Sometimes, our tone, or the structure of what we say, is equal in importance to our choice of words.
To help in saying what you need to, and how, you can use special formatting, and images, in comments and messages on Gather.
The following is a reference to the most useful formatting options, and the HTML commands required to make them work.
For a very short tutorial on HTML basics, see the bottom of this article. You may also copy and paste any of the examples below and experiment within the comments section on this article, or one of your own.
Note #1: The formatting options explained here will ONLY work within article comments and Gather private messages, NOT for use within articles.Note #2: The use of HTML is not officially supported by Gather. So, if you run into difficulties, you might be on your own!
Note#3: The images used in this article reflect a prior version of Gather (before the orange 'balloons'). However, the HTML commands and procedures remain unchanged.
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Bold <b> </b>
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This:
Roses are <b>red</b> and violets are <b>blue</b>.
Becomes
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Italics <i> </i>
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This:
Roses are <i>red</i>, and violets are <i>blue</i>.
Becomes:
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Underline <u> </u>
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This:
Roses are <u>red</u>, and violets are <u>blue</u>.
Becomes:
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Combination(s):
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This:
Roses are <b><i>red</b></i>, and violets are <b><i>blue</b></i>.
Becomes:
and This:
<u>Roses</u> are <b>red</b>, and <u>violets</u> are <b>blue</b>.
Becomes:
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Bullets – Standard (Solid Circles) <li> </li>
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This:
Martha, here are a few tips that have helped me:
<li>Substitute 1/3 cup cornmeal for the flour.
<li>Let the batter rest for at least 30 minutes before baking.
<li>Cover with foil during the last 15 minutes of baking.</li>
Becomes:
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Bullets - Hollow Circles <ul type="circle">
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This:
Martha, here are a few tips that have helped me:
<ul type="circle">Substitute 1/3 cup cornmeal for the flour.
<li>Let the batter rest for at least 30 minutes before baking.
<li>Cover with foil during the last 15 minutes of baking.</li>
Becomes:
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Bullets - Squares <ul type="square">
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This:
Martha, here are a few tips that have helped me:
<ul type="square">Substitute 1/3 cup cornmeal for the flour.
<li>Let the batter rest for at least 30 minutes before baking.
<li>Cover with foil during the last 15 minutes of baking.</li>
Becomes:
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Bullets - Numbers <ol><li> </li>
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This:
Martha, here are a few tips that have helped me:
<ol>Substitute 1/3 cup cornmeal for the flour.
<li>Let the batter rest for at least 30 minutes before baking.
<li>Cover with foil during the last 15 minutes of baking.</li>
Becomes:
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Bullets - Upper Case Letters <ol type="A"> <li> </li>
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This:
Martha, here are a few tips that have helped me:
<ol type="A">Substitute 1/3 cup cornmeal for the flour.
<li>Let the batter rest for at least 30 minutes before baking.
<li>Cover with foil during the last 15 minutes of baking.</li>
Becomes:
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Bullets - Lower Case Letters <ol type="a"> <li> </li>
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This:
Martha, here are a few tips that have helped me:
<ol type="a">Substitute 1/3 cup cornmeal for the flour.
<li>Let the batter rest for at least 30 minutes before baking.
<li>Cover with foil during the last 15 minutes of baking.</li>
Becomes:
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Bullets - Upper Case Roman Numerals <ol type="I"> <li> </li>
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This:
Martha, here are a few tips that have helped me:
<ol type="I">Substitute 1/3 cup cornmeal for the flour.
<li>Let the batter rest for at least 30 minutes before baking.
<li>Cover with foil during the last 15 minutes of baking.</li>
Becomes:
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Bullets - Lower Case Roman Numerals <ol type="i"> <li> </li>
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This:
Martha, here are a few tips that have helped me:
<ol type="i">Substitute 1/3 cup cornmeal for the flour.
<li>Let the batter rest for at least 30 minutes before baking.
<li>Cover with foil during the last 15 minutes of baking.</li>
Becomes:
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Justification – Centered <p align="center">
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This:
<p align="center">
There once were members on Gather
that thought their comments would matter
They wrote day and night
until dawn's early light
and for their trouble, they only got fatter.</p>
Becomes:
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Justification – Justified <p align="justify">
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This:
<p align="justify">
Earlier, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert ordered the expansion of the Gaza offensive after rockets hit Ashkelon, seven miles insideIsrael. The offensive began last week with the main goal of bringing home a kidnapped soldier. Tanks moved into the rubble of three of the 21 Jewish settlements evacuated whenIsrael left Gaza last summer after 38 years of occupation.</p>
Becomes:
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Margins <blockquote>
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This:
<blockquote>
"Earlier, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert ordered the expansion of the Gaza offensive after rockets hit Ashkelon, seven miles insideIsrael. The offensive began last week with the main goal of bringing home a kidnapped soldier."
