Format

Toolbar Button:

Applies a format to text. The subscript, superscript, and strikethrough formats are applied to the selected text. All other formats are applied to the block of text the cursor is positioned in.

The format drop-down can cause confusion because of how it's applied to your document. Unless you're applying the subscript, superscript, or strikethrough format, the format will be applied to the current block of text, not just the currently selected text. Formats that are applied to blocks can be applied even when no text is selected. Before using the Format tool, it's helpful to enable the Show Blocks tool, to help you see what block of text the format will be applied to.

Normal vs. Normal (DIV)
The difference between these two formats is in the underlying HTML they create. Normal creates a paragraph block. Paragraphs are separated from surrounding text by white space above and below. Normal (DIV) creates an HTML DIV (division) element, which is just a generic bucket for holding text, but which does not have white space above and below. However, if there's a paragraph above the DIV and a paragraph below the DIV, the DIV looks just like a paragraph!

If you press Enter while in a DIV, it does not create a paragraph inside the DIV. It starts a new paragraph block below the DIV block. The Show Blockstool helps reduce confusion by showing you what's going on in the HTML. It's helpful to be able to see this even if you don't know HTML, because at least if you can see whether you've got paragraphs or DIVs, you know what rules are being applied for spacing.

Enter vs. Shift+Enter
In most cases in the HTML Editor, pressing Enter creates a new paragraph. Pressing Shift+Enter starts a new line. You can mimic starting a new paragraph by pressing Shift+Enter twice in a row. If you are editing in a Normal (DIV) block, pressing Shift+Enter twice is the only way to get a paragraph effect, because pressing Enter will exit the Normal (DIV) block and start a new paragraph (Normal) block.

Font

Toolbar Button:

Use this tool to choose a font for the text you type. If you have text selected, the font will be applied to the selection. The fonts provided are widely available across Windows, Mac, and Linux computers, however the most widely available are Arial, Courier New, Helvetica, Times New Roman, and Verdana. If you choose any of the other fonts, there's some chance the recipient's computer will not have that font, and will use a default font instead. The older the recipient's computer is, the more likely it will not have all of the listed fonts.

Font Size

Toolbar Button:

Use this tool to choose a font size for the text you type. If you have text selected, the size will be applied to the selection.

The HTML Editor offers font sizes in two different units of measurement, Points (pt) and Pixels (px). The 16 Point sizes are listed first, from smallest to largest, and are followed by the 16 Pixel sizes, also from smallest to largest. Points and Pixels are the two most commonly used sizing units on the Internet.

Text Color

Toolbar Button:

Use this tool to choose a color for the text you type. If you have text selected, the color will be applied to the selection.

Select the background color from the basic 40-color palette. If the color you want is not on the 40-color palette, click on "More Colors..." below the palette. This brings up the 216-color palette. If this still does not have the color you want, you can type in the Color Code you want to use. The Color Code can be the name of a color, the RGB codes for the color, or the HTML code for the color, as described in the on-screen instructions. Click the "Selected" box to get a visual look at the color for the code you typed in.

Text Background Color

Toolbar Button:

Use this tool to choose a background color for the text you type. If you have text selected, the color will be applied to the selection.

Select the color from the basic 40-color palette. If the color you want is not on the 40-color palette, click on "More Colors..." below the palette. This brings up the 216-color palette. If this still does not have the color you want, you can type in the Color Code you want to use. The Color Code can be the name of a color, the RGB codes for the color, or the HTML code for the color, as described in the on-screen instructions. Click the "Selected" box to get a visual look at the color for the code you typed in.