Blog Tips

I'm updating this post today 14 January 2018 to make it easier to make italics or bold words and create easy links in the comments box of blogs.

Just copy and paste the tag that fits your needs, then type/paste in the words to be italicized or made bold.

For Italics:

<i>TYPE/PASTE words here</i>


For Bold:

<b>TYPE/PASTE words here</b>


To make links in comments (without typing/pasting long URL):

1. Copy and Paste this link Tag:

<a href="PASTE LINK URL HERE">TYPE WORD/S TO BE HYPER LINKED HERE</a>

2. In the Tag, Type in word to be hyper linked (the word/s that will take you to the website link when you click on it. It will show up as blue in the comments).

3. Copy and Paste the link/website address in between the quotation marks to replace PASTE URL LINK HERE

4. Preview in comments to see if the link works. If it does work, then Publish comment.



Original Post follows (Kept for archival purposes):

I've been meaning to finish the post since last year. I started blogging last year, and I've picked up a few things. Mostly, it's style and formatting tips. It's been trial and error, but I've got a few tips I'd like to share that I hope you'll find useful.

Tags:

Ever wonder how in some comments, there are words that are italicized, or bold, or even linked (without the long URL address)?

Well, they use tags! Tags are the things that affect how words are displayed in the comment (or post). Now, if you have a blog, you pretty much know those easy icons on the Create Post menu bar that helps you create styles and format your posts.

Now, you realize that sometimes, when you copy and paste inside a comment box, the effects don't show up at all!

So, there's a reason why. Blogger seems to allow only a few types of tags to be used in the comment section. But that's okay. I've found three that have been very useful.

How to italicize words in comments and posts:

Say you want to create an italicized word or phrase in your post. I'll give you some step by step instructions, and leave the tags you need in red.

1. First, type < then the small case i then followed by > This is your start tag.

2. Type in the word/s you want to italicize.

3. Then type < then / then a small case i then followed by > This is your closing tag.

Remember, it should look like LESS THAN and GREATER THAN surround small case letter I. Then the WORDS to be italicized; finally the LESS THAN followed by a BACKSLASH then the small case I followed by a GREATER THAN.



Use the PREVIEW button on the comments section to see if it has the italicized effect. In fact, go ahead and practice on the comment section of this post. See if it works! You don't have to PUBLISH your comment if you don't want to; I just want to make sure you can see if it works. The PREVIEW button does a good job of showing you if you did it right.

How to make words bold in comments and posts:

The same rules apply to making a bold comment. The tags you need are

1. First, use the < followed by a small case b then followed by > This is your start tag.

2. Type in the word/s you want to be in bold followed by

3. Type in < followed by / then small case b followed by > This is your close tag

Remember, it's LESS THAN and GREATER THAN surround the small case B. Followed by the WORDS to be put in bold. Then LESS THAN followed by BACKSLASH then small case B followed by GREATER THAN.



Go on and practice in the comments section; remember to use the preview button on the comments section to see if the effects work.

How to make links in comments and posts:

The last tip I want to talk about are the links in the comments! Ever notice how some people's comments are blue and lead to a link? Those hyperlinked texts are easy and you don't have to worry about the long URL getting cut off when you're trying to share it in the comments.

Here are the tags you need.

1. First, type <

2. Then type a href=

3. Then type quotation marks "" followed by > This is your start tag

4. Then type the word/s for you want hyperlinked

5. Then type < followed by / then small case letter a

6. Then type > This is your ending tag.

7. Finally, copy the URL you want to link to and insert/paste it between the quotation marks "COPY AND PASTE URL HERE"

Remember, it should look like LESS THAN then the small case letters A HREF and EQUAL SIGN. Then QUOTATION MARKS with link URL in between the quotation marks. Next is the GREATER THAN sign. Then the WORDS that need to be hyperlinked. Followed by LESS THAN then BACKSLASH then small case letter A followed by GREATER THAN.



Go ahead and try it out in the comment section, and use the preview button to see if you got it right.

*Edited 11:45 am to add: When you see your blue link in the preview section, right click on it and open in new tab to check to see if it's the right link.

Now, comes the best part! You can actually use all three tags with each other! Say you want something bold and italicized, then use the tags.

1. Type the start bold tag, then italicized start tag.

2. Then type the words you want formatted;

3. Then type the closed italicized tag, followed by the closed bold tag.

Remember, your first tag should be the same as your last tag; in other words, if you start with a bold tag, then end with a bold tag.



You can even combine all three! Just remember, the order of your tags. What ever tag was first is going to be last. If you start with a bold, italicized, and linked tags, then close with a linked, italicized, and bold tags. Go ahead and experiment in the comment section and use the PREVIEW button to see if it works.

Feel free to share any tips you may have; your feedback is also important to see if the instructions are easy enough to follow, or if I can improve them in some way.