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HTML - Tips & Tags

Tired of sections of plain text?  Want to add an image where there isn't a space for one?  Well it just might be possible with HTML!

You can utilize HTML on your Homepage, About Page, or other pages using the Page Manager or Page Editor sections of your Virtual Office.  There are many other sections of your Virtual Office that will allow you to enter HTML to spice up your page instead of just using plain text.  You can add flair to the 'Description' section of your listings in ListNOW v4.0.  You can even add HTML to enhance the opening of your default pages such as Free Reports, Community Links, Featured Listings, and more!

Of course, your whole site uses some form of HTML to be seen on the Internet, but you can use it to further enhance certain sections of your website...where you didn't even know it was possible!

What is HTML, and how do I use it?

HTML is the language that your Internet Browser will interpret to allow you to view websites on the Internet.  HTML code is added using “tags”. If you open a tag within the text, you must close it. A tag is created primarily using the “<”, “>” and “/” symbols.  For certain tags, you can combine more than one "attribute" (such as text size or color) in a single tag.

To open a tag, you enclose the attribute(s) within the < > symbols.  To close a tag, you enclose the main attribute for each tag opened within the </ > symbols.  For example, a to make a section of text with a font color of red, and font size of 3 (12 pt font), the tags would look like this: <font color=red size=3>AFFECTED TEXT HERE</font>.  By closing the font tag, you end all attributes stated within that opening font tag.

You can also have multiple tags affect one item or set of items.  For example, you can have all of your text bolded, and red, and then italicize certain words within that text body. Just remember to close every tag!  If you also wanted to make the text from the previous example bold, you would add the <b> tag into the mix.  Those tags would look like this: <font color=red size=3><b>AFFECTED TEXT HERE</b></font>.

As you review some of the HTML tags we've included for you, you will begin to see how the tags look and how they work together.  There are several other tags that can be utilized; these are the most common formatting tags.

Text Formatting Tags

Bolding Text

<b>bolded text goes here</b>

Italicizing Text

<i>italics here</i>

Underlined Text

<u>underlined text goes here</u>

Font Size

<font size=?>larger or smaller text goes here</font>

You will replace the “?” with a number between 1 and 7; 1 being the smallest, 7 being the largest.

Font Color

<font color=?>colored text here</font>

You will replace the “?” with a named color, such as blue, red, green, gray, etc for the standard colors or you can replace the “?” with a “HEX value”; a 6 digit code which determines a specific color. You can get HEX values from our Virtual Office color grids or from http://visibone.com/colorlab/big.html. Click on the color to get the code.

Font Face

<font face=?>text goes here</font>

You will replace the “?” with a font face such as Arial, Helvetica, Times New Roman, etc.

Largest Headline

<h1>largest headline goes here</h1>

Smallest Headline

<h6>smallest headline goes here</h6>

Hyperlinks

URL Hyperlink

<a href="URLHERE">The text people click on goes here</a>

You will replace "URLHERE" with the hyperlink address (such as http://www.advancedaccess.com). You will leave the website address inside the quotation marks. The text people will see as a hyperlink can be whatever you want, and when they click on that text it will take them to the address you specified in the hyperlink.

URL Hyperlink Opening in a New Window

<a href="URLHERE" target=_blank>The text people click on goes here</a>

Adding the target of blank tells the browser to open that link in a new window.

Email Hyperlink

<a href="mailto:EMAIL">The text people click on goes here</a>

You will replace the word EMAIL with the email address (such as support@advancedaccess.com). You will leave the email address inside the quotation marks. The text people will see as an email link can be whatever you want, and when they click on that text it will open their default email account to send a new email to the email address you specified in the email link.

Other Formatting Tags

Line Break

text on first line here<br>text on next line here

***NOTE – you do not have to close this tag as it does not have a start and end point; it is simply carrying the next set of text to a new line.

New Paragraph With Default Alignment (usually left)

Text in above paragraph here<p>Text in next paragraph here</p>

New Paragraph With Specified Alignment

Text in above paragraph here<p align=?>Text in next paragraph here</p>

You will replace the “?” with an alignment such as left, right, center, justify.

