Section 14.2. Setting or Changing the Format

14.2. Setting or Changing the Format

When you click a line of text or select a string of characters in the document window, the Format menu on the Property Inspector shows you the format of the text, which in turn tells you the HTML tag that marks it up. To change the HTML tag of the text and thereby change its formatting, simply choose another option from the Format menu, as in Figure 14-3. The paragraph tag is <p>, of course, and the six heading tags are <h1> tHRough <h6>.

Figure 14-3. Set or change the format of the text from the Format menu on the Property Inspector

As you'll recall from Chapter 6, the paragraph is the catch all format, so when in doubt, choose Paragraph from the Format menu. The heading formats are specifically for headingsthat is, logical divisions in the text, like the headings in this book. You may be tempted to use one of the headings whenever you want a piece of text to appear large and in bold type, but unless this piece of text actually functions as a heading, it's better to create a special paragraph style in your external stylesheet. Figure 14-4 shows the result for the page's title, "the daily gripe."

Figure 14-4. "the daily gripe" is styled with CSS, not a heading tag

TIP

Don't choose a format based on how the text happens to look. Rather, choose the format based on what the text actually is (e.g., a paragraph, a heading) and then design the look that you want with CSS.