Basic HTML for Property Websites, Forums, and Blogs

Using Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) in your posts on Ning and other HTML based Forums and Bulletin Boards is easier than it sounds. It is surprising how important knowing basic HTML is to a quality online existence – of course many people don’t care about things like grammar, spelling, let alone the things that HTML gives you like layout, well presented quotebacks, embedding videos & pictures, anchor text links …… nevertheless I think it worthwhile in order to present a professional image.

Learning basic HTML through posting on an HTML BB like Ning is a painless way of picking up how HTML works, which will then allow you to do more sophisticated things like adding HTML widgets to your Blog. You don’t need to become an HTML expert – or even that competent – the 80:20 works in your favour – understand 20% of HTML and you will be able to undertake 80% of what you need to do.

In your normal posting view you are shown what you post will look like, but actually it is produced using HTML – as you type you produce HTML which is hidden from you. You can see the HTML that is being coded for you as you type by clicking on the HTML button.

Some simple tags to get you started:

Firstly understand a “Tag” – this controls the content within the “< >” TAG it’s best understood by trying out some of the examples, and also clicking on the HTML view of your posts before posting them to see what the HTML looks like ………..

Basic HTML

Command	Altered text (examples)
<B>Text here</B>	Bold text
<I>Text here</I>	Italic text
<BIG>Text here</BIG>	Bigger text
<STRIKE>Text here</STRIKE>	Line through text
<U>Text here</U>	Underlined text
<KBD>Text here</KBD>	`Keyboard text`
<SUB>Text here</SUB>	_{Lower text}
<SUP>Text here</SUP>	^{Higher text}
<STRONG>Text here</STRONG>	Strong text
<SMALL>Text here</SMALL>	Smaller text
<P>	Starts a new paragraph
<BR>	Starts a new line
<P ALIGN=left>Text here</ALIGN>	Left aligned text
<P ALIGN=center>Text here</ALIGN>	Central aligned text
<P ALIGN=right>Text here</ALIGN>	Right aligned text

Changing font type

Command	Changes font to:(examples)
<FONT FACE=COURIER>Text here</FONT>	Courier font
<FONT FACE=ALGERIAN>Text here</FONT>	Algerian font
<FONT FACE=GARAMOND>Text here</FONT>	Garamond font
<FONT FACE=ARIAL>Text here</FONT>	Arial font
<FONT FACE=MODERN>Text here</FONT>	Modern font

Changing text colour

Command	Changes text color to:
<FONT COLOR=#DC143C>Text here</FONT>	Red text
<FONT COLOR=#3300FF>Text here</FONT>	Blue text
<FONT COLOR=#FF6600>Text here</FONT>	Orange text
<FONT COLOR=#FFFF33>Text here</FONT>	Yellow text
<FONT COLOR=#66FF33>Text here</FONT>	Green text

Note that on the WWW colours are identifies by a code of the form #ffffff – a hash and 6 digits. Every combination of the 6 digits produces a different colour (the digits have to be 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,a,b,c,d,e,f – for a geeky reason that we won’t go into!).

Joining HTML together

You may have noticed that the font, and colour are changed using the tag.

If you wanted to change the text to a courier font, and red you would put the following
Edited text which gives Edited text

Example 2: To make the text bold, underlined and green all at the same time use

Text here gives you Text here

It is important that you close the tags in the same order as they were opened. In the example above was opened first so must be closed last was the last opened and first to be closed.

Rules:

Only tags with the same beginning can be merged together
All < > tags must be closed with the appropriate </ > tag
The first tags opened are the last ones to be closed

Adding a link to a different page

Links are what allow people to move to other pages on the Internet. They can usually be identified because the mouse pointer changes when over a link and the text is usually underlined and a different colour. To create a link use the following:

<A HREF=http://www.pimlico-flats.co.uk>Pimlico Flats</a> will look like Pimlico Flats

To display a picture

Use the following:

<IMG SRC=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v479/mepage/69.gif”> gives Hello

Please note: There is no closing tag for a picture

<IMG> tag properties

You can set the following properties for the <IMG> tag. It is recommended that you set the width and height for each picture as it makes the picture load faster.

WIDTH The width of the picture

HEIGHT The height of the picture

ALT Text to be displayed if the image can not be displayed – note a description should be included to help the visually impaired

Both width and height are specified in either pixels or as a percentage of the screen size.

Linking a picture

You just need to put the two codes together

Create a numbered list

Command

Looks like:

<OL>

<LI>List item number 1</LI>

<LI>List item number 2</LI>

<LI>List item number 3</LI>

</OL>

List item number 1
List item number 2
List item number 3

Create a bulleted list

Command

Looks like:

<UL>

<LI>List item number 1</LI>

<LI>List item number 2</LI>

<LI>List item number 3</LI>

</UL>

List item number 1
List item number 2
List item number 3

Adding a picture is really simple. All you need is an image host (somewhere to store your pics) the following instructions are for how to use photobucket.

