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In this section: Starting a New Page Formatting Your Web Pages Using Style Sheets to Style Your Web Pages Adding Tables to Your Web Page Adding Pictures (Images) to Your Web Page Working with Table of Contents on Your Web Page Working With Templates Setting Page Properties Creating Links in &brandShortName; Customizing &brandShortName;

## Formatting Your Web Pages

### Formatting Paragraphs, Headings, and Lists

To apply a format to a paragraph, begin from the &brandShortName; window:

1. Click to place the insertion point where you want the format to begin, or select the text you want to format.
2. Choose a paragraph format using the drop-down list in the Format toolbar:
3. - Body Text: Applies the application default font and style for regular text, without affecting the spacing before or after the text.
   - Paragraph: Inserts a paragraph tag (use this to begin a new paragraph). The paragraph includes top and bottom margins.
   - Heading 1 - Heading 6: Formats the paragraph as a heading. Heading 1 is the highest-level heading, while Heading 6 is the lowest-level heading.
   - Address: Can be used for a web page "signature" that indicates the author of the page and the person to contact for more information, for example: `user@example.com`

     You might want to include the date and a copyright notice. This format usually appears at the bottom of the web page under a horizontal line. Navigator displays the address format in italics.

   - Preformat: This is useful for elements such as code examples, column data, and mail messages that you want displayed in a fixed-width font. In normal text, most browsers remove extra spaces, tabs, and paragraph returns. However, text that uses the Preformatted style is displayed with the white space intact, preserving the layout of the original text.

To format text as a heading:

1. Click to place the insertion point anywhere within the text that you want to format.
2. Using the drop-down list in the Format toolbar, choose the level of heading you want, from 1 (largest) to 6 (smallest). Choose "Heading 1" for your main heading, "Heading 2" for the next level, and so forth.

To apply a list item format:

1. Click to place the insertion point within the line of text that you want to format.
2. Open the Format menu and choose List.
3. Choose the list style:
4. - Bulleted: Each item has a bullet (dot) next to it (as in this list).
   - Numbered: Items are numbered.
   - Term and Definition: These two styles work together, creating a glossary-style appearance. Use the Term tag for the word being defined, and the Definition tag for the definition. The Term text appears flush left, and the Definition text appears indented.

Tip: You can quickly apply a list style to a block of text by selecting the text and clicking the Numbered List or Bulleted List buttons on the Format toolbar.

To change the style of bullets or numbers:

1. Click to place the insertion point within the text of the list item you want to change, or select one or more items in the list if you want to apply a new style to the entire list.
2. Open the Format menu and choose List Properties.
3. Select a bullet or number style from the drop-down list. For numbered lists, you can specify a starting number. For bulleted lists, you can change the bullet style.

Tip: You can also double-click on a bullet or number in a list to display the List Properties dialog box.

To align a paragraph or text in your page, for example, centering or aligning to the left or right:

1. Click to place the insertion point within the paragraph or line of text you want to align.
2. Open the Format menu and choose Align; then choose an alignment option.

Note: You can also use the Format toolbar to align text.

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### Working with Lists

To end a list and continue typing body text:

- Click to place the insertion point at the end of the last list item and press Enter (Return on Mac OS) twice to end the list.

To change one or more list items to body text:

1. Click to place the insertion point within the list item, or select the list items.
2. In a numbered list, click the numbered list button (or in a bulleted list, click the bulleted list button) in the Format toolbar.

To position indented text below a list item:

1. Click to place the insertion point within the list item.
2. Press Shift-Enter to create the hanging indent.
3. Type the text you want to indent.
4. Press Shift-Enter to create another indented paragraph, or press Return to create the next list item.

Tip: You can increase or decrease the indentation of list items by clicking anywhere in a list item and then clicking the Indent or Outdent button on the Format toolbar. Alternatively, click anywhere in a list item and press Tab to indent one level. Press Shift+Tab to outdent one level.

To merge two adjacent lists:

1. Select the two lists that you want to merge. Be sure to select all of the elements in both lists. Note that any text in between the two lists will also become part of the merged list.
2. Click the bulleted or numbered list button in the Format toolbar to merge the lists.

