And now it should look right for those of you viewing on widescreen monitors. At least, I hope it does.......

For all those with posting privileges on this blog, here at long last are the instructions for creating clickable links inside your blog posts.

Let's make a link to our main chapter website.

First... be sure you are in "edit HTML" mode, not "compose". Now highlight the text that you want to make into a link. For this example, let's use the "chapter website" text above. Use your mouse to highlight that text, so it looks like this:


Next, click on the link button at the top of the blog post composing screen. That's the one that looks like this:

A screen will pop up that looks like this:


In the "enter url" box, type (or paste) the full web address for the site you want to link to, in this case, our chapter website. If you copy and paste the URL, you need to erase the text that's already in the box (just hit your "delete" key) and then paste the text. The advantage of this method is that if you have pulled up the site you want to link to, and then copy its URL directly from the browser's address bar, you are less likely to make a typographical error. Again, using the example of our chapter website, once you have pasted the text, that box should look like this:


Then click OK.

Now, the text for that section of your blog post entry will look like this:


And when seen in "real life," the words "chapter website" will be an honest-to-gosh clickable link.

Here's one more nifty trick, for the adventurous. The link we have created with the above method simply takes the clicker to the requested web page, within the same browser. A favorite trick of web designers is to make links open in a NEW browser window, so that while the person reading your website might wander off into new territory, you can get them to come back to your site by leaving your site open in the original window, while they wander off into a new one. Clear as mud? Nevermind. Here's how to do it.

Edit the text of the link you just created, so that it now will read as follows. I have highlighted the text to be added:


The text happens just before the > symbol, and there are no spaces in it. Since it's a little hard to read in the image, the text is as follows: target=_blank That's an underscore after the = sign and before the word "blank."

Clear as mud? I thought so....

I will create a separate link to this tutorial, on the sidebar, so that it can easily be found even after it scrolls off the main page.

If you have signed up to be a contributor to this blog, you do not need to confine your contribution to commenting on existing posts. You are welcome--and encouraged!--to create new posts of your own. Just look for any link that offers you the opportunity to do so, and follow it. If you have questions, drop me an e-mail. You know where to find me. ;)

The Monterey Bay Chapter of the Romance Writers of America welcomes you to our new group blog.

All members of the chapter are eligible to post on this blog, and we hope to use this site for any and all writing-related material that we wish to share with each other and the public at large. This may include book reviews, book recommendations, favorite quotations from books we've read, musings on the publishing industry at large (keeping in mind that this blog is NOT rated for adult content, so watch your language).

Those who already post to other writing- and reading-related blogs are free to cross-post their material to this blog.

Members, watch your e-mail for instructions and information on how to use this blog.

Again, welcome aboard, and let's have some fun!