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Legacy Feature Notice: Before Writing.Com introduced its modern visual editor, members formatted their work using a code-based system called WritingML. Today, most members simply use the editor’s formatting tools, which automatically handle these tags behind the scenes. This page is kept for reference for members who prefer working directly with WritingML or who are viewing older documentation that references it. Advanced: Viewing and Editing WritingML WritingML is the backend markup language used within Writing.Com to enhance writing on our web-based system. It is similar in concept to HTML. If you are familiar with HTML, you will likely find WritingML easy to understand. Even if you have not worked with HTML before, the tags are simple and can be learned by reviewing the examples and experimenting with them. If you would like to work directly with WritingML, you can switch to a code view inside the editor. Click the {/} button in the editor toolbar to display the underlying markup for your writing. This view allows you to see and edit the WritingML tags directly. You can also click the gear icon in the editor and choose Switch to Legacy Editor. This option opens the older editing interface where your writing appears entirely in its WritingML code form. These options are intended for advanced users who prefer working with markup. For most members, the easiest way to format writing on Writing.Com is simply to use the modern visual editor, which automatically inserts the appropriate WritingML tags behind the scenes. In the Legacy Editor: The WritingML Formatting Button Bar A bar of WritingML formatting buttons appears across the top of most writing or editing textboxes to facilitate your editing process. The button bar includes the most commonly used formatting options. The button bar makes it easy to add font attributes (bold, italic, underline, etc.), change the justification of your text, or re-format entire passages with a few clicks. Use your cursor to highlight the text you wish to modify and click the appropriate button to add the tags around your highlighted text. If you make a mistake or change your mind, highlight the tags and the text again if necessary, and click the button again to remove the tags. You can click more than one button with the same text still highlighted, and it will nest the tags properly so they close in the reverse order they were opened. After adding the writingml, make sure to unhighlight before continuing. If you're not sure what a particular button does, hover your cursor over it for a description. Note that some browsers require you to open a button that has a submenu before highlighting your text. In the Legacy Editor: The Snippets Button and Other Keyboard Shortcuts  Members with an Upgraded membership or higher can create their own keyboard shortcuts, called Snippets. These snippets of text can be invoked at the cursor position with keyboard combinations, or by clicking the lightning bolt document button to open the snippet submenu, and clicking on the desired text. For details, see Macros.In the Legacy Editor: The  Button and WritingML: EmoticonsThe formatting button labeled opens the WritingML: Emoticons page. The directory has a menu of sorting options at the top and can be sorted by emoticon name (alphabetically), category, or color. The default view is Show as Groups/By Category/Show Headers. In the Show as Groups options, when you click on an emoticon, the tag for that emoticon is displayed for you to copy/paste to your text; for example: {e:Cool} yields  . Note that the label Tag: does not need to be copy/pasted. In the Show as List options, you can click an icon to copy its WritingML to your clipboard, from which you can then paste it into your text.The directory of over 900 emoticons is also linked as WritingML: Emoticons under Writing.Com Tools in the main navigation on the left. In the Legacy Editor: WritingML Autocomplete As you type certain WritingML tags in any text box (that has a WritingML toolbar above it), the system will try to help you out with autocomplete. Press enter to select the first one or use the up/down arrows (or your mouse) to pick from the list. The system inserts the tag or tags and positions the cursor to continue typing, either between paired tags or a space after single tags. It works for tags with usernames, ID numbers, or multiple options. You can ignore the autocomplete menus if they are not what you need, except that the cursor up and down keys are being used for the autocomplete menu. To close the autocomplete menu, keep typing or click elsewhere on the page. For colors, type and the menu shows colors in random order. For a new selection of random colors, move the cursor left and then right. As you type additional letters, the menu narrows the options accordingly. For emoticons, type {e:} and the menu shows emoticons in random order. For a new selection of random emoticons, move the cursor left and then right. As you type additional letters, the menu narrows the options accordingly. For item links, type {item:} and the menu shows your most recently modified items. As you continue typing to add numbers (such as {item:}102), the menu narrows its options from the items in your portfolio and items you have Favorited or Fanned. For user links, type either or @ and then start typing a username. The system shows selections from your Favorites/Fans list first, and will fill in the list with all other members on Writing.Com. For links to notes, posts, reviews, entries, snapshots, etc., the menu shows your most recently created ones. For embedding an image, photo, award or badge, the menu shows your most recently created ones. In the Legacy Editor: Posting Unprocessed WritingML Sometimes it's helpful to show unprocessed formatting tags in text, such as in giving directions, sharing a template, or asking for help with a formatting problem. Using doubled braces {{ and }} makes the formatting tags show as unprocessed. One way of doing this is to put {db} and {/db} tags around the formatting tags. The db tags cannot be nested inside another pair of db tags. See WritingML Help for db. Need More Help? If you still have questions, visit Technical Support Forum. Explore more: |
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