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### Changing Text Color, Style, and Font

To change the style, color, or font of selected text:

1. Select the text you want to format.
2. Open the Format menu and choose one of the following:
3. - Font: Use this to choose a font. If you prefer to use fonts specified by the reader's browser, select Variable Width or Fixed Width.

     Note: Not all fonts installed on your computer appear. Instead of specifying a font that may not be available to all who view your web page, it's generally best to select one of the fonts provided in the menu since these fonts work on every computer. For example, the fonts Helvetica, Arial, Times, and Courier generally look the same when viewed on different computers. If you select a different font, it may not look the same when viewed using a different computer.

   - Size: Use this to choose a relative font size or select an option to increase or decrease text size (relative to the surrounding text).
   - Text Style: Use this to select a style, such as italic, bold, or underline, or to apply a structured style, for example, Code.
   - Text Color: Use this to choose a color from the color picker. If you are familiar with HTML hexadecimal color codes, you can type a specific code or you can just type a color name (for example, "blue"). You'll find a handy color code converter here.

To change the background color of the page:

1. Click anywhere in the page.
2. Click the background color block in the Format toolbar.
3. Choose a background color from the Block Background Color dialog box.
4. Click OK.

Tip: To quickly change the color of text to the color last used, select the text, then press Shift and click on the text color block in the Format toolbar. This is useful when you want to use one color for separate lines of text.

You can also use an image as a background. See Setting Page Colors and Backgrounds.

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### Removing or Discontinuing Text Styles

To remove all text styles (bold, italic, and so on) from selected text:

1. Select the text.
2. Open the Format menu and choose Remove All Text Styles.
3. Continue typing.

To continue typing text with all text styles removed:

1. Place the insertion point where you want to discontinue the text styles.
2. Open the Format menu and choose Discontinue Text Styles.
3. Continue typing.

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### Finding and Replacing Text

To find text in the page you're currently working on:

1. Click to place the insertion point where you want to begin your search.
2. Open the Edit menu and choose Find and Replace. You see the Find and Replace dialog box.
3. Type the text you want to locate in the "Find what" field. To narrow the search, check one or more of the following options:
   - Match upper/lower case: Use this to specify whether the search is for case-sensitive text.
   - Wrap around: Use this to search to the end of the page and then start again from the top or bottom, depending on whether you are searching forward or backwards.
   - Search backwards: Use this to search back from the insertion point to the beginning of the page.
4. Click Find Next to begin searching. When &brandShortName; locates the first occurrence of the text, click Find Next to search for the next occurrence.
5. Click Close when you are done.

To find and replace text in the page you're currently working on:

1. Click to place the insertion point where you want to begin your search.
2. Open the Edit menu and choose Find and Replace. You see the Find and Replace dialog box.
3. Type the text you want to find and then type the replacement text.
4. To narrow the search, check one or more of the following options:
   - Match upper/lower case: Use this to specify whether the search is for case-sensitive text. If you don't select this option, the search will find matching text in both upper and lower case.
   - Wrap around: Use this to search to the end of the page and then start again from the top.
   - Search backwards: Use this to search from the end to the beginning of the page.
5. Click Find Next to search for the next occurrence. &brandShortName; selects the next occurrence of the text.
6. Click Replace to replace the selected text with the replacement text. Click Replace and Find to replace the selected text and find the next occurrence. Click Replace All to replace every occurrence in the document with the replacement text.
7. Click Close when you are done.

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### Inserting Horizontal Lines

Horizontal lines are typically used to separate different sections of a document visually. To insert a horizontal line (also called a rule) in your page, begin from the &brandShortName; window:

1. Click to place the insertion point where you want the line to appear.
2. Open the Insert menu and choose Horizontal Line.

### Setting Horizontal Line Properties

You can customize a line's height, length, width, alignment, and shading.

