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Basic text formatting in web design



When pasting text from a text editor into the Design view in Dreamweaver much of the formatting will be preserved and converted into the appropriate HTML. It will often need to be checked with the original so that it is correct.

Characters such as these ‘ “ and the brackets for tags <html> will be converted into code. This is done because these characters are used within HTML code or in scripts used within the code.  The HTML term for these are entities. Dreamweaver calls them Characters. Characters can be found in the Insert panel or the Insert menu.

This text is in a paragraph. A paragraph is a container for text but it can also contain images. In the Design view in Dreamweaver, a paragraph can be made by using the Return key on the keyboard, just like one would do when using a text editor. Create a new paragraph using the Return key after this and then type some content.

A new paragraph with some text in it!

A line break or break can be created in the Design view by using Shift+Return. Separate this and the next sentence with a ‘line break’.
This sentence is separated from the previous with a  'line break'.


The appearance of text can be changed with HTML or CSS. Using HTML to change the appearance also gives meaning to the word in the code, which can then be picked up by search engines. Change the appearance of the following text as indicated.

This text is bold. This text is italicised. This text is a different font. This text is larger.

The appearance of a paragraph can be changed with CSS by creating a style and adding it as an attribute of the <p> tag. Change the font, colour and alignment of this paragraph.

When quoting from another source the text can be placed into a <blockquote>. Do this with the following text:

“The next thing that happened to them was in a narrow part of the sea, which was so entirely full of fishes that the boat could go on no farther: so they remained there about six weeks, till they had eaten nearly all the fishes, which were soles, and all ready-cooked, and covered with shrimp-sauce, so that there was no trouble whatever. And as the few fishes who remained uneaten complained of the cold, as well as of the difficulty they had in getting any sleep on account of the extreme noise made by the arctic bears and the tropical turnspits, which frequented the neighbourhood in great numbers, Violet most amiably knitted a small woollen frock for several of the fishes, and Slingsby administered some opium-drops to them; through which kindness they became quite warm, and slept soundly.”
The Story of the Four Little Children Who Went Round The World, by Edward Lear


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