BBC - DNA Hub - The DNA GuideML Clinic

Welcome to the GuideML section of the Hub. This is the place to come to find out more about GuideML, the markup language of DNA, and the place where you can influence its future development.

We've put together a collection of useful articles that you'll find handy when creating your own articles in GuideML. These include:

If you have any questions or comments about GuideML that aren't already answered in these pages, then please ask in the Forum below by clicking on the 'Discuss this Article' link. The Gurus are hanging round, waiting to help!

GuideML is flexible, easy to learn and great fun to use, and we hope the Clinic helps you get the best out of it.

GuideML Tags

Here are all the tags officially supported in GuideML. Please note that you can also use most HTML tags in articles, as long as they follow the syntax rules, but we don't have the space to list them all here, and support for them is not guaranteed in the future.

Approved GuideML

Some GuideML tags are 'approved' for inclusion in specific sections of some DNA sites' articles; h2g2's Edited Guide is a good example. Generally, sites with an editorial process should insist that only Approved GuideML is used in articles going through the process.

The following tags are approved for use within all GuideML articles, including those involved in the editorial process:

<B> - Bold text.
<BLOCKQUOTE> - Block of quoted text.
<BODY> - Article body.
<BR/> - Line break.
<CODE> - Programming language excerpt.
<ENTITY> - Numerical character entities.
<FOOTNOTE> - Automatic footnote.
<GUIDE> - Denotes a GuideML article.
<HEADER> - Header.
<HR/> - Horizontal rule.
<I> - Italic text.
<LINK> - Link to articles, members and external websites.
<OL> and <LI> - Ordered (numbered) list.
<P> - Paragraph.
<PICTURE> - Picture.
<PRE> - Fixed format text.
<REFERENCES> - Add links to the Article Data box.
<SUB> - Subscripted text.
<SUBHEADER> - Subheader.
<SUP> - Superscripted text.
<TABLE> - Table.
<UL> and <LI> - Unordered (bulleted) list.

Non-Approved GuideML

The following tags are fine to use in articles that aren't going to be submitted to an editorial process.

<ADDTHREADINTRO> - Add content to the 'Post to a Conversation' page.
<BOX> - Boxed text.
<BOXHOLDER> - Two-part boxed text.
<BRUNEL> - Change the colour of Personal Spaces in the Brunel skin.
<FORUMINTRO> - Add content to Conversation list.
<FORUMTHREADINTRO> - Add content to Conversations and Conversation list.
<INTRO> - Article introduction.
<PULLQUOTE> - Boxed quote.
<SMILEY> - Smileys.
<SITEFILTER> - Tailor Personal Space for DNA sites.
<THREADINTRO> - Add content to Conversations.
<U> - Underlined text.

GuideML Gadgets

The following tags provide various gadgets that you may like to use in your articles. They don't mark up text according to its content, but provide things like drop-down menus and useful community tools.

<GUESTBOOK> - Enable members to post to specific Forums or Conversations.
<ITEM-LIST> - Drop-down menus of articles, members or websites.
<POPUPCONVERSATIONS> - Link to the Conversations popup window.
<VOLUNTEER-LIST> - Drop-down menus of h2g2 volunteers.
<WHO-IS-ONLINE> - Link to the Who's Online popup window.

Deprecated GuideML

The following tag is deprecated, and you should not use it in your articles; it is only listed here for completeness.

<SECTION> - Section.