Formatting Paragraphs, Headings, and Lists in Nvu html editor

Learn how to apply formatting to paragraphs in Nvu, a web authoring tool, to enhance the appearance and readability of your web pages. This article provides step-by-step instructions on how to apply different paragraph formats, such as Body Text, Heading, Address, and Preformat, as well as how to apply list item formats. You'll also discover how to change the style of bullets or numbers, and how to align paragraphs or text within your web pages for improved visual appeal.

To apply a format to a paragraph, begin from the Nvu window:

1. Click to place the insertion point where you want the format to begin, or select the text you want to format.

2. Choose a paragraph format using the drop-down list in the Format toolbar:

• Body Text: Applies the application default font and style for regular text, without affecting the spacing before or after the text.
• Paragraph: Inserts a paragraph tag (use this to begin a new paragraph). The paragraph includes top and bottom margins.
• Heading 1 - Heading 6: Formats the paragraph as a heading. Heading 1 is the highest-level heading, while Heading 6 is the lowest-level heading.
• Address: Can be used for a web page "signature" that indicates the author of the page and the person to contact for more information, for example: user@example.com

You might want to include the date and a copyright notice. This format usually appears at the bottom of the web page under a horizontal line. Navigator displays the address format in italics.

Preformat: This is useful for elements such as code examples, column data, and mail messages that you want displayed in a fixed-width font. In normal text, most browsers remove extra spaces, tabs, and paragraph returns. However, text that uses the Preformatted style is displayed with the white space intact, preserving the layout of the original text.

To format text as a heading:

1. Click to place the insertion point anywhere within the text that you want to format.
2. Using the drop-down list in the Format toolbar, choose the level of heading you want, from 1 (largest) to 6 (smallest). Choose "Heading 1" for your main heading, "Heading 2" for the next level, and so forth.

To apply a list item format:

1. Click to place the insertion point within the line of text that you want to format.
2. Open the Format menu and choose List.
3. Choose the list style:
Bulleted: Each item has a bullet (dot) next to it (as in this list).
Numbered: Items are numbered.
Term and Definition: These two styles work together, creating a glossary-style appearance. Use the Term tag for the word being defined, and the Definition tag for the definition. The Term text appears flush left, and the Definition text appears indented.
Tip: You can quickly apply a list style to a block of text by selecting the text and clicking the Numbered List or Bulleted List buttons on the Format toolbar.

To change the style of bullets or numbers:

1. Click to place the insertion point within the text of the list item you want to change, or select one or more items in the list if you want to apply a new style to the entire list.
2. Open the Format menu and choose List Properties.
3. Select a bullet or number style from the drop-down list. For numbered lists, you can specify a starting number. For bulleted lists, you can change the bullet style.
Tip: You can also double-click on a bullet or number in a list to display the List Properties dialog box.

To align a paragraph or text in your page, for example, centering or aligning to the left or right:

1. Click to place the insertion point within the paragraph or line of text you want to align.
2. Open the Format menu and choose Align; then choose an alignment option.
Note: You can also use the Format toolbar to align text.