To practice using HTML Click here

It's by using Hypertext Markup Language(HTML) and it is easier than it sounds. Some simple tags to get you started:

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

Joining HTML together
You may have noticed that the font, colour and size are all changed using the <FONT> tag.
If you wanted to change the text to a courier font, size 5 and red you would put the following
<FONT FACE=courier SIZE=5 COLOR=red>Edited text</FONT> which gives Edited text

Example 2: To make the text bold, underlined and green all at the same time use
<B><U><FONT COLOR=green>Text here</FONT></U></B> gives you Text here

It is important that you close the tags in the same order as they were opened. In the example above <B> was opened first so must be closed last <FONT> 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 blue (although this is not always the case). To create a link use the following:

<A HREF=            >Text here</a> In the space you need to enter the URL (web address) of the page you want to go too. All web addresses must start with http://

e.g. <A HREF=http://www.ebay.co.uk>eBay UK</a> will look like eBay UK

Email links
An email link works in a similar way to a normal link. To create a simple email link:

<A HREF="mailto:            ">Email me</a> just enter your email address in the space.

e.g. <A HREF="mailto:me@me.net">Email me</a> looks like Email me

Advanced email links
To automatically fill in the subject line of the email:

<A HREF="mailto:            ?subject=This will appear in the subject line">Email me</a> you need to place a ? mark after your email address and then put the subject

e.g. <a href="mailto:me@me.net?subject=Fill in the subject line">Email me</a> will give Email me

<IMG SRC=            > in the space enter the address of where the picture is stored beginning http://

e.g. <IMG SRC=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v479/mepage/69.gif"> gives

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

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

<A HREF=address of page you want to go too><IMG SRC=address of picture></a>

Large text
For larger text than HTML allows use <FONT STYLE="font-size:100pt" color=red>Text</FONT> to get:

Moving text
There are a number of ways in which the text can move:

Command	Example
<MARQUEE>Text here</MARQUEE>	Text right to left
<MARQUEE DIRECTION=right>Text here</MARQUEE>	Text left to right
<MARQUEE DIRECTION=up>Text here</MARQUEE>	Text moving upwards
<MARQUEE DIRECTION=down>Text here</MARQUEE>	Text moving downwards
<MARQUEE BEHAVIOR=alternate>Text here</MARQUEE>	Text bounces off sides
<MARQUEE BEHAVIOR=slide>Text here</MARQUEE>	Text stops at left side
<MARQUEE BGCOLOR=yellow>Text here</MARQUEE>	Text on yellow background
<MARQUEE SCROLLAMOUNT=30>Text here</MARQUEE>	Changes speed of text
<MARQUEE DIRECTION=right><MARQUEE>Text here</MARQUEE>	Alternating text

Creating tables
Tables are used to precisely align you information and help to make the page easier on the eye if they are used right. They are difficult to understand at first but if you keep practising you will soon work it out

To create a table you will need the following tags:
<TABLE></TABLE> identifies that a table is being created
<TR></TR> creates a row in a table
<TD></TD> creates a cell within a row
<TH></TH> creates a heading

A basic table
The following code will give you the most basic table as shown below:

Code	Creates:
<TABLE BORDER=2> <TR> <TD>row 1 cell 1</TD> <TD>row 1 cell 2</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD>row 2 cell 1</TD> <TD>row 2 cell 2</TD> </TR> </TABLE>	row 1 cell 1 row 1 cell 2 row 2 cell 1 row 2 cell 2

Click on a picture to make it larger

1. Sign up for a free Photobucket account (there are certain times at which you may sign up)
2. Activate the account
3. Right click on a pic you want to use and select "Save Picture As..."


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


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



Under the picture there are 3 lines...

9. Right click the tag line <img src="...."> and select copy


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

The picture should now have appeared

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

Feedback stars You get awarded a star depending on the amount of feedback you have received. Feedback is displayed as a number E.G.( 8 ) (this shows eight positive unique feedbacks) next to a User ID. No star Feedback less than 10. Feedback between 10 and 49. Feedback between 50 and 99. Feedback between 100 and 499. Feedback between 500 and 999. Feedback between 1000 and 4999. A list of additional stars.

Additional Icons There are also a number of additional icons which can be found beside a User ID: Shows that a User has created an "about me" page. Click to see what the page contains. (This is my "about me" page.) Shows that the User ID was created less than 30 days ago. Shows that a User ID has been changed in the last 30 days. Shows that a User has their own shop. Click to visit the shop. A list of icons specific to buying and selling.

Smileys
To get smileys on the message boards:

1. Click on the smiley face next to the check spelling button (up pops a box of faces)
2. Select the face that you want to use (this inserts the code for the selected face into the message box)
3. Select post message

If in step one the box does not pop up, try either or both of the following...

• Change your pop-up blocker so that pop-ups are allowed on the ebay site
• minimize all the windows you have open - sometimes the smileys are hiding behind the other windows on the desktop)

Pink	Pinks are the people responsible for monitoring the boards. They can be identified by having a pink line across the top of one of their posts.
Post	When you reply to a thread that somebody has started.
Thread	A thread is just another name for a discussion.
OP	Stands for Opening Poster as it is the person that starts a thread/discussion.
Slap	You get a slap when you break ebay's rules. Usually because somebody has used the report button on one of your posts to report the post.
Troll	A person out to cause mischief on the boards. These people are best ignored/avoided
Snipe	This is the term used for landing on a 100th post number. It can also mean bidding on and winning an auction in the last few seconds before it ends.
Plop	Landing on a 100th post on a thread
Newbie	Somebody new to the boards.