Adding and
formatting text
Now this is truly the fun part! Any text that you type on a web page can be modified just like you do in a word document. We call this formatting the text. This means you can choose a size, color and style of text (called “fonts”) as well as where you want the text to appear on your page (e.g., centered, right, or left).
So, lets say, for the sake of this activity, that you are going to create a web site about yourself. On the index page, you are going to introduce yourself and then proceed in the next few pages of the web site to describe some of your interests, hobbies, etc. The index page will be the table of contents for you and it will provide links to the other pages in your web site that describe you.
We could start by typing your name on the page. (Note: the following images depict Word 2000 not XP)
Next, lets experiment with formatting this text; select the name you typed on your page by highlighting it. To do this, simply place your cursor to the left of the line in the text area; when the cursor changes to an arrow, a single click of the left mouse button will highlight or select the line of text. You are now ready to do all kinds of stuff to your name.
Starting with font size, let’s make your name bigger. This can be done in several ways and here is one: on the toolbar, click on the font size drop down menu and select a larger font size such as 26.
This looks a little better. You want the title of your page to stand out. Another way to make your name bigger is to click on the Style button in the tool bar (hint: it usually says Normal) and click Heading 1. If you name is highlighted, it will change the size of your name. To return to normal text size, you just click normal if the name is still highlighted.
If you want your name to be bold, click on the Bold button on the toolbar. Again, your name must be highlighted for this to work.
To change the style of the font, click on the font button on the toolbar and you have lots of choices. I like Lucida Handwriting and Lucida Calligraphy for my main titles but I stick with something simple like Ariel or Times New Roman for the body of my text. You don’t want to junk up your page with a bunch of different font styles like I just did in the last sentence.
I bet you already know how to position or align your name on the page. If the text is still highlighted, you use the buttons in the toolbar to select the alignment of your text. Alignment refers to how the items on the page are lined up with one another. One little style note from The Non-Designer’s Web Book (Williams and Tollett, 1998): “Choose one alignment and use it on the entire page”. “Don’t mix alignments” (p 106).
Oh, I almost forgot about color. If your text is still highlighted, click format and font on the toolbar. Then click on the drop down menu under font color to see your choices.
By clicking on a color and OK, the color is automatically applied to your text. I like blue. Pick a color that will be visible on the page.
You can also change the color of the page itself by clicking Format, Background and selecting a color.
Remember, you don’t want your background to distract from what is on your page. I usually don’t apply a background for this type of presentation. Here is how it would look with a yellow background.
The other reason for not using color in your background is that if someone printed your page, it would use up a lot of yellow ink and those printer cartridges are expensive.
Give it a try
Now, let’s try what you just learned: on your index page, type your name and choose a text size, style, alignment and color.
Finished?
Ready to create a link?
Go to the fourth page of this web site.