Home > Blogs > Rene Fabre > Art, Education, and Technology

A Little HTML goes a Long Way... Part One

By Rene Fabre

Industry Observer with ARFCO Media

January 05, 2012 03:10 PM

I’ve been asked by fellow bloggers on Activerain what program or app I use to format my blog posts. That’s an easy question. I don’t use anything.

A little HTML goes a long way.

I’ve tried all kinds of HTML editors like Coffee Cup, Net-Beans, and KompoZer, and I’ve used my Google Gmail, Microsoft Word, Publisher, Visual Studio, and I dabbled a bit with Dream Weaver. They're all good programs, but I'd end up spending more time stripping away unnecessary code. About 2 years ago I started adding in the HTML tags manually.

I learned using the AR editor that a little HTML is all you need to format a decent looking post. More often than not all you want is a simple layout with a few lines in bold, a phrase in italics, and if you share a picture or a video, you just want it within, next to, or inbetween the text.

I write my posts using Google Docs. It works best for me because I can work on it during the day from anywhere. I compose the text and since I usually use photos (or video) I keep in mind where I want to place it. I also keep in mind how wide of an area I have to work with.

After I compose the text in Google Docs I copy and paste it into my Activerain blog using the HTML area. Don't manually save your post or it will squish everything together (auto save will happen and that's okay). Before you manually (submit to save) add the basic HTML tags. I like my fonts a little bigger than the AR default.

To up size your fonts just use these tags at the beginning and end of each paragraph.

Remember in HTML whatever you "open" you'll need to "close" in the opposite order. After you've added your HTML tags then click submit to save the post.

How's it look?

If you want to bold or italicize then (submit) save your post and use the WYSIWYG tab to switch modes and use the AR editor to highlight the text you want to bold or italic.

Sample Activerain default blog fonts.

Sample Activerain "big" fonts using HTML tags.

Sample Activerain "big big" fonts using HTML tags.

Stay tuned for part two... We'll talk about adjusting font sizes, creating bold and italic fonts in HTML mode, and getting pictures and videos placed where you want them in your post.

It's Easy!

Re-Blog

Comments(19)

Comment

Show All Comments

Sort:

Stacia Whatley

Hawkins-Poe Inc. - Gig Harbor, WA

StaciaSellsHomes Your Western WA Realtor®

Thank you for that info! I have been wondering that forever! It seems that when it comes to AR they are not as user friendly as some other formats. In addition, I sometimes feel like every where else there is a plug in or app that makes this so much easier! :)

Jan 05, 2012 03:14 PM

Rene Fabre

ARFCO Media - Renton, WA

Practicing Philosophical Eclectic of the Arts

Hi Stacia... Happy New Year! We need to get together soon for coffee... HTML is not rocket science, all you need on AR is to be familiar with a couple of tags and you can make you post look great! I'll follow up tomorrow with more... thanks for stopping by.

Jan 05, 2012 03:19 PM

Charlie Dresen

The Group, Inc - Steamboat Springs, CO

Steamboat Springs, CO e-Pro

In one of my past lives I used HTML. I still remember enough to help me through exactly what your're talking about.<br>

Jan 05, 2012 03:24 PM

Ava Anderson

A-Z Atlanta Realty - Snellville, GA

Selling Atlanta from A-Z!

Thanks for the info...looking forward to reading part 2.

Jan 05, 2012 03:26 PM

Dorian Moffat

Halo Group Realty - Allen, TX

That's great. Will have to give google docs a look. Would be very nice to be able to create my blog on the go!

Jan 05, 2012 03:40 PM

Christine McDaniel

Christine McDaniel Realty, LLC - Avon, IN

Broker Associate

Thanks for the tips Rene. I get a slow connection on AR so it's frustrating enough just trying to get a regular blog out.

Jan 05, 2012 03:58 PM

Mark Delgado

houses for rent, Solano County & Glen Cove - Benicia, CA

Benicia and Vallejo, Property Management, rental h

I had an old website years ago that the only way I could update it was using html and I just hated it. Since that time I shy away from using it and just take whatever I can get with other ways of presenting information.

Jan 05, 2012 04:03 PM

Fred Griffin Florida Real Estate

Fred Griffin Real Estate - Tallahassee, FL

Licensed Florida Real Estate Broker

Good tips, René

I am also a "manual HTML" person when Blogging.