Becomes:
Note(s):
Adding multiple <blockquote> commands, will increase the width of the margin.
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Adding Images <img src="URL">
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This:
Sally, Here is how your recipe turned out...
<img src="http://gather.com/uploads/3096224743850755/small">
Thanks for all of your wonderful assistance!
Becomes:
and Centering the Image Like This:
Sally, Here is how your recipe turned out...
<p align="center"><img src="http://gather.com/uploads/3096224743850755/small">
<p align="left">Thanks for all of your wonderful assistance!
Becomes:
and Changing the Size of the Image, Like This:
Sally, Here is how your recipe turned out...
<img height="200" width="250" src="http://gather.com/uploads/3096224743850755/full">
Thanks for all of your wonderful assistance!
Becomes:
Note(s):
You may use any image URL, including images stored on the web outside of Gather. Gather images are stored in two sizes after they are uploaded, 'small' and 'full' (you may see how this is designated in the URLs above).
When resizing of Gather images is required, it is recommended that the 'full' image be used, as reducing the size of larger images usually ensures the best resolution.
To determine the URL of Gather images, right click on any image, select 'Properties' from the displayed mouse menu, and copy the URL listed under 'Location'.
You may also use image formats other than JPEG, such as Bitmaps, or even animated GIFs.
Inserting Hyperlinks <a href="URL">link text</a>
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This:
<a href="http://www.google.com">Click here for Google</a>
Becomes:
and This:
Barb, you can click <a href="http://www.google.com">here</a>to access Google. Hopefully you will find what you are searching for there!
Becomes:
and to Link to your Articles, This:
Hey Everyone!
Here's a link to my article titled, <a href="/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474976760250">Content Searching on Gather - A Tutorial</a>.
Hopefully it helps you find even more great content on Gather!
Becomes:
The Basics
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You will note that each HTML command has a beginning, and an end. This allows the special formatting to be turned 'on' and 'off' when needed. Once HTML formatting has been turned on, it will continue throughout your entire comment or mail message, unless a command is encountered to turn it off.
For example, to change a word or phrase to boldface, you must activate boldface formatting, by using the 'tag' or 'command' that turns it on. As we learned in the first set of instructions above, that command is <b>. All text following the <b> command will be displayed in boldface. Almost all HTML commands are turned 'off' by repeating the same command, preceded by a '/'. Therefore, to turn off boldface type, enter </b>. All text between the <b> and </b> commands will be displayed in boldface.
The same principles apply to all HTML formatting techniques outlined within this article.
In some cases, an end command will not be necessary if you wish the special formatting to continue to the end of your comment, or message.
Most commands require the use of lower case letters, unless otherwise specified.
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Learning even a few of these basics, can make your comments and messages on Gather more effective, unique, and expressive of your thoughts and personality.
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Comments: 107
Magi
Magi
Be afraid, Gather, very afraid!
Magi
You put a lot of work into this article and I think that this is something I can learn and enjoy using. I appreciate your community spirit!
Unfortunately, cutting and pasting from MSWord does not work within comments and messages, as only the text is copied and all formatting is lost.
Hence, at this time, HTML is the only way to add certain formatting characteristics to comments and private messages (mail) on Gather.
i'm bookmarking this article
Here is a recent article from Jessie Voights on this subject; and,
Another one from Joshua Unseth; plus,
This one from Monica Kennedy.
Those are a few that I am aware of.
Hope that helps!
This is so very useful. Thank you very much.
As an author, I've wondered often how to link to my website and blog when I make comments on other people's articles as some people do. Often, I wish people had links to their sites or books, etc. Now I'm going to try your 'links' advice. But, as you say, we might be on our own as Gather doesn't support HTML.
You were advising me that you should only post to relevant groups, right?
Group description "This is a group designed to allow members to post challenges, games, or announcements for any Gather Group or just an individuals challenge, game, or announcement."
This really isn't a challenge, game, or announcement - more of a novice how-to guide.
