Compose tips

input formats:
  • Filtered HTML:

    • Allowed HTML tags: <a> <h1> <h2> <h3> <h4> <h5> <h6> <p> <em> <strong> <cite> <code> <ul> <ol> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd> <img> <embed>

      This site allows HTML content. While learning all of HTML may feel intimidating, learning how to use a very small number of the most basic HTML "tags" is very easy. This table provides examples for each tag that is enabled on this site.

      For more information see W3C's HTML Specifications or use your favorite search engine to find other sites that explain HTML.

      Tag DescriptionYou TypeYou Get
      Anchors are used to make links to other pages.<a href="http://www.tpuc.org">www.tpuc.org</a>www.tpuc.org
      Header<h1>Title</h1>

      Title
      Header<h2>Subtitle</h2>

      Subtitle
      Header<h3>Subtitle three</h3>

      Subtitle three
      Header<h4>Subtitle four</h4>

      Subtitle four
      Header<h5>Subtitle five</h5>
      Subtitle five
      Header<h6>Subtitle six</h6>
      Subtitle six
      By default paragraph tags are automatically added, so use this tag to add additional ones.<p>Paragraph one.</p> <p>Paragraph two.</p>

      Paragraph one.

      Paragraph two.
      Emphasized<em>Emphasized</em>Emphasized
      Strong<strong>Strong</strong>Strong
      Cited<cite>Cited</cite>Cited
      Coded text used to show programming source code<code>Coded</code>Coded
      Unordered list - use the <li> to begin each list item<ul> <li>First item</li> <li>Second item</li> </ul>
      • First item
      • Second item
      Ordered list - use the <li> to begin each list item<ol> <li>First item</li> <li>Second item</li> </ol>
      1. First item
      2. Second item
      Definition lists are similar to other HTML lists. <dl> begins the definition list, <dt> begins the definition term and <dd> begins the definition description.<dl> <dt>First term</dt> <dd>First definition</dd> <dt>Second term</dt> <dd>Second definition</dd> </dl>
      First term
      First definition
      Second term
      Second definition
      No help provided for tag img.
      No help provided for tag embed.

      Most unusual characters can be directly entered without any problems.

      If you do encounter problems, try using HTML character entities. A common example looks like &amp; for an ampersand & character. For a full list of entities see HTML's entities page. Some of the available characters include:

      Character DescriptionYou TypeYou Get
      Ampersand&amp;&
      Greater than&gt;>
      Less than&lt;<
      Quotation mark&quot;"
    • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.

    • Flash Filter

      The basic syntax for embedding a flash file (.swf), flash movie (.flv) or audio file (.mp3) is:

      [flash:filename.swf]

      If you would like to override SWF Tools and flash player default settings, you can specify additional parameters. For example:

      Flash Filter will accept following parameters:
      • params : You can specify values for output inside <param> tags with the <embed> html. Typical values are bgcolor and wmode. Example: params="wmode=true&&bgcolor=#00FF00"
      • flashvars : You can specify values for output as flashvars, which become available to the flash player. Refer to the documentation of the flash player you are using to know what flashvar options are available. Example: flashvars="autostart=true&&volume=80"
      • files : Optional list of files to be passed, you'll normally define files relative to your Drupal files directory. Example: files="name1=image.jpg&&name2=movie.flv"
      • methods : Optional information about how to display the file. The most common usage is to specify a particular media player and thus override the settings page. Example: methods="player=onepixelout_mp3"

      WARNING: with params, flashvars and othervars, pass multiple values separated by &&.

    • Using custom PHP code

      If you know how to script in PHP, Drupal gives you the power to embed any script you like. It will be executed when the page is viewed and dynamically embedded into the page. This gives you amazing flexibility and power, but of course with that comes danger and insecurity if you do not write good code. If you are not familiar with PHP, SQL or with the site engine, avoid experimenting with PHP because you can corrupt your database or render your site insecure or even unusable! If you do not plan to do fancy stuff with your content then you are probably better off with straight HTML.

      Remember that the code within each PHP item must be valid PHP code - including things like correctly terminating statements with a semicolon. It is highly recommended that you develop your code separately using a simple test script on top of a test database before migrating to your production environment.

      Notes:

      • You can use global variables, such as configuration parameters, within the scope of your PHP code but remember that global variables which have been given values in your code will retain these values in the engine afterwards.
      • register_globals is now set to off by default. If you need form information you need to get it from the "superglobals" $_POST, $_GET, etc.
      • You can either use the print or return statement to output the actual content for your item.

      A basic example:

      You want to have a box with the title "Welcome" that you use to greet your visitors. The content for this box could be created by going:

        print t("Welcome visitor, ... welcome message goes here ...");

      If we are however dealing with a registered user, we can customize the message by using:

        global $user;
  if ($user->uid) {
    print t("Welcome $user->name, ... welcome message goes here ...");
  }
  else {
    print t("Welcome visitor, ... welcome message goes here ...");
  }

      For more in-depth examples, we recommend that you check the existing Drupal code and use it as a starting point, especially for sidebar boxes.

    • Lines and paragraphs are automatically recognized. The <br /> line break, <p> paragraph and </p> close paragraph tags are inserted automatically. If paragraphs are not recognized simply add a couple blank lines.
  • Full HTML:
    • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
    • Lines and paragraphs are automatically recognized. The <br /> line break, <p> paragraph and </p> close paragraph tags are inserted automatically. If paragraphs are not recognized simply add a couple blank lines.