Formatting your entries to the ship's log
When you registered with the Ship's Log, a default entry was made for you in your profile. By default, all users of the log are configured to "use the visual rich editor when editing." All these instructions assume you have that choice selected in your profile. You can get to your profile by clicking on the "Profile" button of the user "Dashboard" you are taken to when you log in. At the bottom of the screen is a check box for using the visual rich editor. It should be checked.
| Figure 1: The format control panel in the visual rich editor |  |
When you are writing an entry into the log using the visual rich editor, a formatting panel appears between the "Title" and "Post" entry fields. The panel contains several buttons that permit you to enter more into your log entry than just plain text. The most commonly used formatting options are described in Figure 2.
Figure 2:
Button |
Function / use |
b |
Bold: Selected text will be shown as bold. |
i |
Italics: Selected text will display italicized. |
| Hyperlink: Selected text will display as a link, and you will be asked the address to which the link should point. | |
b-quote |
Blockquote: This will take the entered text and indent the entire block both left and right. |
img |
Image: If you have already used the "Upload" dialog to Upload an image, you can use this button to specify where in the post it is to be entered. Set you cursor on the spot, click "img" and tell the server what image you want. |
ul |
This starts and ends an "unordered list," also known as a bulleted list. Each item in the list should be selected and tagged with the "li" button. |
ol |
This starts and ends an "ordered list," also known as a numbered list. Each item in the list should be selected and tagged with the "li" button. |
li |
Means "list item." Used between either two "ul" tags or two "ol" tags to identify each item in a list. |
| code | This is for "Code Monkeys." It switches you over to code view so you can see (and edit) the html that governs your message. |
| more | If you have written a long message, you can insert a "more" tag so that only part of your message is displayed on the main screen. This permits log viewers to see other messages (or parts of them). Those who want to read your entire message can click on the "more" tag and read the entire message. |