drupal 5 source code, "<drupal6>" for Drupal 6 source code, "<ecma>" for ECMAScript source code, "<html4>" for HTML source code, "<html5>" for HTML source code, "<java>" for Java source code, "<javascript>" for Javascript source code, "<python>" for Python source code, "<ruby>" for Ruby source code.

      Options and tips:

      • The language for the generic syntax highlighting tags can be specified with one of the attribute(s): type, lang, language, class. The possible values are: "apt-source" (for Apt sources), "apt_sources" (for Apt sources), "awk" (for awk), "bash" (for Bash), "c" (for C), "c-sharp" (for C#), "c_mac" (for C (Mac)), "cpp" (for C++), "cpp-qt" (for C++ (QT)), "csharp" (for C#), "css" (for CSS), "drupal5" (for Drupal 5), "drupal6" (for Drupal 6), "ecma" (for ECMAScript), "ecmascript" (for ECMAScript), "gnuplot" (for Gnuplot), "html4" (for HTML), "html4strict" (for HTML), "html5" (for HTML), "java" (for Java), "javascript" (for Javascript), "postgresql" (for PostgreSQL), "powershell" (for PowerShell), "python" (for Python), "robots" (for robots.txt), "ruby" (for Ruby), "sql" (for SQL), "vb" (for Visual Basic), "vim" (for Vim Script), "winbatch" (for Winbatch), "xml" (for XML).
      • The supported tag styles are: <foo>, [foo].
      • Line numbering can be enabled/disabled with the attribute "linenumbers". Possible values are: "off" for no line numbers, "normal" for normal line numbers and "fancy" for fancy line numbers (every nth line number highlighted). The start line number can be specified with the attribute "start", which implicitly enables normal line numbering. For fancy line numbering the interval for the highlighted line numbers can be specified with the attribute "fancy", which implicitly enables fancy line numbering.
      • If the source code between the tags contains a newline (e.g. immediatly after the opening tag), the highlighted source code will be displayed as a code block. Otherwise it will be displayed inline.
      • A title can be added to a code block with the attribute "title".

      Defaults:

      • Default highlighting mode for generic syntax highlighting tags: when no language attribute is specified, no syntax highlighting will be done.
      • Default line numbering: normal line numbers.

      Examples:

      You typeYou get
      <code>foo = "bar";</code>Inline code with the default syntax highlighting mode.
      <code>
      foo = "bar";
      baz = "foz";
      </code>
      Code block with the default syntax highlighting mode.
      <code lang="java" linenumbers="normal">
      foo = "bar";
      baz = "foz";
      </code>
      Code block with syntax highlighting for Java source code
      and normal line numbers.
      <code language="java" start="23" fancy="7">
      foo = "bar";
      baz = "foz";
      </code>
      Code block with syntax highlighting for Java source code,
      line numbers starting from 23
      and highlighted line numbers every 7th line.
      <apt-source>
      foo = "bar";
      baz = "foz";
      </apt-source>
      Code block with syntax highlighting for Apt sources source code.
      <apt-source start="23" fancy="7">
      foo = "bar";
      baz = "foz";
      <apt-source>
      Code block with syntax highlighting for Apt sources source code,
      line numbers starting from 23
      and highlighted line numbers every 7th line.