Editing and previewing posts

There are several options provided in the message edit screen to help you prepare and preview your content before posting.

1. Formatting options

You can apply bold, italic or underline formatting to your text to give emphasis to parts of your message.

To format text in your message:

Highlight the words you want to emphasise and click the relevant icon eg [B] for bold.
Tags will be inserted on either side of your selected text, eg [b] your text [/b].
When you preview or post the document your text will be displayed with the formatting applied.

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Remember that writing in all CAPS or all bold or italic, is hard to read and is generally considered poor forum etiquette.

A selection of 'emoticons' are provided which you can insert in your message.

Place your mouse at the place in the text where you want to insert the emoticon, then click on the required emoticon.

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Emoticons can help ensure readers interpret your message in the sense it was intended. However they should generally be used with restraint.

A simple spell checker is provided which you can use before posting your message. To use the checker:

Click on the Spell check link when you have finished writing your message.
To accept a suggestion provided by the checker, select the relevant word from the list of terms and click Replace.
If you do not want to accept the suggestion click Ignore.
Once the checking is complete, a pop up message will be displayed. Click OK to return to your post.

At any time in the checking process you can press Cancel to return to your post.

You can preview your message before it gets published to see how it will be displayed on the live site. To preview:

IMPORTANT

Once your post has been published to the site you can not make any further changes to it. Think twice before you post.

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