How can I use HTML tags to improve my blogs?

You'll notice every time you decide to "post a new blog entry" that there is a field below the main text area that reads "Input format". The default is set to "Full HTML". This selection allows you to use several of the most common HTML tags within your blog for emphasis, hyperlinks, or even to separate quoted text from your own text. To use these tags in your blogs, make sure that you do not click on "enable rich-text" - as the rich-text editor will not recognize your tags because it has features that work to automatically add the tags just as in a word processor. To use them in your comments, just follow the simple directions for each one. Here is a list of some of the allowed HTML tags, what each one does, and how they can be used in your blogs.

<a> and </a> This tag allows you to create a hyperlink in your blog without having that ugly URL address taking up space. To use this tag, follow this example:

<a href="http://www.progressiveu.org">The text you want to link</a> Will turn out to look like this:

The text you want to link [1].

Notice, the code is opened with the <a> tag, and then closed with the </a> tag; this is important as if you forget either of the tags, your code will not work the way you want it to.

You can also make your links open into a new window - keeping people from leaving your blog entirely when they go to read an article that you may be citing within your blog. To do this, add the line Target="_blank" into your tag like this:

<a href=http://www.progressiveu.org [1] target="_blank">The text you want to link into a new window</a>. will work like this:

The text you want to link to a new window [2].
 and  This tag will allow you to make some your blog bold to emphasize certain points. This is not recommended as a means to publish your entire blog in bold text, but sometimes certain areas or ideas should be emphasized to make a point. To use this tag, place the opening tag before the point in question, and the closing tag directly after the point in question, like this example:

Here is an example will give you this result:

Here is an example
 and  This tag allows you to take some of your blog's text and italicize it for emphasis. As with the and tags for bold, it's not recommened to publish your entire blog in italics. But occasionally, italicizing a word or two can bring just the right amount of emphasis to a point you'd like to make. Simply place the opening and closing tags around the words or phrase you would like to emphasize like this:

Progressive U is a great website! will look like this:

Progressive U is a great website!
<blockquote> and </blockquote> This tag will allow you to separate parts of your blog into a blocked of section: perfect for use when directly quoting an article or other source:

<blockquote>ProgressiveU.org is a nonpartisan social welfare organization that encourages an open discussion of current events, progressive values, and public policy priorities.</blockquote> Will look like this:

ProgressiveU.org is a nonpartisan social welfare organization that encourages an open discussion of current events, progressive values, and public policy priorities.