How to Create "Tags" for Online Role-play

These guidelines will explain how to create "tags" for online role-play. Tags can be used for any role-play room where users type their post into a live chat room setting. (You'll know if these tags are appropriate in a role-play room when 1.) the chat room background is black and 2.) almost every post is accompanied by an actor's face with a name, other than the actor's, underneath it.)

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Create the picture to be used as the character's identity. (Many people use Photoshop on a photo of the actor they wish to portray, but if you're new to this - just find a decent picture and save it to your desktop.) Then, upload the finished photo to a photo hosting site. (i.e., www.photobucket.com)

2. Open a word processing program and copy the below text into the document:
   
   (center)(HTML Code Here for Picture)(center)(font face=arial size=3 color=color)Your character name(br)(font color=color size=2)Your character's title or another line of text(br)(size=3) Your character's words and actions are typed here and appear in the chat room
   
   We'll call this text your "tags". (Because that's what it is.)

3. In the tags that you pasted into the word processing program - replace all "(" with "<" and ")" with ">". (Ehow will not allow any "html text" to be submitted on the website, thus the correct text of the tags had to be altered so it could be posted, then read by you.)

4. 
    

   On the photo hosting site, copy the HTML code of the photo you uploaded in Step 1 and paste it onto the "< HTML Code Here for Picture >" of your tags in the word processing document. (The HTML code should start with "a href=").
   
   Be sure to only paste the HTML code over the symbols and letters inside the quotation marks.

5. 
    

   Open another web browser and go to http://html-color-codes.com/. (If this site becomes inactive, Google "HTML Color Codes" and use one of the results.)
   
   Choose the colors for the lines in the tags' text. Generally, the text color will coordinate with the uploaded picture.

6. Once you've decided on your color(s) type the color chart number(s) into the second "color" of the two "color=color" in your tags.
   
   Be sure to only type the HTML code over the symbols and letters inside the quotation marks. (i.e., The tag reads "color=color" only type the number into the second color. Meaning - if your color code is 1234 the color tag portion should read "color=1234")
   
   (Note: The color codes are six characters - make sure there are no spaces between characters and that the six characters are all on the same line when you complete Step 9.)

7. Choose a character name. (Ex. Bob) Then type "Bob" over "Your Character Name" in your tags.
   
   Be sure to only type over the words inside the quotation marks above.

8. Choose the character's job or title. (Ex. Mayor) Then type "Mayor" over "Your character's title or another line of text" in your tags.
   
   Be sure to only type over the words inside the quotation marks above.

9. Open another web browser and go to http://www.geocities.com/ron28_69/tester.html.
   
   (If this site becomes inactive, Google "HTML Test Bed" and use one of the results.)
   
   Copy and paste the entire tag from the word processing document to the test bed on this site.

10. 
     

    Don't see it? No worries, rarely anyone gets it right on the first try. Read the steps and try again. Make sure no symbols were deleted and no additional spaces were added.
    
    Did see it? You have tags. Enjoy your roleplay.

Tips & Warnings

• In case it's not obvious, erase the "Your character's words and actions are typed here and appear in the chat room" from your tags when you are positive the tags work.
• The photo in your tags is linked to the HTML code that was created when you uploaded photo to your picture hosting site. If you remove the photo from the photo hosting site then the picture in your tags will no longer work.