Formatting your post to the ICON Forums can make it easier (and more fun!) for others to read. Whether you are posting a new topic or replying to an existing thread, the window where you type your question/response presents you with a number of options for formatting (changing the appearance of) your post. It will be easiest if you type your question first, and THEN format it.

For example, let's say you wanted to ask the following question: "I have Windows 98, and my computer will not shut down. What should I do?" Type your question in the window. Then take a look at your options. Ignore "Screensize:", and make sure "Format Mode:" is set to Basic. The next row shows toolbar-like icons very similar to the ones you are used to seeing in your word processor. Hover your mouse pointer over each icon, and a tool tip will appear telling you the name/function of that icon.

Select the text you would like to format. In the example, I selected "my computer will not shut down". (To "select" text, left click and drag your mouse pointer until the text is highlighted). Then click the icon(s) to change the appearance of the selected text. I clicked the Bold icon, then the Italics icon, then the Underline icon for this example. The forum places pairs of tags around the text it is formatting. For example, text that is being made bold will have a beginning bold tag that looks like this: [b] and an ending bold tag that looks like this: [/b]. The underline tag uses the letter "u", and the italics tag uses the letter "i". Select the icon with the S on it to strike through the selected text. (You might use the strikethrough format when you are editing a post and want to make it very clear what you are changing.) The next 3 icons will left, center or right align the selected text. (I did not choose any of these icons in the example.)

On the next row of formatting options, you will see options to change the font, size, and color of the text. Make sure the text you want to format is selected, AND THEN make your choices. In the example, I selected all the text, and then selected a font size of "4". If you'd like to add a "smiley" to your post, place your cursor where you want the smiley to appear, hover your mouse pointer over the smileys at the left of the window, and click on the one that expresses the appropriate emotion. The forum's code for that smiley will appear in brackets on your post. At this point your post will look like this:

[size=4]I have Windows 98, and [u][i][b]my computer will not shut down.[/b][/i][/u] What should I do?"[/size=4] [:)]

Click the Preview button at the bottom of the window, and you will see the forum formatting code converted to this:

If the preview meets with your approval, close the preview window, and click the Post New Topic button at the bottom of the window where you typed and formatted your message.

If you'd like to practice formatting your posts, go to the Practice Forum online, and be creative. That's the purpose of the Practice Forum…to allow you to test posts before you actually make them in one of the other forums. (Remember, the Practice Forum is not monitored, so you should ask any questions you want answered in one of the other forums.)

Happy Posting!

Next Month: Formatting Your Post (Part II) will cover the remaining 7 icons not discussed in this article.