Numbered List

<ol><li>first item here</li><li>second item here</li><li>third item here</li></ol>

The <ol> is the opening tag for the whole list. The <li> is the opening tag for each new numbered item (it will automatically add the numbers for you). The </li> is the closing tag at the end on each numbered item. The </ol> is the closing tag for the whole list.

Bulleted List

<ul><li>first bulleted text</li><li>second bulleted text</li><li>third bulleted text</li></ul>

The <ul> is the opening tag for the whole list. The <li> is the opening tag for each new bulleted item (it will automatically add the bullets for you). The </li> is the closing tag at the end on each bulleted item. The </ul> is the closing tag for the whole list.

Page Background Color

<BODY bgColor=?>

This tag can be used to change the background color of the whole page.

You will replace the “?” with a named color, such as blue, red, green, gray, etc for the standard colors or you can replace the “?” with a “HEX value”; a 6 digit code which determines a specific color. You can get HEX values from our Virtual Office color grids or from http://visibone.com/colorlab/big.html. Click on the color to get the code.

***NOTE: On all of your pages, the 'BODY' tag is already closed for you, so there is no need to close this tag in any of our default features.

Graphic Elements

Insert an Image

Sets the source for an image

<img src="name">

You will replace the name with the location of your image (such as "http://FileLibrary.MYAASite.Com/Content/0/100/6110366.jpg").

Insert an Image With Specific Horizontal Alignment

Sets the source for an image and allows you to horizontally align the image (left, right, center)

<img src="name" align=?>

You will replace the name with the location of your image (such as "http://FileLibrary.MYAASite.Com/Content/0/100/6110366.jpg"). You will replace the “?” with left, right, or center.

Insert an Image With Alt Tags

Sets the source for an image and allows you to enter text tags which will display when you put your mouse over the image. This is also the text that search engines will read when crawling your site, as they do not count images as content.

<img src="name" alt=?>

You will replace the name with the location of your image (such as "http://FileLibrary.MYAASite.Com/Content/0/100/6110366.jpg"). You will replace the “?” with the text you would like to have appear when you put your mouse over the image. You cannot further enhance the alt text; it is plain text.

Where can I use HTML on my Advanced Access Website?

There are quite a few fields within our Virtual Office that will accept HTML.  These are the most common fields in which you would use HTML to enhance your pages.

Page Manager / Page Editor - While the editor we have provided for you is designed to make it EASY for you to accomplish formatting without using HTML, it is a great place to practice your skills.  To access the HTML for a Page Manager / Page Editor page, click on the 'edit' link to get into the page, then click on the 'Source' tab.  You can edit and add to the HTML under the 'Source' tab.

ListNOW v4.0 - When you add a featured listing in our ListNOW v4.0 program, you have the ability to make your description really stand out.  You can bold text, create hyperlinks to local websites, anything that you feel would enhance your listing display!  Just enter your HTML in the 'Description' section when you add or edit your listing.

Design Center > Header Manager - In your Virtual Office Design Center, there is a feature called Header Manager.  Among other things, this feature allows you to specify a 'Caption' that can be added to the top of your page.  Most of your 'default' Advanced Access pages are available in this section (such as Favorite Links, Featured Listings, etc.) as well as all your Page Manager / Page Editor Pages.

A great way to utilize this feature is to add an introduction or helpful information to your Featured Listings page or your Free Reports page.  Have you ever wanted to change the background color of your Featured Listings page?  You can use the Page Background Color formatting tag to make that change.  Just enter your HTML in the 'Caption' section of the 'Header Manager'.

This is a lot of new information, but once you get the hang of it, you'll understand a lot more about how your website works, and how to make it work better for you.  Stay tuned for more tools coming soon in 2006 to make editing your website even EASIER!

Advanced Access
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Toll Free: (866) 518-1571
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Email: Support@AdvancedAccess.com
Website: http://www.AdvancedAccess.com

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