Tutorial LJ-Basics
I did this tutorial a while back when the LJ-pages where still all confusing. They changed their FAQ pages now and made stuff easier. I actually think they copied from me. LOL
Check out this page for easy and good original LJHelp to the following topics.
Basics about LJ-Tags
What is a tag? It's a command in < >
It tells the system to f.e. put text in italics.
Why do you need them? Coz it makes your entries look better.
LJ tags will only work when entered in HTML-MODE.
Something general about tags:
They always start with < > and end with
If you forget to open < >or end them,
a)nothing will happen
b)you get an ERROR
c) all the text is in like italics or something.
Linebrakes: LJ makes them automatically for you whenever you press ENTER. That equals the tag
. Disable Auto-Formatting if you don't want that. Bye why wouldn't you?
How can I link to another user?
insert username for username
How can I link to another community?
insert communityname for communityname
Hint: LJ changes the symbol automatically
Hint: It doesn't matter if the username exists or has spelling mistakes or something. LJ does not check it and will put it out as if it exists, even if it doesn't.
Appearance of text
insert text for text
insert text for text
insert text for text
insert text for text
insert text for text
insert text for text
Combine the tags above? YES. Just close in reverse order.
insert texttexttext for texttexttext
How can I link to another page?
insert http://www.google.com - lj changes it automatically in a link
lj changes everything starting with http:// or https://
insert GOOGLE for GOOGLE
if you wish the link to open in a new page, insert GOOGLE for GOOGLE
Hint: don't make a space between the Hint: links always begin with http:// in the "" or it won't work
What is a lj-cut?
Have you seen this neat things ( Read more… ) or ( here ) ?
You click them and bam there is the whole entry? Yes, that s an lj-cut.
1. Decide which text you want to hide.
2. Before the first word of the text to hide insert
3. After the last word of the text to hide insert
4. The standard message in ( ) is "Read more…"
You can change that.
4.1. Decide where the ( ) shall be in your entry.
4.2. Decide which text to put in the ( )
4.3. Insert in the place of 4.1.
Hint: if you copy from word and you have enabled the stylized ", overwrite them in the lj posting box with straight " otherwise you only get " and not the text in it.
Hint: when you click on preview, you can NOT see the tag.
Yeah, right, you can NOT see it. You can only see the tag in your Journal Entries page. You have to save the entry and check on your standard journal page (http://username.livejournal.com) if the tag shows up.
If there's nothing of this in the PREVIEW:
a) [ERROR invalid lj tag…]
b) ( text )
c) text hidden (all text has to show)
c) or
you probably did everything right.
Images
First the image you want to link to HAS to be somewhere in the internet on a page.
go there, right click, attributes or properties click, find "URL" and select and copy the link there. let's pretend it's www.picturelink.com/picture.jpg.
insert
Please only hotlink when allowed. Hotlinking means that you link to the place where you found the image. It's better if you save it for yourself on pic hosting sites like Photobucket and link from there. Don't steal bandwidth! People have to pay for it.
HINT: hide pics behind a lj-cut!
Of course you can write something before or after the image tag to be hidden too. What you write before the and after the is not hidden.
Yeah, there are more tags and stuff. check lj FAQs for them.
LJ-etiquette!
Don't be stupid - be polite.
LJ-Cut everything longer than a quarter of a page.
You spam your f(riends)list or your communities if you don't. You'll probably have a thousand friends and your friends have you and a thousand friends and it sucks to scrooooooolll through stuff. Yeah, you're important, your friends will click your lj-cuts or links, don't worry. Just make good lj-cut or link texts to inform about what to find under the lj-cut/link.
FIC POSTS: Post the fic/poem/text to your own LJ and only make posts containing a header (title/ author/ fandom/ pairing/ rating/ season/ spoilers/ warnings/ notes/ ...) and the link to your entry to the communities. It sucks to have the same (uncut) post showing up on several communities. Don't use some formated header table from your website or something to post in LJ - you mess up other's layouts with fix width settings.
PIC POSTS ALWAYS belong under a cut. Inform people about the pic under the cut and say if it's worksafe, kidsafe or has sexual/naked content. People with slow/expensive internet connections might want to not load your pictures.
And a completely private comment about the friending/defriending issue: Who cares? Really.
I friend people when I want to keep track of their life or their fic.
If people go to a different fandom or start hammering me with pseudo-religious speeches or don't ever figure out to ljcut/link, I defriend them. It's nothing personal.
Sometimes it is personal, but hey, I'm gonna tell them before or they'd notice we've had a fight. But that's none of anybody's business but me and my ex-lj-friend. Alright?
Any questions? Any complaints? Gimme a comment.