The content for the description section of a Yahoo Group home page should be written in HTML, with the possible combination of CSS if paragraph styles are going to be used repeatedly. Keep in mind there is a 2,000-character limit Yahoo sets for that information, which includes coding to apply changes for fonts, color, size, etc. Yahoo further restricts the use of certain HTML tags within group descriptions as well as messages sent through their system. (Read more…)

There many excellent tutorial sites on writing HTML code on the web. Here are three we recommend:

W3Schools - Good tutorials as well as online test for HTML certifications

EchoEcho - Excellent short lessons on several web-coding languages with quizzes.

HTML Code Tutorial - This site is an excellent and easy to use reference on HTML tags.

As to how to write the description, use a good quality text editor such as the open-source program Notepad++ is the easiest method. If you are more comfortable doing you are writing within a word processor with spelling and grammar checking support, copying and pasting the content into the text editor is an easy task. What makes Notepad++ so attractive, are its color-coded source code functions:

In the HTML document shown, notice how all the HTML tags are blue, with parameters for the tags shown in red. Spotting errors within the code becomes much easier, such as a missing closing tag, or improper construction of tables or lists. (Have you notice any of the minor coding errors showing in screenshot above?)

The TextFX menu section deserves special mention as it contains a number of handy tools for HTML writing. For example, there are certain characters such as quote marks, greater-than or less-than symbols, copyright symbol, and the like that are considered special characters within HTML. Simply select the character and use the encoding tool under TextFX Convert to change it. A handy word-count function under TextFX Tools will help ensure you stay within that 2,000-character limit.

Most groups have at least one image file associated with their description. A while back, Yahoo removed the need to store that image "logo" file at a separate location. Even better is how Yahoo will resize the uploaded image used for this purpose as needed in its directories, etc. In general, an image file sized to 320 pixels by 200 pixels has been found to work well. Keep in mind that the image should not be so complicated that becomes hard to read or recognize when reduced by 50% or more. The "old" method of storing an image file elsewhere and using the HTML <img> tag is still an option. However, those files will not be re-used within Yahoo system.

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