Dave's Portable Computer Information Site ~ Dell Sig How To

This page is intended to show you how to do just as the title says, put your sig and/or sound files in the messages that you post on DellT@lk. It is not intended to be a lesson or tutorial on HTML or JavaScript. At the bottom of this page you will find links to some good web sites for learning and studying HTML and JavaScript. That being said, lets get started.

When you click on "Post" or "Reply" a dialog box appears where you can type in your message. To add your sig or sound file you simply need to add the appropriate HTML code at the bottom of your message and upload your image or sound file. Please try to keep your occasional upload files under 50KB and your sig file under 20KB so that the messages will not take too long to load.

One important point when posting a message. Do not put a check mark in the 'Pre-formatted text (No HTML)' box.
You may also need to uncheck the 'Convert line breaks to HTML breaks' box if you find that your code does not work properly. When the box is checked the break tag is automatically inserted at perceived line breaks and the tag may be getting placed in spots where it is messing up your code. Of course if you do uncheck the box you will need to insert the break tags yourself.

If you want to attach an image, audio, or any type file to your message then you need to place a check mark in the 'Attach file' box and follow the instructions after you click 'Post'.

If you are using a sig in your post on a regular basis you will need to upload it approximately every 2 weeks as the message with your attachment will scroll off the board.

What is the HTML code for image files?
<img src="http://webtalk.us.dell.com/upload/filename.xxx">
Where filename is the name of your image file and xxx is the file extention ie: .gif, .jpg, .bmp

What is the HTML code for audio files?
<embed src="http://webtalk.us.dell.com/upload/filename.xxx"Autoplay="0"></embed>
Where filename is the name of your audio file and xxx is the file extention ie: .wav, .mid

What is the HTML code for e-mail links?
<a href="mailto:address goes here">visable mail link goes here</a>
Replace 'address goes here' with the actual e-mail address. Replace 'visable mail link goes here' with whatever text you like or the e-mail address itself.

What is the HTML code for inserting URL links?
<a target=_new href="url goes here">visable url goes here</a>
Replace 'url goes here' with the actual URL including http:// and you must use the quote marks. The 'target=_new' causes the link to open in a new window when the link is clicked. Replace 'visable url goes here' with whatever text you like or the URL itself. This is how folks get the word HERE to be a link, as is seen quite often on DellT@lk.

What is the HTML code for fonts and colors?
text goes here
This code will make your font look like this when you type your message in place of 'text goes here'. Obviously you can substitute other color codes, font names, and sizes.

How do I put all of this together to create a message?
Following is a coding sample and the end result that would be seen on the DellT@lk forum:
Notice the use of the tag. This is the same as a carriage return on a typewriter (remember those?) This lets you start a sentence on the next line and when strung together creates space between paragraphs and objects.
It is also necessary to close a tag each time that it is used so that the tag does not carry on into the next message. For example: if you use which makes text bold, then you must use to end the bold text. This must be done each time the tag is used.

DellT@lk Reader, In answer to your question. Click <a target=_new href="http://members.home.com/dtfaqs/faq.html">here</a> for the DellT@lk users FAQ's Web Site which has a wealth of information on all of the commonly asked questions in the forum. <embed src="http://webtalk.us.dell.com/upload/nicemess.wav" Autoplay="0"></embed> 
<a href="mailto:dykhuis@snet.net"><img src="http://webtalk.us.dell.com/upload/davesig.jpg"></a>

DellT@lk Reader,

In answer to your question. Click here for the DellT@lk users FAQ's Web Site which has a wealth of information on all of the commonly asked questions in the forum.

Hopefully this has given you some idea of how to personalize your DellT@lk messages. At this point the best thing to do is try out what you have just learned. Do some experimenting. Try different things. All we ask is that if you experiment on the forum please use the edit and delete options so that you don't build a long thread of message testing. You can also use Notepad to try things out. Just save as .html and when you double click the file it will open with Internet Explorer so that you can view your results. After you have your coding the way you like it then try it out on DellT@lk so we can see what you've done.
One last thought- you can right click on any web page and click 'view source' to see the source code for that page. So if you see a web page with something on it that you like and say to yourself "gee, I wonder how they did that?" now you can find out. I have learned a lot by studying the source code of various web pages.