LiveJournal uses a multitude of HTML tags and other LJ-specific tags. Here is a basic rundown of the most commonly used ones, and less commonly used commands as well.

Formatting

• <b>bold</b> would get you bold
• <i>italics</i> would get you italics
• <u>underline</u> would get you underline
• <s>strikeout</s> would get you strikeout
• <small>small</small> would get you small. <font size=0>small</font> would work too, but apparently <small> is easier to remember

Links

• Links can easily be done like so: <a href="http://sitehereplz.com">Link text</a>, where sitehereplz.com is the URL of where you want "Link text" to link to. Make sure http:// is there or it won't work
• To link to a LiveJournal user, simply do this: <lj user="xxxxx">, where xxxxx is the LiveJournal user name. Note that there is no closing tag.
• To link to a LiveJournal community, simply to this: <lj comm="yyyyy">, where yyyyy is the community name. Note the difference between "user" and "comm".

Sparkly text, whut?

Sparkling text is a must-have for many characters. How to do it isn't as hard as it sounds. The following html shows you how!

<font style="background:url(http://somepicurl)">SPARKLING TEXT</a>

Of course, remember to replace http://somepicurl with where you're hosting your sparkling text and of course replace SPARKLING TEXT with what you want to sparkle! Some images are located here, though I ask that you save them on another server so you don't take up the owner's bandwidth.

Symbols

Symbols are pretty commmonly spammed across the journals, especially the ever-present heart. they're simply an & followed by a command, then concluded by a ;. they can be put right next to other text and still show up, as long as both the & and ; are there. here's a list of the most used symbols.

• cent sign - & cent; - ¢
• clubs - & clubs; - ♣
• degree symbol & deg; - °
• diamond - & diams; - ♦
• é - & eacute; - é
• ï - & iuml; - ï
• heart - & hearts; - ♥
• spades - & spades; - ♠
• yen symbol - & yen; - ¥

There is a space between the & and the command word so make sure you remove that extra space.