1. Double-click the line to display the Horizontal Line Properties dialog box.
2. Edit any of these properties:
   - Width: Enter the width and then choose "% of window" or "pixels." If you specify width as a percentage, the line's width changes whenever the &brandShortName; window's or browser window's width changes.
   - Height: Type a number for the line's height (in pixels).
   - 3-D Shading: Select this to add depth to the line by adding a bevel shading.
   - Alignment: Specify where you want to place the line (left, center, or right).
3. Click Use as Default to use these settings as the default the next time you insert a horizontal line.
4. To edit the properties of a horizontal line manually, click Advanced Edit. See the section, Advanced Property Editor, for details.

Tip: You can select "Show All Tags" from the View menu to show all the HTML elements in yellow boxes. Click any yellow box to select everything within that HTML tag or element. Double-click any yellow box to display the Advanced Property Editor dialog box for that HTML tag or element.

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### Inserting Special Characters

To insert special characters such as accent marks, copyrights, or currency symbols:

1. Click to place the insertion point where you want the special character to appear.
2. Open the Insert menu and choose Characters and Symbols. You see the Insert Character dialog box.
3. Select a category of characters.
   - If you choose Accent Uppercase or Accent Lowercase, then open the Letter drop-down list and select the letter you wish to apply an accent to. (Note: not all letters have accented forms.) Select Common Symbols to insert special characters such as copyright symbols or fractions.
4. From the Character drop-down list, select the character you want to insert.
5. Click Insert.

   You can continue typing in your document (or in a mail compose window) while you keep this dialog box open, in case you want to use it again.

6. Click Close when you are done inserting special characters.

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### Inserting HTML Elements and Attributes

If you understand how to work with HTML source code, you can insert additional tags, style attributes, and JavaScript into your page. If you are not sure how to work with HTML source code, it's best not to change it. To work with HTML code, use one of these methods:

- Place the insertion point where you want to insert the HTML code, or select the text you want to edit, and then open the Insert menu and choose HTML. In the Insert HTML dialog box, enter HTML tags and text, and then click Insert.
- Select an element such as a table, named anchor, image, link, or horizontal line. Double-click the element to open the associated properties dialog box for that item. Click Advanced Edit to open the Advanced Property Editor. You can use the Advanced Property Editor to add HTML attributes, JavaScript, and CSS to objects.
- Open the View menu, and choose HTML Source, or click the <HTML> Source tab in the Edit Mode toolbar at the bottom of the &brandShortName; window. (If you don't see the Edit Mode toolbar, open the View menu and choose Show/Hide; then make sure the Edit Mode Toolbar is checked.)

### Using the Advanced Property Editor

To add HTML attributes and JavaScript to objects such as tables, images, and horizontal lines, you can use the Advanced Property Editor.

Note: Unless you clearly understand how to add, delete, or modify HTML attributes and their associated values, it's best not to do so.

If you are not currently viewing the Advanced Property Editor dialog box, follow these steps:

1. From the View menu (or the Edit Mode toolbar), choose Show All Tags.
2. Double-click the object that you want to modify to open its Properties dialog box.
3. Click Advanced Edit to open the object's Advanced Property Editor. The Advanced Property Editor has three tabs, each of which lists the current properties for the selected object:
   - HTML Attributes: Click this tab to view or enter additional HTML attributes.
   - Inline Style: Click this tab to view or enter additional CSS (cascading style sheet) properties through the <style> attribute. For more information on using CSS styles in &brandShortName;, see &brandShortName; Preferences.
   - JavaScript Events: Click this tab to view or enter JavaScript events.
4. To edit a property or attribute in any of the three lists, select the attribute you want to edit. You can then edit the attribute's name or value using the editable Attribute and Value fields at the bottom of the dialog box. To add a new attribute, type it in the Attribute field at the bottom of the dialog box. The new attribute is automatically added when you click in the Value field. To remove an attribute, select it in the list, and click Remove Attribute.

   Note: Required attributes are highlighted in the Attribute list.

5. Click OK to apply your changes to the Advanced Property Editor dialog box.
6. Click OK again to exit the Properties dialog box.

&brandShortName; automatically places quotation marks around any attribute text.

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### Validating the HTML

Before you put your document on a web server(i.e. publish it), it is good practice to first check the document's HTML formatting so as to make sure that it conforms to web standards. Documents containing validated HTML are less likely to cause problems when viewed by different browsers. Just visually checking your web pages in your favourite web browser doesn't ensure that your document will appear correctly when viewed in other web browsers.

