Writer's Cafe Wizardry - Lesson 9

A Chapter by dw817

Advanced HTML Table usage, Force an internet URL into a webpage's request to upload from your hard-drive, introduction into ASCII character and some basic information on Unicodes seen Online.

Writer's Cafe Wizardry - Ch 09

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LESSON NINE - August 6th 2013 < >

Good afternoon, class ! Let's begin.

HTML tables are indeed quite powerful. Perhaps one of the neatest things you can do with a HTML table is to fake some of the amazing things you can do with CSS. For instance, most blogging websites do not permit CSS or Javascript, so how do you go about doing something, let's say as simple as changing the background for your page ?

Remember in the initial lesson we learned that the actual number of pixels you have across in your Writer's Cafe page is 688 pixels.

Let's retrieve that code now.

<center><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" width="688px">

OK, so far so good, what this means is we've centered everything so if we edit this document in a different HTML editor, like Seamonkey, it will all appear in the middle.

We forced our margins to 688 pixels across so even in an editor that permits more space, it will restrict us so we literally get a WYSIWYG (what-you-see-is-what-you-get) exact size for what will appear in the final Writer's Cafe post.

Right, now to add a background color to your post is not so difficult. First off, you remember, we use <tr> to represent you are adding a table row, and <td> to represent you are adding a table column. It is in the table column you can change the background. So - to add to this we have:

<center><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" width="688px"><tr><td bgcolor="#def">

Remember that when selecting a hexadecimal color, you can shorten it so "#ddeeff" is the same thing as "#def," and in this case, it creates a nice SHADE of aqua █ .

Then you can have the rest of your post as you like. You also need to close it at the end so add:

</td></tr></table></center>

Here are some cool background color choices to consider:

█ #DEF █ #DFE █ #EDF █ # EFD █ #FDE █ #FED

* * *

This next part deals with standard ASCII codes (universal) and the not-so-standard UNICODES. As you may no doubt be aware, Writer's Cafe does not permit you to post any images in comments to posts.

You can, however, make use of ASCII and UNICODES to insert VERY small images in there.

Here are some LOW ASCII images you might like:

☺	☻	♥	♦	♣	♠	•	-
-	™	♂	♀	♪	♫	'
-	-	►	▬	☼	←	-	'
	▼	§	↕	"		"

Copy these out just like you do the Gosh-A-Lotta Emoticons and the Gosh-A-Lotta Stamps. It is important to note that ALL of these images can be used anywhere on the Internet and should appear for everyone.

Now, as for UNICODES, while the images are more interesting, they DO NOT appear in many browsers outside Mozilla Firefox, unless you install a font called, "Android Emoji." So if you use them, understand that if the viewer is not using Firefox, it may appear only as a block.

😁	😂	😃	😄	😅	😆	😇	😈
😉	😊	😋	😌	😍	😎	😏	😐
'	"	"	😖	😘	😚	😜	😝
😞	😠	😡	😢	😣	😨	😩	😱

There are actually a little over 9,000 such UNICODES for all languages of the world. Unfortunately as mentioned, a good number of them will not appear on your computer unless that particular font has already been installed. And these Emoticons seen above were in fact designed for Japanese telephone carriers, it's just convenient we have them for use for ourselves. 😊

* * *

The last item is a remarkably simple one. You may have used Facebook or other programs Online and when you want to add an image, they have a FILEBOX appear requiring you to already have the image on your hard-drive.

Fortunately, you do not need to download the image. If you already have the URL of the image in your clipboard, you can paste that HTTP:// address directly in place of the filename you are uploading from. Your computer will think about it for a moment. Do a quick check in your Internet cache for a matching image.

Then it will use that file location as the area to upload the image from saving you the trouble from having to manually download it first.

* * *

I promised you a neat little timer program I use for myself, mostly for keeping track of the progress on my laundry or to remind me to head out for doctor appointments. It is called Minute Timer and it is a good Freeware program you can navigate entirely by mouse or keyboard.

And you can find it for download HERE.

That concludes today's lessons.

* * *

In the next lesson we'll learn how to create rounded boxes to highlight your writing, have a custom background image for your writing, and how to add strikethrough, superscript, and subscript to your writing..

As a bonus I'll list and have available for download a handy little program that not only keeps track of all the processes in your pc but lets you change priority on items so you can get the most out of your computer's power.

See you next week !