Looking forward to Part Two!

Jan 05, 2012 04:04 PM

John Pusa

Glendale, CA

Rene - Thank you for sharing detailed quality information on a little HTML goes a long way.

Jan 05, 2012 04:10 PM

Jo Olson

HOMEFRONT Realty - Kettle Falls, WA

Retired - HOMEFRONT Realty @ LAKE Roosevelt

Good tips Rene. I use my wordpress editor to write and then sometimes a copy and paste works - but when it comes to big I can do it in the AR editor. Happy New Year!

Jan 05, 2012 04:44 PM

Debbie Gartner

The Flooring Girl - White Plains, NY

The Flooring Girl & Blog Stylist -Dynamo Marketers

Thx so much. I'm going to give that a try. I was trying to do some of this in the html last week and it didn't seem to work but maybe hte issue was because I did at the start and end rather than each paragraph.

Edit - Sweet. I got it to work. The issue was closing it after each paragraph rather than at the end.

Jan 05, 2012 09:42 PM

Fernando Herboso - Associate Broker MD, & VA

Maxus Realty Group of Samson Properties - Clarksburg, MD

301-246-0001 Serving Maryland, DC and Northern VA

I use Scribfire. . I have written thousands of posts and I found this is the easiest for me. .

Jan 06, 2012 01:06 AM

Rene Fabre

ARFCO Media - Renton, WA

Practicing Philosophical Eclectic of the Arts

Hi Charlie... Good for you! If I do a page with a lot of html I'll Google "html tags"... there's several good sites out there that will give you all the tags you need (and what they do). </div> :O)

Jan 06, 2012 02:52 AM

Rene Fabre

ARFCO Media - Renton, WA

Practicing Philosophical Eclectic of the Arts

Ava: Thanks... I should have part 2 up later today.

Dorian: I love Google Docs... I work a little from home then head to the office and when I'm in the field I either have my laptop or my iPad. It's handy to beable to work on a document from several locations.

Christine: Depending on where I am I get a slow connection also (especially from the office). That's one of the great reasons I like formatting my post the way I do. Once you've standardized a few presentation schemes, you can pretty much get it all formatted in html mode then switch to wysiwyg for a final spiff.

Jan 06, 2012 03:00 AM

Rene Fabre

ARFCO Media - Renton, WA

Practicing Philosophical Eclectic of the Arts

Mark: I know how you feel... one of the thing's I like about the AR editor though is you only need the most basic html tags to get a great result. For me, it's worth the effort.

Jan 06, 2012 03:02 AM

Rene Fabre

ARFCO Media - Renton, WA

Practicing Philosophical Eclectic of the Arts

Hi Fred: It's like playing music in a way. I like the 'hands on' approach and I find it satisfying to throw a bunch of stuff into the editor and sculpting it into something that looks pleasing to the eye.

John: Thanks... and thanks for stopping by. It's funny, I kind of hit a wall as to what to blog about at the beginning of a new year. Then I thought, it's got to be something so basic you're not seeing it...

Jo: I'll have to try that. Actually, anything I post on AR and elsewhere I use my AR post and copy the html over to my other platforms.

Jan 06, 2012 03:11 AM

Rene Fabre

ARFCO Media - Renton, WA

Practicing Philosophical Eclectic of the Arts

Debbie: Cool, good for you! That's one thing to remember, every paragraph needs to be 'turned on' then 'turned off'... seems redundant, but keeps things from getting out of hand, especially from different browsers.

Jan 06, 2012 03:13 AM

Rene Fabre

ARFCO Media - Renton, WA

Practicing Philosophical Eclectic of the Arts

Thanks Fernando... I'll take a look at Scribfire. I haven't used that one.

Jan 06, 2012 03:14 AM

Laura Allen, Lake Tahoe - Truckee Real Estate for Sale TahoeLauraRealEstate.com

Coldwell Banker Realty, Tahoe City, CA (530) 414-1260 - Tahoe City, CA

Tahoe Real Estate Agent Helping Buyers and Sellers

René - I've already read part 2, so now that makes sense after reading part one. Can't wait for part 3. This is very helpful. Thanks for sharing your tips and tricks.

Jan 06, 2012 08:05 AM