??? I guess you have to "guess" which groups to post articles in after all, just as I was doing previously
Thanks
And my earlier post was commenting about the ability to use these formatting tips in articles, which your attached notes address.
Far out man! I printed this out and scotch-taped it to the wall of the OHC Operations Center! Thank you.
Cheers,
Colonel Possum
Only kidding. Helpful article, Kevin.
ok, thanks for the html short book
Thank you Kevin V.
Kevin, Thanks for all of your wonderful assistance!
This is just what I have been looking for.
We need to talk about the sexy tag. More on that later.
Again, thanks, Kevin!
all i can say is out side of being very informative......
it reminded me of a take off of a simple poem my brother set me when we were teenagers,,,,....it read....
roses are red violets are blue....
my farthers an ass he`s your father too...
....don`t know what this has to do with this article but hey.....it brought back a good laugh me bro and i had....thanks...
A simple and thorough HTML guide
to spice up the comments!
It is worth saving
as a reference article.
Thanks Kevin for taking time to explain this for those of us not up on our html.
I am learning step by step.
Baby steps mind you.
Thank you Kevin!
I've been trying to imbed images in comments as per your advise, and I'm having trouble.
You said, "To determine the URL of Gather images, right click on any image, select 'Properties' from the displayed mouse menu, and copy the URL listed under 'Location'."
I did that, and there is nothing labeled "Location" on the Properties box. There is a label that says Address (URL), but the appearance of this address is very different than your examples, like this for instance:
http://medici.gather.com/fileServer/MzA5NjIyNDc0MzkwNDgzMyBmdWxsIGlt
YWdlL3BqcGVnIDExNTgzMTA0MDM1NjQ=
Now here is the problem. After a few minutes. This address changes. So when I used it, it worked for a few minutes, then the link became broken after it changed. I tried using a URL address from a different web site, and it didn't work either. For instance I tried this one:
http://logo.cafepress.com/nocache/6/1946796.jpg
This one looks more like the examples you gave, except it includes the .jpg at the end.
I don't know what I'm doing wrong, but I followed your instructions exactly. Only I am dismayed that you say the URL should be labeled Location in the Properties box, and it is not, plus these URLs of images at Gather keep changing. As an example of what I'm talking about, in the time it has taken me to write this comment the URL that I list above has already changed from what you see above to:
http://medici.gather.com/fileServer/MzA5NjIyNDc0MzkwNDgzMyBmdWxsIGlt
YWdlL3BqcGVnIDExNTgzMTEyNzY0MzI=
It looks mostly the same, but the last few characters have changed, and I have no idea why this would be. As long as the URLs are such moving targets, I don't see how I could ever make this work.
Please tell me what I'm doing wrong, here!
Bill
Thank you for bringing this to my attention. This article, and instructions, were written for the prior Gather design. I THOUGHT that the commands had not changed when Gather implemented the new 'Carl Andre' release. I guess that I was wrong in this one instance. It appears that Gather is now serving (storing) the images differently. I will need to test this further. In the meantime, you will need to use images stored off Gather out on the web.
Sorry for the confusion, and thanks again for letting me know!
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yeah I think they are mirroring and loadbalancing some content servers.. also MAY have 'borrowed some under utilized connect capacity for throughput.
I did manage to get an image from a different web site to work, but the /small and/or /full does not work when using such an image.
Like you can see with this thumbnail of one of my abstracts:
As always, thank you much, for all your help.
I wanted you to know that I've now gotten the hang of it, when using images from other web sites. Once again, I want to thank you very much for your assistance. You're a very helpful guy.
And to show my appreciation I have put a glowing recommendation of your article:
Make Your Comments and Messages on Gather....Sexy! at my article:
Bill M. Tracer Studio goes Cafe'press in my most recent comment there. I will continue to recommend your articles to others, as the discussions venture into topics of "how to do things at Gather".
Thanks again,
Bill M. Tracer
Very helpful article. It's got a place on "my favorites". Thank you for it.
--JR
Thanks.
Just checking out if it works
The images are still there...I think. Are they not appearing for you?
The images are not appearing because of a change Gather made in how images are served. I have rewritten this article anyway, and the new one will be out in a couple of days...and much better than this one!
many thanks for your efforts and concern ...:-)
~*~Jamie~*~
~*~Jamie~*~
please consider publishing it to:
the beginner's guide to doing it all....thanks!