Click on a picture to make it larger

Sign up for a free Photobucket account
Activate the account
Right click on a pic you want to use and select “Save Picture As…”

Choose an appropriate place on your computer (recommended place:my documents) and select save
Sign in to your photobucket account
Click the browse button

Find where you saved your pic and click on it, then select the open button
Select submit (your picture will now be added to your bucket)

Under the picture there are 3 lines…

Right click the tag line <img src=”….”> and select copy

Go to where you want the picture to appear (the boards)
Right click and select paste in the message box
Post the message

The picture should now have appeared

You can also rotate and change the size of the picture once it is in photobucket by clicking on the edit button above the picture you want to change.

Creating a signature picture

To put your name on a picture you need some drawing software

Most people use a specialised program called Paint Shop Pro (PSP) to add their name to pictures.

You can download a free trial here.

Now just get creative

Tags: Blog, Forums, Internet, Websites
Posted in General, Property on April 26th, 2012 | 1 Comment »

Blogging on Pimlico, London, Renting, Property, and Flats – Pimlico

I try to keep this blog tightly on the subjects of Pimlico, Renting, and Flats. It’s not too difficult because I can use the Forum to ramble about other subjects, and this keeps the blog focussed.

I thought that I would stray a little to talk about this blog, and blogging, as a way of thanking my many sources of information, and I have broken the story into three parts.

Pimlico

Renting

Property

Pimlico

Blogging about Pimlico is probably the easiest of my 3 core subjects, particularly since I define “Pimlico” as being anywhere within walking distance of Pimlico Flats – so that covers Central London, and makes:

Victoria & Belgravia “North Pimlico”,
Kensington and Chelsea “West Pimlico”,
Battersea, Vauxhall, Stockwell, Clapham “South Pimlico”
Westminster, Soho “East Pimlico”

I try to focus on free and little published events and attractions, as the bigger professional things are generally commercially advertised and known about. My biggest source of information is the weekly publication The Pimlico News and Journal which is something that I publish myself and is automatically curated from various feeds. It has been sufficiently successful that I now carry it as a page on this website which can be accessed from the menu on the left.

It’s a great Newspaper but I must give thanks to some of the contributors. There are of course the usual traditional sources of information, BBC, Newspapers, but the purpose of niche blogging is to uncover the real story, and here are the local blogs and websites which I follow in order to reach the news other blogs can’t reach:

London Blogs

Foremost has to be the Westminster Chronicle just because we need professional journalists and local newspapers in our lives, and if you don’t use them and pay for them we will lose them, and be all the poorer. I don’t know how the power of the internet will pan out, but printed news is under pressure from free blogs like this, and the free “Pimlico News and Journal” that I just promoted. In spite of my competition with the Chronicle all I can say is that we need our local shops, and newspapers, so please buy a copy from your local newsagent.
Londonist a website about London and everything that happens in it – it’s a professional publication set up in 2004 as The Big Smoker. I like it because, although it is a comprehensive London-wide reference resource, it carries this off with humour and is in touch with it’s community roots (e.g. the Hand Drawn Maps initiative). They provide everything you need to know about the capital, as well as celebrating the quirks, eccentricities, hidden and surprising bits that make up the alternative side of the city.
Discovering London - which I juxtapose alongside Londonist because Peter’s blog is small, if not tiny, yet it is brimming over with personality, quality, and originality. Peter has yet to reach his 1st anniversary of blogging, but already his website is one of my favourites.
Tired of London, Tired of Life began in October 2008 as a place to document those moments of inspiration for making living in London exciting & different. Doing the same thing day after day can get anyone down, but our city has an almost infinite number of things to see and do. If you’re not getting the most out of London, it is a sad truth that you have no one to blame but yourself. This site was part of a personal plan for the author to get the most out of the greatest city on earth, and it has worked.
Going Underground Look at what the mainstream press has to say! The magic, mystery & sometimes maddening shortcomings of London’s Tube are documented with love, enthusiasm & sometimes despair by its unofficial social historian ……. The best blogs have a tinge of obsession about them … On some mornings it can feel like the only reason to be grateful that the Tube exists … one of London’s obsessives
Young and Poor Cheap/free events, gigs, food & drink, or sales — never paid to mention things so it’s only things worth recommending.
Ian Visits does NOT list the mainstream music/theatre/film events which are already so well supplied by the major newspapers and magazines – but DOES list the heritage open days, walking tours and mostly, the astonishing array of free (or cheap) lectures that the societies and universities of London provide. It’s a personal resource of remarkable usefulness.
Boris Watch An act of frustration, at the loss to apparent personality politics, and the accusation that somehow young people are to blame …… but also a great tap into the stories that THEY don’t want you to read about.
Laura Porter London-based travel writer & VisitBritain Super Blogger, mum, copywriter, tea drinker, afternoon tea addict & all-round London obsessive. She is a professional travel writer for About but I have recommended her twitter feed as she is a model in how to use Social Media. She does so much more than just promote her own writing, and is very generous with the links and information that she publishes. Consequently I would say – if you want to keep your finger on the pulse of mainstream London – follow Laura.