&brandShortName; provides a convenient way for you to check that your document conforms to W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) HTML standards. &brandShortName; uses the W3C HTML Validation Service, which checks your document's HTML syntax for compliance with HTML 4.01 standards. This service also provides information on how to correct errors.

Note: You must be connected to the Internet to use this feature.

To validate your document's HTML syntax:

1. Open the Tools menu, and choose Validate HTML. If you have unsaved changes, &brandShortName; asks you to save them before proceeding.
2. &brandShortName; will open another window with results for your page displayed in it after the W3C Validation Service program parses your html file.

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### Choosing the Right Editing Mode

Typically, you won't need to change the editing mode from the default (Normal). However, if you want to work with the document's HTML source code, you may want to change editing modes.

&brandShortName; allows you to quickly switch between four editing modes or views. Each editing mode allows you to continue working on your document, but displays varying levels of HTML tags (and tag icons).

Before you choose an editing mode:

- Open the View menu, choose Show/Hide, and then make sure there is a checkmark next to Edit Mode Toolbar.

The Edit Mode toolbar has four tabs:

- Normal: Choose this editing mode to see how the document will look online while you are creating it. Choose this mode to show table borders and named anchor icons. All other HTML tag icons are hidden.
- Show All Tags: Choose this mode to show all HTML tag icons.
- <HTML> Source: Choose this mode to view and edit the document as unformatted HTML source code. When you save the document, the Normal mode reappears.
- Preview: Choose this mode to display and edit the document exactly as it would appear in a browser window, except that links and JavaScript functions will not be active.

Note: JavaScript functions, frames, links, Java, embedded objects and animated GIF files are not active in any of the editing modes. To display these items in their active state, click the Browse button on the Composition toolbar to load the page into a browser window.

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### Using Status Bar for Formatting Your Web Page

&brandShortName; has an innovative feature of editing/applying inline styles and applying class or id tags to selected text via its status bar. Styling using the status bar is possible in all modes except <HTML> Source viewing mode.

- Select Clicking on "Select" will select the entire text bounded by the style tag.
- Remove Tag Clicking on "Remove Tag" will remove the style tag, and in turn all the styles for that tag will be removed.
- Change Tag Using this option, the user can change the tag used for the text with the least effort. Clicking on "Change Tag" makes the text for the corresponding tag to be editable in the status bar. Type in the desired tag and press "Enter". The default properties of the tag will be applied to the text in the web page.
- Inline StylesWhile in any of the Normal, HTML Tags, or Preview viewing modes the tags surrounding the current position of the cursor are shown in the status bar of &brandShortName;'s window. Style properties of any of the tags can be changed by choosing an option from the context menu. To change inline style properties:
  1. Right click on the tag you wish to edit.
  2. Click on "Inline Styles"
  3. Select the properties section you want to edit:
     - Text Properties
     - Border Properties
     - Background Properties
     - Box Properties
     - Aural Properties
     - Extract and create Generic Style

  Secting any of the options except the last one will open the corresponding tab section from CaScadeS CSS editor (more about CaScadeS in Using Style Sheets section). With the corresponding section open, the user can define his/her own styles which will be saved according to W3C CSS coding style.

  The Extract and create Generic Style option allows the user to extract the style information into an style rule and save it in the external/internal style sheet.

- Templates offers you two options, "Make Editable" and "Remove Editable Area", which can be used while working with Templates. For more information on Templates, see section Working With Templates.
- ID shows ID tags(if available) from the current style sheet applied to the document. To apply a particular tag to the selected text, just click on that ID tag.
- Class shows the class tags(if available) from the current style sheet applied to the document. To apply a class to the selected text just click on that Class tag.
- Advanced Properties allows you to use the Advanced Property editor for adding HTML attributes and Javascript to objects such as tables, images, links, etc. See the section, Advanced Property Editor, for details.

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18 June 2005

Copyright © 2004-2005 Contributors to the Nvu Help Documentation Project.