Now publishing any list of recommendations is always fraught – you forget someone important, offend others, and no doubt there are excellent resources that I am yet to stumble across. I have tried to give an honest account of how I produce the Pimlico Blog, but by no means would I say that it is perfect. I would be delighted if readers add their own suggestions in the comments of websites and blogs that we should all be reading and following.

Tags: Belgravia, Blog, Boris, Business and Economy, Central London, City of Westminster, England, London, London Life, Pimlico, Travel, Travel and Tourism, Victoria, Westminster
Posted in London, Pimlico Flats, Property, Renting on January 25th, 2012 | No Comments »

Su Wuz Ere.

Sue Bailey

Sue Bailey.

Look around you, and you see her footprint – she built this blog. Admittedly doing a theme for a blog wasn’t stretching her talents, doing something that others don’t really understand wasn’t terribly difficult for a girl of her ability and achievements.

Girl – isn’t a derogatory term, it implies youth, vitality, enthusiasm, enjoyment, speed, fun, laughter. If you look around at the many eulogies being paid to Sue you’ll see that she was a bit of a girl, and she will laugh at that double entendre.

She did a first rate job for me, and I reflected this in the recommendation which I did for her on LinkedIn she really was an absolute pleasure to work with, and I found it difficult to write something that complimented her enough.

Sue is best known through the leading Website about eBay – Tamebay which she founded and was the technical whizz behind. You can see the depth of feeling about her on Tamebay - the professional sellers on eBay are a massive online community with annual conferences, “University Courses”, consultants, support firms, and Sue was a big cheese in these circles – respected, influential, and loved. Three characteristics that rarely settle in one person.

Property people will know her as the Marketing Manager for Upad, a job that she adored, in a company that she loved. She was a clever girl, but also had the rare ability to roll up her sleeves, get things done, and had a complete mastery of technology. She wasn’t at Upad long, less than 2 years, but as Upad say themselves they wouldn’t be where they are today without Sue’s huge contribution – they miss her intelligence, humour and killer heels! The true test of any boss, is what their staff say about them when they aren’t listening ……

To describe Sue as passionate would be doing her an injustice. She put her heart and soul into everything she did and would make it her personal mission to see it done.

She proclaimed herself to be my London mother and took me, as a scruffy shire-ling fresh on the plains of the big smoke, and turned me into a competent marketing professional, capable of stringing a paragraph together without her violating it with red pen. Her wicked sense of humour and insistence that gin was the lifeblood of the world propelled me through each day.

She was a fantastic boss and friend and will be sorely missed. I can only hope to make her proud in what I do from this point on.

It’s a shame that Sue wasn’t in the Property World longer as I believe that in 5 years she would be as famous and loved in Property as she is in eBay circles. I would like to end by quoting some words about Sue from the finest guest blogger that I have had the pleasure to host:

WHAT DO YOU MOST LIKE ABOUT YOUR JOB?
It’s hard to pick “most like” because there are days when I feel like my to-do list looks like this. I work with an utterly amazing team of people who are not only brilliant at their jobs, but are inspiring on a personal level too. Plus I get paid to play on the internet.

DESCRIBE YOUR PERFECT DAY OFF.
After grapefruit and champagne for breakfast, me and my camera go out to play round some old bits of London. I spend the afternoon in the park with my two-year-old nephew (his mum sends us outside because we both have trouble remembering to use our indoor voices). In the evening, I meet friends for a few beers by the river.

Written by Sue @ Upad

Tags: Blog, Internet, Property
Posted in Property on August 11th, 2011 | 2 Comments »

HELP

CATEGORIES

Archives

Basic HTML for Property Websites, Forums, and Blogs

Blogging on Pimlico, London, Renting, Property, and Flats – Pimlico

Pimlico

Renting

Property

Pimlico

London Blogs

Su Wuz Ere.

Sue Bailey.

VACANCIES

Pick a Topic

LATEST ARTICLES

Meta

WIDTH	The width of the picture
HEIGHT	The height of the picture
ALT	Text to be displayed if the image can not be displayed – note a description should be included to help the visually impaired